Autumn Born

Fantastical story about the origins of autumn based on mythology about Persephone and Hades

“What are you looking at?” The stranger asks.

“Nothing. Everything.”

She barely notices him until his knees hit the dirt beside her. Once she looks, she can’t look away. Clouds skitter over his pupils, the only sign of that internal darkness pulsing within.

“I hear they smell exceedingly sweet.”

She bends her head, firmly under his suggestion, already lost, sniffing deep the yellow petals. Is it his eyes? The scent?

No matter. What’s done is done. 

Flower abandoned, an eternal cycle is set in motion, the barren world once again awaits the pomegranate daughter’s return.