October 29, 2022
"Casper! Don't kill the bird!" I shouted, albeit not seeing him. The place went silent, and my heart worried more. "Did he catch it?" I asked myself. A few steps to the door, my heart throbbed so loud, as loud as my scream.
"Aaahhhh!!!"
Out of the blue, a giant cat's head peeked out, and its paws clawed at the edge of the door.
"Aaahhhh!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs and my legs turned to jelly. A giant orange cat, I was seeing a giant cat. My mind was bewildered and I thought it would eat me, but it meowed gently as if calling me. It seemed familiar and looked exactly the same as Casper, except for the size.
"Casper? Is that you? How did you get so big?" The cat appeared perplexed by what was going on. It couldn't fit through the door and was confused as to why I was so small. Casper noticed glistening butterflies of various colors drifting in magically. He stretched his arm to catch them, but it only make things out of control.
His arm landed on the table, scattering bowls, plates, condiments, liquors, and buckets of fresh seafood all over the floor. The fish were thrown out and squirmed on the floor in search of water to survive. Crabs escaped with their claws raised as if they had won the battle. They triumphed, and I was defeated. The wine bottles fell and opened, causing the liquors to flood the floor. I was completely out of my mind and couldn't think of anything to do. Everything devolved into shambles and chaos.
Our horse, Rusty, neighed loudly in the backyard as if he had heard the commotion. The next moment, a loud crash echoed in the middle of the night, followed by the sound of shattered glasses. Rusty stormed in and smashed the window. "WTF!" These were the only words I uttered. Things started to get more complicated and chaotic. There were messes everywhere in the house. I'm glad our neighbors were in distant locations; otherwise, I'd be dead in humiliation.
"How did this all started?" I felt hopeless and stressed. My mind seemed to explode.
"The bird. It all started with the bird! I need to find it."
I mustered my remaining strength and hopped onto the back of Rusty. "Rusty, let's find the bird." Rusty heard it and we jumped out of the broken window. We spotted the white bird heading to the lake, and so we followed it. By the lake, it landed on the autumn tree and flapped its wings before it disappeared, and the tree glowed after. It looked magical.
The beauty of it glowing in the dark took my breath away. It captivated me and brought back memories of my late father, flashes of beautiful memories. He was the one who planted the autumn tree which I had almost forgotten since he passed away. Rusty whined as if he understood what I was feeling. He rubbed his head against my shoulder, snorted, and turned to face the tree. We walked slowly toward the tree, and I sat underneath its canopies. I leaned my back against its trunk, facing the glowing autumn leaves. They were truly lovely and soothing.
"Father, I wish you were here. Sorry for turning your restaurant into a mess. But I feel exhausted." I whispered to the tree and tears welled up in my eyes. I closed them and just let the coldness of the night restore my anxious mind and body. Then I unknowingly wandered into dreamland.
The soft caress of an old wrinkled hand jolted me awake. My head was resting on my father's lap when I opened my eyes.
"Father. I'm sorry." I cried.
"Shhh. You don't need to exhaust yourself. Look at you. You look anxious and thin. Free your mind from worries. Just enjoy your life." He uttered softly.
"I missed you father...." And I hugged his lap while he continued caressing my head until I fall asleep again.
I woke up from the stroke of the morning sun's rays and I found myself leaning by the window. "I must have fallen asleep from looking out of the window last night," I told myself.
Suddenly, a soft furry creature glided its body against my legs sending shivers down my spine. I looked down to see what it was, and it was Casper, my cat. It meowed with smiling eyes but chaotic memories of last night flashed rapidly in my mind. I jumped up abruptly to check the kitchen, but all I found was a quiet room with everything in its proper place. There were no broken windows, messes, or items scattered on the floor.
Although perplexed, I felt relieved to see that everything was fine and that nothing had gone wrong the night before. "Was it a dream?" I thanked them that it was.
I went back to the veranda and sat by the window with the pose of last night. While contemplating my dream, I remembered the scene with my father underneath the autumn tree and his words. "Perhaps, he wanted me to send a message. Glad it was just a dream." I muttered.
The four ducks and three birds came into sight, just like the scene from last night's dream. "No way. I don't want it to happen." I got up and headed to my room and packed my stuff into my small luggage. Casper came in and he seemed like asking about it. "Are you ready for an adventure, Casper?" He jumped onto the luggage and meowed in approval. Rusty walked by the window and snorted. "Take care of the house, Rusty. I'll be back after a month." He neighed and raised his legs, an indication that he was happy and agreed to my decision. He probably wanted me to do this even before.
I flipped the signboard and taped a paper with a printed job hiring announcement to the glass door before locking the door.
Image from Unsplash, edited in Canva
"I'm doing your favor, father. I'll be back! Goodbye Rusty!" I said cheerfully while waving my hand and bidding goodbye to the house and the rest of the creatures in there.
"Where to go, Casper?" I asked. "Meow." He replied.
"Okay, let's go to Amsterdam!"
THE END..
So that's how the story about the Midnight Autumn went. If you missed part one, check it out here: The Autumn Midnight Chaos . Now you know why I called it "chaos," lol. Every photo has a story to tell, right? What can you tell about the first two photos above? Share it below.
Who got the right guess from last night's question? I guess @ArteFM got the closest one. 😉
Thanks for reading
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What an unexpected twist :) Beautiful sis! Enjoy your adventure :)