The Four Seasons

Part Two: To Find the Reluctant

"I will take the pieces, put them back together
Even when the grass isn't green enough,
Taking all the branches, build ourselves a mansion,
Love you in the way that you needed love."
-Compass, Zella Day

    As evening approached, the fog came to a clearing. In that clearing, sitting cross-legged on the ground, was a girl whose chocolate hair fell in tangled strands over a desolate face. She had her head in her hands and was rethinking many things when she was joined by three other girls who approached cautiously, but with crystal clear relief. Spring looked up from her position and blinked away tears before the others could see. As they moved towards her, she stumbled away, shaking her head.
    "Spring!" Autumn beamed.
    "Just leave me alone," Spring pleaded in a small voice.
    Summer began, "Spring, just come back home with us..."
    "And we promise we won't treat you unfairly anymore," Winter cautioned.
    Spring shook her head and reminded herself of all the things that led them up to this moment.

—

    It was a warm sunny morning and when Autumn and Summer had started arguing about this or that, something insignificant - as usual. But one thing led to another, and soon they were yelling back and forth. Winter and Spring sat on a bed and glanced at each other with equally questioning looks. Spring would have normally gotten their parents, but they were in town shopping. When she attempted to calm the two feuding sisters, they ignored her.
    So what did she do? She got up, and though she had nearly nost her patience with the two, she, as politely as she could, asked them to stop arguing.
    Autumn gave Summer and Spring an annoyed look before stomping out of the room. Summer marched after her, shooting insults as she went.
    Spring watched as they left the room and looked over at Winter, who shrugged. Spring put her head in her hands as hate welled up inside her. She was mad at Autumn and Summer for the constant chaos they caused. She also was mad because they never, ever, not once, got called out by their parents for fighting. Why was Spring always getting picked on and prodded to be perfect while these two could go around doing whatever they wanted?
    Tears started to form in her eyes — she felt so misunderstood — but instead of being sad, like she always did, she decided to - for the first time in her "perfect" life - be mad. She raged. And it felt so good. Tired of holding it in, she marched over to the, still arguing, Autumn and Winter, and shouted, to their horror.
    "I'm sick of you arguing all the time! And I'm sick of being the "good child" or whatever, with no reward! You could sneak out, break the rules, or do whatever you want, but all I do is get pushed down for not being good enough!" She yelled, sobbing. It was then that she noticed her parents were home, groceries in hand and staring at them, astounded. But Spring continued. In her eyes, everyone in the world should have know how she felt.
    "I have been the DO-GOODER of this family my whole life!!!" Spring screamed, "Well, I've had enough of it! It's MY TURN to be the bad guy!"
    And so it began.

