Autumn...

He tried to keep his memories intact, until they ripped him into a dozen pieces.

It was the beginning of another autumn, a season he disliked.
He just hated how his backyard’s trees turned yellow. He didn’t want the leaves and their thousand shades of green to change, because they reminded him of the color of her eyes.
Ten years passed, maybe more, he wasn’t certain, but those hues of green were something he could never forget.

He watched his kids play around. He smiled proudly at them. But not a single day went by where he didn’t think about her.
He threw his heart in frozen lakes a million times, but that compartment which belonged to her, never hardened. He was forever changed by her.
In the way he talked, there was her. In the way he perceived life, there was her vision. In his children, he saw how she could’ve raised them. They might have picked up different hobbies or passions, he always thought.

He opened an old wallet: boarding passes, metro tickets, bills, silly notes, yet, not a single photograph. Each piece of paper smelled of youth and of a particular memory. He put it back in his inside pocket and allowed himself a flashback: places, achievements, songs, foreign languages, colorful moments and tons more.

After several minutes, he felt a gentle hand rubbing his back. “Tough day at work, huh?
He nodded without saying a word.
“Dinner’s ready.”, the voice said.
He got up, kissed his wife’s forehead and walked inside with her.