Soita Stories

Anna loved autumn.

It was her favourite season of the year. She didn’t love it because every other Jane, Harriet and Sharon claimed summer was overrated and therefore went with autumn but she loved it because it was the most beautiful season of the year. She loved the smell of wet soil from their backyard every single time it rained, the sound of rain droplets every time they hit the roof and the refreshing feeling brought by autumn winds. Since she was a baby, she had gotten accustomed to watching the rain. She would sit underneath the sheltered balcony with a warm cup of coffee and get lost in the beauty of nature watching how every tiny little drop of rain hit the ground. She found it therapeutic. 

In the evenings she would spend her time walking around the footpath of the gated community she grew up in barefoot. She always said she loved the texture of dry leaves beneath her feet. She mellowed at the sound of the leaves crushing beneath her weight. She was careful enough to only step on the dry leaves and leave the freshly fallen coloured leaves alone. She loved the combination of the different colours of leaves altogether. She described it as “perfectly splendid”. 

Throughout childhood, she had longed for fall all through the year. She had at times wished to the shooting stars for autumn to last all year but the basics of science and the magic of the universe had betrayed her. 

Nothing gave her the ick like the sight of snow. Anna claimed snow made the festive season less festive. 

She disliked the cold that came with it. The idea of trees freezing out during winter took the beauty out of nature. She never understood why people loved snow simply because it gave them a chance to build a snowman and play with snowballs. Even though part of her agreed that Christmas lights with a touch of snow seemed beautiful, the idea of being indoors for days unable to go out bothered her. Not to mention the need to clear snow from your lawn just so you can finally move around. She preferred when it was rainy and sunny. Nothing made her day like the sight of a rainbow on a dull day. 

It had been a year since her mum had passed. The adjustment to a life without her had been brutal. For the first few months, she had struggled to get out of bed. She had fought depression and lost a couple of times before coming out victorious. She had lost weight and become overweight in a short period while struggling to accept her loss. She had slowly moved from being an extrovert to an introvert who had lost her work-from-home.

As she sat across the waiting room next to the reception, she wondered whether or not she was making the right decision. Deep down she felt conflicted. She battled with thoughts, desires and needs. She was confused and had no one to help her figure things out. That was her mother’s territory. According to Anna, Sloan had all the answers, she always knew what to say, how to say it and when to say it. Whenever her daughter struggled with life decisions, she was the wise woman that always came to her rescue. It’s times like this that made her wish her mother had not left her so soon. But cancer is brutal, it knows no one. 

“Breanna” the receptionist called out. 

Her voice was soft yet firm; it instantly brought Anna back from her pool of thoughts. 

“Yes” responded the lady in blue. 

“Head straight and take a left turn, they are ready for you,” 

Anna stared ahead as the lady in blue stood up and bedazzled her way into the hallway before disappearing. 

She questioned if truly she wanted to spend the next year’s of her life stuck at a nine to five job; that’s if she gets the job in the first place. 

She was educated, her mother saw to it. She had made it out of undergrad and gotten a scholarship to do her master’s in economics. She was suitable for the job. She had an impeccable track record of performance from her previous jobs not to mention a good number of experiences to tag along with them.

A part of her wanted to be normal. She thought life can be fixed with a simple timetable. A voice in her head told her that she needed to get a job, find a man, get married and maybe even have kids and build a family. A large part of her wanted this, yet, something felt wrong with the plan. 

Anna gripped her handbag tightly and stared down at the green file that neatly held all of her important documents. Suddenly, she felt an itch in her throat. A thirst for water. She wondered how she was thirsty when it was cold and snowing outside. She looked around the room piercing through every corner of the room with hopes of spotting a dispenser but to no avail. She was just about to give in when a delivery guy walked in dressed in a black t-shirt and grey cargo pants. 

She couldn’t help but notice the words on the back of his t-shirt as he delivered a package at the reception. 

“Choose your happiness. Choose YOU,” she whispered the words. 

It hit deep. It almost felt like fate. Almost as though that moment had been planned. She needed to hear those words and so she said them to herself one more time and it sunk deeper. 

She knew what she wanted, what she had been craving all along. It finally dawned on her, clear as day. She needed a fresh start, somewhere warm and beautiful. Someplace with a beach nearby so she can feel the sand move underneath her feet as the waves retire back to the waters. She wanted a place whose weather and environment reminded her of autumn. 

Maybe she can put up a little shop and slowly build her scented candles business. Maybe she can even start a family and finally have a sense of normalcy with a touch of Anna. 

“Annabelle” 

She heard the receptionist call out and instantly stood up. She fixed up her outfit and smiled. 

“Not today hun,” 

Perhaps she was finally ready for a new beginning. 

She always knew Santa Catarina in the southern part of Brazil was beautiful throughout the year, maybe that’s where a touch of normalcy begins. 

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Hello dearest, thank you for getting to the end of this short piece. Earlier this year I decided to embark on a journey that required more attention than usual and at that, I was unable to post anything on here. But am back and our weekly stories will be updated on time. Hope you loved today’s piece. Thank you for reading and see you next time.