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Finally fall had arrived. Or it was here a few weeks ago but Gordon didn’t quite catch the first day of fall. The excitement most others had around him was lost thanks to his thoughts about his spring experience. In all honesty he didn’t even realize summer had come and past. Time normally moved in weird ways, often feeling slower at the beginning of a new year and slow at the end, but ever since the Resonance Cascade and the horrid time at Black Mesa that changed. Time no longer existed in the sense Gordon knew.
Until he stepped out of his apartment. Each time the time seemed to change randomly even when he couldn’t always find what date it really was. Today when Gordon opened the front door it was some fall day, not a specific day but just a clearly fall one thanks to all the orange, yellow, and red leaves still clung to a nearby tree branch. A soft, chilly breeze pushed against Gordon, awarding him a moment of rest from the last bit of summer sun heat. Last time he went out he couldn’t ignore the heat, almost backing out to return to safety of the apartment, but the cold wind helped take his mind away from the sun. Instead of a drive to stay home, the autumn time gave him a drive to go out for the first time in a while. Of course, Gordon had plans he had to keep so he wouldn’t retreat but it was nice to have another motivation. He had to met up the Science Team, a met up that was sprung randomly on him earlier that day but a more pleasant one. He did need to get out.
For once after all that event and after all that supposed time he spent cooped up, Gordon finally wanted to talk a walk to the spot where the others would be so walk he did. His small adventure brought even more awareness to the actual time. Houses he past had decorations up for fall and Halloween while shops displayed more leaves, orange tones, and gourds. Everything went on as usual, just like last autumn. It all went on around Gordon, even if he couldn’t tell thanks to his time blind room. People spoke to each other happily as he passed by, some how unaware about the Resonance Cascade. It was all so normal despite what Gordon went through.
He couldn’t tell how he truly felt about it. Actually he could, he was just lying to himself. He knew how awful it felt to be stuck in the past, unable to escape the horrible halls of Black Mesa, while those around him didn’t even know what happened. If he was truthful with himself he would have acknowledged a connection between that moment and his apartment but he really didn’t want to think about it. Yet, he did still hope that with the normalcy of the world around him it could return him to a state before everything. Before the terrible stuff he experienced.
With another store passed he finally found his stop. His focus dragged back out as he heard the old, famous line from a dear friend. “Hello, Gordon!”