Season

FALL: The leaves crackle under my feet as I drag them across the concrete sidewalk with the heel of my boot. Lazily. The trees around me are a starburst of orange, red, and yellow–how vibrant things can be even as they dim toward winter. Years before in Beijing, fall was a crowded city full of skyscrapers, brushing across low-slung clouds. It was a melancholy gray; now it’s all a wash of maroon flooded across a November street. It is crazy how much life has changed in just four years. Four years ago, I was in Beijing alongside people who I have known since kindergarten, I was in after-school sports practice, I was in my math class, eyes gazing outside of the large glass windows that filled the school. Longing for the clock to strike 3:30 pm. Now, I am sitting in my bedroom, in Concord Massachusetts with a completely different group of people who came from different cultures and backgrounds compared to me, people who have fundamentally changed who I am. Fall, a season I used to associate with the grey low-slung clouds, now a maroon November street.

WINTER: BOOM. My boots slip out right under me, and I find myself face-planted into the slushy cold, half-melted puddle of snow. Ouch, I say under my breath. I followed up with a much louder irritated AGHHHHH. My stack of notebooks that were once filled with crisp white pages is now soggy and ripping at the seams. I pick up my notebook and flip through the pages. My drawings, notes, and sketches all blended together into one. As I look to get up, the sun reflected off the blankets of snow on the sidewalk creating a blazing glare that shone right into my eyes.

SPRING: I can feel the flowers sprouting from the ground, little by little, shooting up into the sky to form little bursts of hope, revealing their hearts to the world around them. They sway side to side, dancing in the light breeze. I take a deep breath in, inhaling the ambrosial aroma of the sweet petals. Though the relics of winter are still present, I can feel the warmth coming. The soft spring air blow past my shoulders, I stand, embracing the promises of summer days.

SUMMER: I close my eyes…I can feel a million different rays reflect onto my arm, almost as if the sun is embracing me for a warm hug for the first time. In the background, my ears are alert as the hummingbirds sing what seemed like an orchestrated performance. I tilt my head upwards. The marshmallow clouds drift freely against the blazing blue sky. Flowers now at full bloom, they tilt their heads along with me, gazing up into the summer sun. As the golden rays cast a spell of evergreen…