Friday Flash - A Change

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Bare feet skip along a woodland path. Sunlight peeks through the tree branches overhead. It dances on blonde hair, streaming behind the young woman. She whistles a cheerful melody as she skips. A young deer streaks through the trees, and she calls out a greeting. The deer pauses, snorts a reply, and disappears into the undergrowth.

The young woman passes an ancient oak. A sudden chill in the air forces a break in her melody. She stumbles in her skipping, a shiver running across her golden skin. The woman glances around. She feels a gaze but sees no one, and heads away down the path, skipping perhaps a little faster now.

The man steps from behind the oak. Fragments of his mossy frock coat fall away in his wake. A solitary orange leaf lies in the middle of the path. The man stoops, and picks up the stem between his bony fingers. He lifts the leaf to his nose, and inhales the scent of decay.

The man gazes along the path, and smiles at the retreating Summer.