—

    "Spring. We know you're mad, but we just want to help you. Can't we talk about this?"
    Spring laughed, harsh and cold. "Look where that's gotten me in the past!" Her heart felt as if growing darker with each word toward her sisters.
    "Spring, please!" Autumn wailed, choking on her words and suppressing tears.
    "We're sorry!" Winter said, struggling to be heard.
    "Yeah!" Summer added, "We won't keep being...that way; I promise!"
    Pushing her stupid feelings back inside, Spring said, "No."
    The girls looked at her with disappointment and surprise. It had never been so difficult to apologize before; they'd always had it easy, patching up the wounds before they'd truly healed, and forgetting about them later. Not like this. Spring started walking away, and without thinking, Summer said, "Wait!"
    Spring turned halfway, and waited for something more, words that would take her back home, but there wasn't a sound at all. And that's when she felt the same rage all over again. She started to leave, but Winter raced up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Almost as soon as she did so, Spring spun around and, instantly, grew a tree up from the ground, causing Winter to be thrown backwards.
    Whatever shock had previously inhibited the sisters, was a mere nothing compared to the horror they felt as they watched Winter hurtle through the air and landed flat on her back. She didn't scream, but as she sat up, she coughed a bit and the other two ran to her aid.
        Autumn looked at Spring with newfound surprise and anger, her red hair swaying as the wind started to pick up. Summer was just dumbfounded. She found herself asking repeatedly to Winter whether or not she was okay, her reputation of Spring shattered. Was this who she really was?
    Winter coughed some more, then forced herself to stand. For the first time for as long as anyone could remember, she raised her voice. "Spring," she warned. "I understand why you're upset, but you're being irrational!"
        Spring clenched her fists in rage and sent vines shooting forward towards them. Autumn ducked and Summer didn't have enough time to react, but Winter created ice shards coming up from the ground to shield them. Spring started to leave one last time, but Autumn created a wind that pushed her back.
        "WHAT," Spring shouted. "No, what is it that you want?! I'm not just going to come crawling back to you just because of an apology! You ruined your chance, now leave me alone! You can't stop me."
        The wind grew even stronger, preventing Spring from moving on, and Summer became angry yet again. "What, then? Where will you go?! You can't survive on your own...you NEED us!" Which was more true than any of the sisters knew. They needed each other. It was another reason they'd always been locked away. If they lost a family member, the world could go somewhat out of balance. But if they hated each other forever, things would change for the worst.
        Spring laughed dryly. "Fine."
        "You'll come back to us?"
        "No. I'll fight for my right to leave." Just as soon as she finished the sentence, fog rolled in and rain poured as hard as ever. Thunder crashed. Thunder that sounded as if the earth had split. Flashes of light were seen every so often, illuminating the thick air.
        Spring knew her sister's energy was draining, and she counted on that, in hopes that they would give up. Not that she wasn't ready for combat. She let her sisters prowl through the endless gray atmosphere, striking lighting far too close to them.
        Autumn immediately headed where Spring was previously, not daring to lose her, not yet. The thing keeping the sisters going, other than their own determination and twisted love, was the faint sounds heard here and there. The crunch of feet on rocks. A quiet intake of breath. Barely heard between the piercing thunder, but there all the same.
        The weather was something they didn't even try to stop. Spring's hatred amplified the weather, and the sister's didn't contain enough emotion or energy to stop her. All they could do was search.
        Autumn's wind blew the fog every so often, enough to see trees beside them, everything looking like shadows. And...was that a human figure? Summer gasped and Autumn quieted her. Winter gazed as Autumn dashed as quietly as possible and grasped a handful of nothingness...only to find Spring's arm between her shaking fingers. They looked each other in the eye for a moment, hoping the other would come to their senses, but they were both too strong.
        Spring pulled away and, in an instant, had a wall of trees between the two. Autumn fell back, then gave the sisters a look and they pushed through the rough bark, tightly woven together. Autumn flicked her wrist and had all the leaves fall to the ground. Easier to see, easier to find. The rain and fog had ceased at this point, leaving only clouds and darkness. The forest that Spring kept growing seemed to go on forever and the sisters could barely get through the the mass of plants. Spring was always within view, but never close enough to reach after that one moment in the fog.
        Autumn was constantly working to remove leaves from the trees, and Winter kept her gaze on Spring. Summer kept going for a motivation she could no longer place.
    And Spring wiped away her tears. Tears of anger? Sadness? Guilt? Even she didn't know, though she assumed it was some kind of mix of feelings. She wasn't far off.
        Summer got a sudden angry burst of energy - a burst of energy that was quite typical for her. She wanted all of this to be over, for things to go back to normal, so she ran through trees and bushes, ignoring scrapes and bruises.
    Spring heard rustling and felt hands grab her before she even knew what was going on.
    "Spring, no one cares about your stupid good-girl problem. Just come back home and quit being so irritating!"
