An Evening with June

The day is coming to a close as the lone tree standing in a lawn, slowly sways its lush green canopy in unison with the casual, warm breeze of summer. A handful of leaves descend from the shaking limbs as a single sparrow, searching for its way, lifts into the fading blue above. Below, a young man of average height, wearing a black shirt and jeans, places his baseball cap at his side and leans back on the trunk of the tree. His dark hair ends just above his lazy, dark eyes which gaze out into the world in an aloof, indifferent manner.

The green grass of the lawn begins to rustle under the weight of the young man as he shifts his body to face the young woman sitting with him on the gentle rise of the front lawn. Where, overlooking a small street, the two friends have been silently watching the ebb and flow of motorists as the outline of a pale, white moon gradually appears in the distant horizon. Calmly, his thin lips hardly moving, he says,” June, you asked me over and yet you just sit there not saying a word.”

June begins to contemplate the question at hand as her intense blue eyes focus on her pale, bare feet that are sticking straight up into the warm, late afternoon air. “I don’t know what to do, August,” she finally says and her blue eyes close while she tugs at a wrinkle on her light blue shirt before lazily placing her elbows on her knees.

His eye brows narrow in confusion,” What do you mean, you don’t know what to do, what to do with what?”

“You see.” June replies, staring at him slightly embarrassed,” I’ve graduated; I have my degree in hand, so now what?” Pausing briefly as if to gather a distant thought June steadily continues,” I guess what I’m really trying to say is, can there something more to all of this, what is next?”

“To be honest I haven’t exactly given it much thought until now. Maybe, you should try to not think about it, I believe that’s what most people do, at least that’s what I’ve done.” He then looks down and runs a hand across a few blades of grass, in a hopeful search for answers.

June raises a hand to shield the rays of the setting sun and then hangs her head, “My days are so empty though. I’m beginning to think that maybe I missed something.” She pauses to lift a clump of grass from the confines of the earth and then runs her fingers absent mindedly over their simple, soft contours. “I feel like I’m strumming an old, out of tune guitar, playing a melody no one understands.”

And as the words from her thick, full lips hang in the air, the faint shadows of the trees are slowly tossed onto the sidewalk by the dimming light of the fading sun. Meanwhile, just over the slight rise of the lawn, a young couple’s silhouette comes into view on the sidewalk, each arm draped around the other as they saunter through the cascading shadows of the coming evening while the headlights of passing cars give light to their fair complexion.

Watching the passing couple, August says, “we’ve been friends and we’ve been something more and to hear you now… I’ve never heard you talk like this.” Quickly, he looks around, already regretting what he had said.

June slowly nods her head in agreement, “Everyday, I see people going through life and ignoring themselves, taking the safest roads and I can’t help but wonder why. They just go through the motions, day after day.”
“I never really noticed it, until now.”

Looking up at August, she brushes aside a loose strand of brunette hair that had fallen in front of her blue eyes. Faintly, a if fearing someone will hear, she whispers,” I won’t become that, I won’t become one of them,” and she makes a quick motion with her hands as a sign of her own defiance, before wrapping her slender arms around her knees.

A sudden gust of wind, like a forbear of the coming fall, abruptly begins and rattles the now limp, languid branches hanging overhead. More leaves casually begin to fall, carpeting the earth in a celebration of the changing seasons. June, carefully reaching out, places one of the leaves in the palm of her hand and tosses it into the changing summer and quietly, the two friends watch it effortlessly traverse the cool air.

Looking into the distance, she then peers over at him as a autumn like hail of golden brown confetti continues to fall around them, “It just kind of hit me all of a sudden August. I was out on the front lawn, minutes before you arrived,” she makes a couple motions with her hands through the falling leaves as if painting the scene. “Waiting for you and watching the setting sun and it just hit me. What am I doing with my life and you know what, I don’t know.”

August places his cap on his head and rises to his tired feet, shrugging his narrow shoulders. “I can’t help you June,” and as he finishes his voice quickens as fear creeps in and like a man out of touch his last words trail off.

“Well, perhaps you should make time and at least help yourself,” says June, making a point not to look at him.

Vainly attempting to ignore his friend’s plea, August fumbles in his pockets for his keys as a light rain begins. The first drops land on the brim of his hat, making a soft, repetitive sound. Carefully, June gets to her feat,” I’m going in, you coming?”

“I don’t know, I’m beginning to wonder,” August replies.

Behind him, June’s foot steps disappear into the distance and August standing alone before the rapidly approaching evening, stuffs his hands into his pockets. Raising his head, August ignores the raindrops that steadily land in his eyes and staring up, he catches sight of the moon boldly retaking its rightful position in the night sky above him.