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The majestic maple tree yawned with the wake of a new season, shaking itself awake to observe its surroudings. The formerly attached rain-soaked leaves slowly began to drift down from the tree, lazily making their way to the ground. One particularly eye-catching leaf had begun its descent and was happily floating down when it was caught by a outstretched hand.
“Wow! Look at the color on this leaf; it looks like it’s been dipped in the sun then left out to dry.” The person who had caught the leaf was none other than Marc, who presented it to Nathaniel for inspection.
“Who knew you could be so descriptive with words, Marc?” Alix happily teased, while she skated circles around the happy couple who were sitting under the overhanging tree.
“He’s not just some parkgoer, I’ll have you know that he’s the chief script writer for the world-famous Ladybug comics.” Nathaniel boasted, as he got up to take the leaf from Marc hands. “And he’s my boyfriend.” He inspected the color of the leaf, before handing back to him announcing, “you’re right, the color is so vibrant. This would be a great color for an akuma.”
“And that’s why you’re the chief artist for the Ladybug comics.” The three of them burst out in giggles, until Nathaniel, between heaves of laughter, managed to choke out, “how you would put it then, Ms. Rollerblades?”
Alix picked a stray leaf off the ground and hummed as she painstakingly looked over each inch of the leaf. “You know, it’s has a really nice shade of orange-red; the kind you see at at sunset.” Marc nodded approvingly as Alix made her commentary.
“So like a leaf that’s been in the sun then?”
“Exactly.” She snapped her fingers to match the timing of her words, then asking, “do you guys know when the others are going to get here?”
“I’m not sure, but they’ll probably be here soon.” Nathaniel replied, receiving a nod from Alix who then went rollerblading off into the distance.
Nathaniel turned to Marc, “I guess it’s dry enough for her to go rollerblading again.” The two of them sat back down, now resting on the trunk of the tree as they waited for the rest of the Art Club to arrive.
“I don’t know, it’s just so hard to find inspiration these days. I’ve tried everything: feathers, polka dots, stripes, even plaid!” Marinette lamented as she walked across the road to the neighborhood park; she brightened up as she thought of an idea. “Tikki! You’ve been alive for centuries, surely you must have some ideas for me.”
The red and black spotted kwami agonizingly shook her tiny head, which was poking out of Marinette’s purse. “I already told you Marinette, kwamis never really had a chance to learn about human culture. Before I met you, I thought that forks was another weapon that humans had invented for war. I’m not very well-versed in human fashion, but I’m sure you’ll think of something!”
“Aww, thanks Tikki and thank goodness I remembered to schedule this picnic in my calendar or I would have been late…” Marinette pulled out her phone to check the time. The display read 16:50, “20 minutes ago!” She hastily tucked her phone back into the purse, accidentally shoving Tikki further in, as she sprinted in the direction of the park.
As she dashed through the park’s entrance, she spied Juleka and Rose making their way over to Marc and Nathaniel, who had sat themselves down on a picnic blanket and were excitedly talking to each other.
Thank goodness she wasn’t too late.
“Sorry!” She panted, resting her hands on her knees for a moment to catch her breath, before straightening herself up. “Sorry I’m late everyone.” She felt a clap on her back, causing her to whirl around just in time to see Alix skate by her. “Don’t sweat it Marinette, the others just got here too.” She gestured for them to come under the tree, pointing at the basket of food and bottles of water that had been set up atop the blankets.
Just as she was about to sit down, she was waved over by Marc and Nathaniel, the latter of whom was holding something in his hand. “Hey Marinette, look at this leaf that Marc found.” He stretched out his hand and proffered the leaf to her, which she gladly took. She took a seat near them and after catching her breath, she focused her gaze upon the leaf.
The moment she was able to truly see the leaf, she turned to them and enthusiastically commented, “It’s beautiful.”
What an understatement.
The color of the leaf was so incredibly vibrant and fresh, with the orange-red pigment changing shades as she moved it under the sunlight. As it laid in her pale palm, she could see the growing contrast between the two, as the redness of the leaf seemed to evolve into a deeper shade of rose, with just a hint of amber from the sun. When she moved it under the shade, the leaf retained its striking appearance, the red now morphing into a candy apple red.
Wordlessly, she handed the leaf back to Nathaniel and pulled out her own sketchbook and accompanying pastels. She flipped to a blank page, where just 20 minutes ago she had no idea what to draw; but now? Now she knew. Slowly, she sketched the outline of the leaf, and ever-so-carefully began the process of blending and layered various shades of yellow, orange, and red. As she did so, she felt the wind start to blow, with pages occasionally fluttering in the air if she wasn’t careful.
When she finished, she found that Nathaniel and Marc were huddled together, mocking up concept art for an autumn-themed akuma in their newest issue of the Ladybug comics. Juleka and Rose were a few meters away, carefully taping a fallen leaf into Rose’s autumn-themed scrapbook. Alix had found a blank street wall and was finishing up her mural of the great red maple tree.
As the sun slowly began to set, Marinette lethargically stretched her arms and rose from the ground. She approached Rose and Juleka and asked them, “will you meet by Alix’s mural?”
“Of course Marinette!” Rose’s cheery reply came along with Juleka’s perfunctory nod, who then asked, “We’ll meet you over there?”
“Yup! I’m just going to get Marc and Nathaniel. Oh, and make sure to bring your scrapbook".” She called to the girls who had begun to head towards the park’s exit. Marc, who had heard the conversation between them poked his head up from his notebook.
“We’re heading over to where Alix is?” She nodded in reply, proceeding to gather her own materials and put them in her backpack. When she peeked inside her purse, she found Tikki curled up having quietly dozed off. She started walking over to Alix, feeling the soothing motion of the wind weaving through her hair.
When she got there, she found that Alix was animatedly discussing their evening plans, which was to go the bakery for soft and fluffly pumpkin cinnamon rolls with a side of steaming apple cider. Alix shifted her glance to look beyond Marinette’s shoulder, commenting, “everyone’s here?”
“Yes.” Which naturally came from Juleka.
“Juleka and I have been talking all day about how excited we are for hot apple cider!” Rose supplied, the widening grin on her face growing brighter.
“Agreed. It's been really windy today.” Alix added, and at that particular moment, the wind blew through her short-cut hair, allowing it to freely ripple in every direction.
Just as they were about to head off in the direction of the Dupain-Cheng’s bakery, Marinette realized something. “We forgot to take a picture! Come on everyone, let’s take it in front of Alix’s mural!”
“Hey, you guys should also show the art you worked on so it’s not just me!” Alix chimed in, which caused the others to delight over the idea.
Everyone squeezed together for the photo, with Marinette displaying her sketch, Marc and Nathaniel holding out their notebook, Juleka and Rose raising their scrapbook and Alix pointing at her giant mural. They all smiled, feeling the wind blow past them just as the camera flashed, marking the first photo of Autumn.