    They all stopped. Everything was as if in slow motion for a moment as Spring turned around. No one could recall really, the terrifying scene. Some sort of plant grew up from the ground at lightning speed, and Summer went out like a light. Unconscious. Petrified. Spring didn't smile, but pulled a blank expression. No one knew she was screaming inside. No one knew that even she wasn't prepared for that. All they saw was poor, paralyzed Summer.
          Autumn quickly forgot Summer's harsh words, but Winter let them linger in her mind, not choosing to be as mad as she had the right to be. Winter always seemed to be taking things lightly, when, on the inside, she simply decides to ponder on them, really think about them, more than others do. She looked over at Autumn, who was shaking Summer and calling her name. Then, in a flash, Winter leaped through the trees and said what her sisters would have said in a less intense situation. "Spring! She...she didn't mean it."
    Spring didn't turn around which scared Autumn.
    All around her, trees shrunk, going through their life backwards until they were gone completely and the four were left to a barren landscape, like before. A clean slate, a clear conscience, an empty chalkboard.
            Spring grew vines, meant to entangle, meant to destroy. Winter dodged them, and froze the ground beneath their feet. Spring slipped and fell on the ice, then got up, even more angry.
    This is when Autumn decided to do something, standing up and joining, despite her earlier worries about the townspeople and weather expectancy. She pulled leaves off of trees with harsh movements of her arms, and pushed wind towards Spring with renewed motive. A thousand leaves blew in the wind.
    Spring stumbled, her internal senses off balance. Slipping on ice, fall colors in the wind, all in Summer? The sisters felt this strange emotion too from somewhere deep within themselves.
             Winter looked over at Autumn, who raged at Spring, doing everything she could to stop her. When did she become the violent one? It was clear at this point that Autumn was provoked by her own anger, not her guilt, sorrow, or worry. And anger was far too dangerous for more than one sister. None of them were even on the same page anymore. How in the world could the four sisters become split apart like this?
             Winter felt still felt the need do something about this. She sent flurries of snow towards Spring and glided over to her while she was distracted. The snow whirled around Spring for a moment before settling and Spring grew trees up around her, almost like a cage. Autumn unintentionally gave Winter an advantage by once again pulling the leaves off the trees. Winter built snow up and up and up further, until she could scramble up the icy mixture and into Spring's little tree barrier.
             Almost as soon as she landed, Spring grew vines that tied her up. One less person to deal with. She shifted her focus to Autumn. Fierce winds blew at Spring who covered her face with her arm. While Autumn tried her hardest to make Spring regret, Winter broke out and Summer...woke up. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, blonde hair whipping around her face. What in the world is going on?
             It was at that moment that Winter finally got herself untangled from the stupid plants and she ran towards Summer, whispering something in her ear. Summer gave Winter a surprised look, but nodded. Autumn ran towards the two and they quit talking.
             "Are you okay?"
             Summer replied, "Yeah, fine," though her head throbbed.
             "We've got to do something," Winter said, ready to let Autumn regain control.
             Autumn's face only darkened. "She can't be reasoned with." Summer took Autumn's hand and squeezed it, looking into her eyes. "Yes. She can."
             But when they returned their attention to Spring, she was on the ground sobbing. Her head was between her hands and a drizzle had picked up again. It was then that the three realized the depth of Spring's pain. They felt it deep within their soul, causing a regret so big, that they would have done anything for her in that moment. The three looked at each other, unsure, unknowing, and far beyond sorrowful.
    "Spring?" Summer said, and she cautiously walked over to her.
             "Go away."
             "No."
             "You don't want me."
             "Of course we do!"
             "No. Just...leave. I know I'm annoying and stupid, so you can just go back home and quit pretending that you care."
        Summer sighed and sat down by Spring, who still refused to look up. Autumn and Winter sat on the other side of Spring, and Autumn put a hand on her back.
        "Spring...we aren't pretending. We actually care about you. We really are trying to help."
        "Yeah...we really are sorry." Autumn added grimly.
    "It's just that...we never realized. Of course we want you to feel welcome, we just didn't know how...how unwelcome you always felt. You have always been the better sister. More polite, smart, caring..."
             "The treatment that you got was unfair, and we are truly, well..." Summer said.
             "Sorry," they all mumbled in the same moment.
             Spring burst into tears all at once. She finally felt somewhat understood for the first time in a while. So she cried into Summer's shoulder, daring to peer upwards as Winter gave her a smile. Eventually Spring wiped her eyes and nose and lifted her head from Summer's shoulder, trying to pull herself together. "I...I'm sorry. F—for causing so much trouble."
             "Really, it's fine. After all the things we've ruined for you, you had the right to cause us some trouble."
             "Summer's right. You don't have apologize. It was all out fault." Autumn reasoned.
             This hushed them all for a moment before Spring spoke, "Well...if it helps, I forgive you too." Autumn hugged Spring. Summer and Winter joined too and soon they were falling over and giggling just like when they were little.