A FORGOTTEN MEMORY OF PINK

Autumn was at its best as of today, and it couldnt've come at a better time! The Fallen Festival was to begin that evening at five, and the citizens of Harton Town couldn't bear the wait for much longer. Every year when the festival started everyone would run around and collect the leaves that had fallen from the trees, then bring them back to be thrown into the wind at midnight when the greatest, heart-warming breeze would blow through the town and carry them away. Red, gold, and orange candles would be lit along every inch of the town, their flames flickering until that same breeze came and blew them out with a kiss. The kids were especially excited, for the Festival marked the day before Halloween came, the 30th of October. Nobody liked to wait for the festival or the day after, and this in turn just made everyone laugh.

Harton was a very happy place, and it was always basking in the glory of every season as if came. Nobody who lived in Harton had ever regretted it, in the whole history of its existence. A clock in the gold-lighted distance rang out; it was 8 now. People ran from every corner of the town, grabbing the leaves and chatting to eachother excitedly as they put them in bags that would soon grow too heavy or too full for one person to carry. They all wore smiles, their eyes sparkling as they jammed the leaves into the bag. But thee was one group of kids who didn't collect them as soon as they saw them. No, no, they preferred to play in them and throw them everywhere first. Those kids were pesky, all of them. But they were loved no matter what they did, so it didn't quite matter anyway. The youngest were identical twins - Darion and Damien. Darion was the pale boy with amber eyes and tan-colored hair, and Damien was the other pale child with amber hair and dusty eyes.

Of all the kids, they were the loudest and the happiest. They took the same number of leaves in each of their hands and threw them toward the second oldest, Sie. He was a emerald and wire-haired young man in his early teens, and he had the greatest sense of adventure of all of them. Sie had a habit of not taking changes to the town or its people too well, because he seemed to like things just the way they were. Sie was happy today because of the festival, and because a new kid had moved into town just yesterday, and was really hoping for a chance to see her before the day ran out. In fact, the thought of not seeing her at all depressed him, so, he simply chose to sat down. He was ready to lose himself in calm thoughts when a pile of rough leaves smacked him in the face and fell all over him. Insane giggles rang in his head as he looked over at the twins, taking turns throwing the leaves back at forth at one another.

Sie smiled, folding his arms. "It's nice to be in Harton at this time of the year, eh guys?" he said halfheartedly. The twins failed to read the vocal cue and happily replied, "yep!". This made no effect on Sie who was not in the mood for happiness. He stood slowly, sticking his hands in his large pockets and walking away with his head a little lower than normal. The twins stopped they merriment and watched him walk away, then turned to look at one another in confusion before grabbing some more leaves and running after him with the large bag. Sie stopped and looked over his shoulder, and, seeing the twins struggling with the bag, decided to grab it and throw it over his shoulder like it weighed nothing. They thanked him and then the three started to walk away together - back home.

Only a few hours had passed since their return to the large, stately mansion they called home. The swelling bag sat plump in the corner, next to a smoke-damaged picture frame that rested on an old table. The picture itself was also smoke damaged to such a degree that the faces in it were unidentifiable. Just their luck. They found a treasure and it was ruined! But, Darion had convinced Sie to let him keep it, and so there it had stayed. The twins were laying in their bunk-style hammocks, playing with cards and passing them back and forth. Sie himself sat in an old, over-stuffed chair that barely swiveled. The upholstery was torn and bits of horsehair stuck out in dark bushes where the stitching was imperfect. It was indeed Sie's chair, because it had his name cut into it. A large, heart-shaped window was the only light, but it was good light, and it had an amazing view, so all was good anyway. He let his head fall to the side slightly, placing his cheek in his palm and sticking out his tongue.

"Bored, Sie?" Darion said suddenly. Sie snapped back to reality, looking at his friend with a face that showed no emotion. He smiled emtily. "Yeah. Bored and a little disappointed..." he said mellowly, watching the cards going back and forth in Darion's hands. It wasn't like he cared, but he just hoped he wouldn't drop them and lose even more than he already had. Not so surprisingly, however, right as Sie had told himself this, the cards went flying in every direction and a very dazed Darion scrambled to pick them up and find them all. Damien couldn't help but giggle as his brother flew to every corner of the room, chasing the little cards. He rolled his eyes; then took another look. A card had stuck straight into the ceiling above his brothers bunk. He jumped up over the bed and grabbed it, pulling it out. Sie looked over at him, raising an eyebrow. "Huh! I've never seen this one before..." he flipped it over, examining it for a while before it was suddenly grabbed out of his hands.

Darion stuck it in the deck of cards. "It's mine! It's bad enough you already lost all my other ones and forgot where the other deck was!" he growled, sticking his tongue out. Damien mocked the gesture, squinting his eyes. Sie stood, eyeing the deck of cards. "Where did you find that?" he snapped, pointing to it. He sounded angry. Darion flinched. "I...I found it outside...when we were at the shop last week...It was just laying there, so I decided to pick it up...Is...is it yours..?" he whimpered, holding out the blade-edged card. Sie looked at it, foot placing itself backwards. "No...I..I don't want it...I don't want to see it." he folded his arms, looking away. Damien felt the urge to protect his brother. "Hey! What's your beef with this card anyway, Sie? It's not yours, and its just a card anyway! So, what's the deal man?" he asked.

Sie looked at him, face twisted in a quiet anger. he opened his mouth to say something, but instead just looked out the window. He gasped; cherry blossoms were floating through the town. "I didn't know it was the season for those..." he tapped a finger against his chin, completely forgetting the arguement that was in progress. Darion and Damien gave up on him as they both returned to their respective hammocks. Sie simply stood there, watching the blossoms in fascination. Darion would've asked him what was wrong with the blossoms, but he decided being quiet about it was better than getting a black eye for being a wise guy. Damien was the one who asked. "Sie! What are you looking at? Those petals?" he asked loudly. Sie looked over at him, shaking his head. He did not reply, but just turned his body away from the window, closing his eyes. "The blossoms just remind me of something, but I can't remember..it's something I know I should always keep in my heart, but I can't find it..." he said, sighing.

Darion and Damien looked at one another, rolling their eyes and making 'pfft' noises. "Look who's sentimental all of a sudden! Since when did you care about what you had in your heart?" they asked in unison. Sie just shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. He felt an emotionless tear fall down his face, and he was surprised to feel it there at all. "I don't know. I can't feel anything about it..." he mumbld, placing his hand on his neck and rubbing it, yawning. "I'm tired, so," he said, sitting in the chair slowly, "wake me up when the festival starts if I sleep that long. I know you guys'll wake up way before I do anyway". The twins both nodded, and Damien layed in his bed, swinging it back and forth as he normally did to aid him in his wait for sleep to come to him, and Darion put his cards onto the makeshift shelf above his head; but he held the one card Sie hated close to him, examining it when he was sure Sie had fallen asleep.

There was something about its strange symbols that roused a feeling within him that he had never had before...