The Fall

It was about to be bedtime, and Father was wishing us goodnight.

“Summer’s coming to an end kids. We need to get ready for the upcoming months. It could get rough”.

Suddenly a car approached us, and a man in a black suit got out of it. Father rushed to his side immediately, and they started talking. It was dark, and I couldn’t make out what they were talking about from over here, but I could see Father’s expression changing slowly. Soon he was arguing with the man. I could sense that something was wrong, but was soon relieved as the man got into his car and left.

Father slowly walked to us. His was still sad, and tears were rolling down his face. He came up to me and hugged me. It wasn’t his usual, loving hug. Something was off, and before I could put a pin on it, he started sobbing uncontrollably. I knew the man in the black suit had upset Father, but I wasn’t sure what exactly transpired. As if sensing my confusion, Father flashed me a melancholic smile and walked away. I looked around at my siblings, and they were just as confused as me. But slightly consoled with his smiling goodbye, we drifted off to sleep.

As morning’s gentle rays caressed me, I awoke gleefully the next day, not aware of the horrible fate that was awaiting us. Father was sitting next to me. He didn’t wish me a good morning like he does every day and was unorthodoxly silent. It was a bit suspicious, but I was content with any kind of time I got to spend with Father. He was rather busy these days.

Soon we heard vehicles approaching from a distance, and Father’s eyes welled up again. He walked up to me, and I could see the tormented look in his eye. He gently kissed me and walked away. I was getting a bad feeling about the situation.

The trucks approaching us stopped, and men in uniforms got out of them. They had weapons in their arms. This was the point where I got the most terrified. Not because of they carried weapons, and not because they were pointing the weapons at us - but because Father wasn’t turning back. He was still walking away. Had he abandoned us?

My train of thought was abruptly derailed by my sister’s silent scream - they were murdering her, right in front of us, while we watched, helplessly paralyzed. Once they were done with her, they turned to us.

It was the most horrific scene I had ever seen. I had to impotently watch my entire family get massacred by these murderers, while my Father was off somewhere else. I still tried to make sense of the events transpiring - maybe it was a game; maybe Father was pranking us; or maybe he wa---

I felt an excruciating pain numb out all my other senses. I knew what it meant - my time has come. They had gotten me too. With my final moments, I could see the man in the black suit walking towards me with a smirk on his face. Placing a leg over my dying body, he called someone on his phone.

“Yes, sir. The area’s clear. We cut all of them down. There’s a lumberyard nearby, and they’re doing the cleanup. The place should be brand new by this weekend. We can proceed with construction on Monday. Yes, sir. I’ll call you once the next grove is cleared.”

His words made no sense to me. As I lay there dying, the only sensible thing I could think of was father’s last words to us.

Summer was over.

It was time for fall.