Chapter Three:The Promise Beneath Autumn Leaves
312 Words
Weeks passed, and somehow Idris became a normal part of Amina’s life.
They were not officially anything.
They were just two people who found comfort in each other’s company.
But everyone around them noticed.
The way Idris looked for Amina in crowded places.
The way Amina smiled whenever his name appeared on her phone.
The way their conversations felt effortless, like they had known each other for years.
But happiness was never as simple as it seemed.
One evening, Amina found Idris sitting alone beneath the old tree behind the school. The autumn leaves covered the ground around him, creating a golden carpet.
“You look like you’re thinking about something serious,” she said.
Idris looked up and smiled. “Maybe I am.”
“Can I know what it is?”
He looked at the leaves before answering.
“Have you ever had something good happen to you and felt scared it wouldn’t last?”
Amina sat beside him.
“Sometimes,” she admitted.
Idris took a deep breath. “I don’t want to lose the people who make me feel like myself.”
Amina looked at him carefully. She could hear the honesty in his voice.
“You won’t lose everyone,” she said softly.
He looked at her.
“Promise?”
She smiled. “Promise.”
The wind moved through the trees, sending more leaves around them.
Neither of them knew what the future would bring.
They didn’t know about the secrets waiting to be revealed, the choices they would have to make, or the distance that would test them.
But in that moment, under the autumn sky, they made a promise.
A promise that no matter what happened, they would remember the day they chose each other.
Because sometimes love does not arrive like a storm.
Sometimes it falls gently, like autumn leaves.
Quietly.
Beautifully.
And unexpectedly.
- Writer
