The Whisper of Autumn At the turning of the season, a small presence drifts in from nowhere in particular. Hidden in the morning breeze, slipping through the grass — soft and drifting, soft and drifting. You can't see it, but I'm sure there is a tiny spirit that carries autumn in on its breath. I knew this feeling as a child, too. The walk home after summer vacation ended. Shadows that had grown a little longer. The sound of insects from the tall grass. That faint ache of loneliness felt when gazing up at the twilight sky. And the smell of autumn. What was that smell, exactly? The smell of grass. The smell of dry earth. The smell of dinner drifting over from a distant house. So many things blending together — perhaps they became a single scent simply called "autumn." Even now, as an adult, I sometimes catch that same smell without warning. And then the little spirit picks up one forgotten memory and quietly sets it down before me. "The wind blew just like this, back then, too." I think I hear a voice like that, and I pause — just for a moment. This year again, autumn's presence has begun to drift softly in.