Fall Is Coming to the Garden

And with it… something else.

The mornings are colder now.

Not cold enough to see your breath yet, but just enough to make the kids wrap their sleeves around their hands when they walk.
Minato switched from iced tea to warm.
Noriko’s started collecting leaves again.
Rika’s been painting pumpkins on anything she can find napkins, envelopes, corners of her journal pages.

Fumiko begged to go to the pumpkin patch.
It wasn’t really anyone’s idea.
But they all said yes.

So they went.

The hay was scratchy, the cider too sweet, and the sun never fully came out.
But there was something about the air that made everything feel suspended like the world had pressed pause.

At one point, Rika wandered off. She needed space. Noise gives her headaches sometimes.

That’s when she noticed someone following.

Just a few steps back.
Not close. Not threatening.
But there. Watching.
Waiting like they weren’t sure if they were allowed to come closer.

She didn’t say anything.

She just picked up a small, bruised pumpkin, ran her fingers along its imperfect ridges, and pretended not to notice.

But she did.

And when she turned around, whoever-it-was was already gone.

Still… the next morning, that same pumpkin was sitting by the garden gate.

Someone had carved a tiny lantern into its side.
It wasn’t signed.

But Rika didn’t throw it away.