September

Standing before the window, it looked more like a summer’s day then an autumn one. I rubbed the satin curtain against my fingers, enjoying the feel of it whilst my mind became fully awake. Even though the window was open, I could hear birds singing and the gentle lapping of the lake. I could see the wooden rowing from here too and it stirred memories inside me of all those summers spent on bodies of water with my father, brothers, uncles, grandfather and friends.

I strange deja vu came over me and I saw a tall man with three boys gathering around the boat and preparing her to sail. One of the boys turned back and waved at me. Only it wasn’t me, because I had become my mother and I was actually that little boy. I waved then realized there was no one out there, it had just been a memory.

Dropping the curtain, I walked to my study and stood at the door. My life was piled into that room. My old computer, the first and only typewriter I’d owned, all of my books, though those that I had written had a special bookcase to themselves. My wooden toy sailing boat in a glass case was on the window sill.

My fingers curled around the door frame.

‘Not today,’ I muttered and turned away from my work.

I went to the front door and out into the morning. The sun was bright and warm, making the trees dapple shadows on the ground. I went to the edge of the lake and looked at the boat gently rocking there. Memories swelled within me and I thought about my parents like I hadn’t do for years.

I got into the boat and rowed into the middle of the lake. There I become a child again, living summers that felt like they could go on forever.