I came up with this idea during the summer but am writing during the first week of autumn where I live. Coincidence?
Just a quick note in case you don't know, autumn and fall are the same thing.
Photo #27: An Abundance of Leaves
The next photo makes Eadlyn feel all warm on the inside. She closes her eyes and wraps her arms around herself, only to imagine the photo taking place around her: The Schreaves and Woodworks are all gathered in the courtyard of the palace. An abundance of leaves in multiple fall colors surround them. Many were still falling from the trees as they threw them back into the air by the handful, only to repeat the cycle. Every single person in the frame of the photo had a real smile on their face.
They don't as of right now. If Eadlyn were to open her eyes, she would only see the tears from everyone in the palace and the closed life-endangered eyes of her mother. It may be the present, but Eadlyn keeps her eyes closed to reminence in the past just for a moment. A smile creepes onto her face, scaring away the oncoming tears as she thinks back to the time in the photo where there was only joy and nothing to worry about.
-o-
Autumn has approached Illéa and all the leaves on the trees have turned from green to various shades of red, yellow, orange, and brown. Some green stays behind, but not a lot. The summer's humidity has been exchanged for a chilly breeze just as t-shirts and skirts have been traded in for sweaters and pants.
As of right now, all the kids sit in the foyer of the castle, playing amongst themselves. A young Ahren, Kaden, and Kile play a board game with the pieces scattered all around them along with the instructions and the rules, Eadlyn sits on a satin bench against the wall with her nose deep in her designing sketchbook, and Josie hovers above baby Osten's playpen holding a stuffed bear for him to grasp onto.
America and Maxon walk in, checking up on the kids since they have nothing to do on their agenda for the day, royalty wise. They want to use their day-off as a day to spend with their kids. As Maxon joins the boys with their board game, America peeks over Eadlyn's shoulder to catch even the slightest glimpse of what her daugher is drawing. Eventually, Carter walks in where the kids are, looking tired from a day's work, but not completely out of energy.
"Any of you want to jump in the leaves?" Carter asks them.
All at once, the kids perk up and run outside, past Carter. He joins them outside and America comes out with Marlee and all their sweaters since it is a chilly day. The two mothers force their kids to wear them and they agree to it unwillingly. Maxon stands to the side with his trusty camera and Osten in a papoose that's strapped across his chest.
There were many leaf piles set across the lawn, each bigger than all the kids which only make them more excited. Kile is the first to jump in and the others follow his pattern. All of the kids scream out of their own amusement as they fall into the leaves. As they stand up, some stick to the fabric of their clothes and hair. They take them off (or leave them on) as they jump back in again. All of the kids have reached that point where picking the leaves off wouldn't make that much of a difference if they were going to jump back in (which they obvioiusly did).
In fact, they became little leaf piles of their own.
America and Marlee stand to the side, picking up leaves from the ground and throwing them on top of their smiling children. Carter would rake the flattened leaves back up to a voluminous pile, loving to watch the kids just jump back in. Maxon stands to the side, taking pictures of the whole event, occasionally walking to different sides to capture a new angle. He even got a picture of America throwing leaves right into the camera with a snarky grin on her face.
Maxon picks up a handful of leaves and holds them out to the baby strapped on his chest. Osten stretches out his little arms and slowly takes a leaf from his father. Maxon playfully throws the leaves in the air to capture Osten's attention, but the little boy's eyes are fixated on that one leaf. Osten rips the leaf in halves and throws one half on the ground. He puts the half he kept in his mouth and Maxon freaks out.
"No!" Maxon exclaims, pulling out the piece of nature from his son's mouth. Osten looks at him with confusion before Maxon breaks out into a smile. "I don't get it. You'd eat nature, but not your vegetables."
This was so cute. I'm proud of it.
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