Autumn Leaves, Autumn Lives

by Pablo Libedinsky

The old man shuffled along the solitary path, crunching dead leaves under his feet. The cold breeze, the autumn smell, and the spectacle of red, gold, brown, and ochre leaves dancing in the wind made him feel alive. He spotted an empty bench, sat down, leaned back, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. The wind surged, and layer by layer the leaves began to pile on him. When the wind stopped, the man had disappeared, buried under a silent mound of dry foliage. A sudden gust shattered the stillness, blowing the leaves away, leaving a clean, desolate bench.

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Pablo Libedinsky is a retired computer programmer living in San Francisco. He wrote a few stories when he was 12 years old and then stopped, later returning to writing as an adult. His stories have been published in Down in the Dirt, Let Me Tell You a Story, The Gorko Gazette, 10x10Flash and CommuterLit.