Tale of the Monarch Butterfly

The Fading Boy

Hi guys!! Sorry for the late update :")
But here's a piece of calming background music for all of you, This is for better reading experience^^

***

Autumn walks towards the bathtub, toes flinching as they touch the chilled ceramic floor. Usually, Autumn turns her tablet or Nana's radio on for music and sings along as if she's onstage. However, for today, she just wants to crouch down, let her body soak in the lukewarm water as her mind goes off. Little Autumn slides down into the water, letting it block out the sounds around her. Her mind is in shreds; her eyelids keep drooping over and over each time while hearing those words like a broken tape in her mind.

"Because I'll fade away."

She parts her lips while heaving a deep sigh with a concoction of sadness and exasperation in it. She cracks an eyelid open in search of the wooden dipper her Nana had apprised a while ago, while cooking occupies all of her consciousness. In the brilliant light of October, a beacon of light pierces through the mullioned pane of glass. The sun streams in like a flamboyant guest, not waiting for an invitation. That makes Autumn see clearly as she explores her eyes around the illuminating room.

"I should've listened to Nana," she mumbles while reaching out for the wooden dipper beside those several white towels hanging over the wooden chair in the corner.

Autumn slowly scoops a great amount of water while the memories of yesterday come swirling into her thoughts again. The water pours down, it drips by her side, as her mind fades into dullness and everything is a foggy illusion. The sensation of the steamy water calms her; it takes her mind off things. All the things she honestly shouldn't care about. Autumn's train of thoughts vanish like her pencil sharpener when Nana Mistuko's voice echoes in the small lovely house.

"Audie, you're well aware that you've been there for more than an hour, right?" Nana asks in confirmation with a hint of worry lacing her voice.

Only then it registers in Autumn's mind that time passes very quickly, like so much time that she just watched it drain like water in a tub; so much time that she let it vanish like a magician in an act. So much time she watched it dissolve like a mirage across a desert. Papa would be mad at me.

"Yes Nana, I'm already finished," Autumn responds while deliberately recalling her Papa's preeminent rule. "Don't let time split away with an absence of executing indelible memories."

"Okay, head straight to the dining area to eat lunch," Nana replies as Autumn hears her light dissipating footsteps in the elongated engawa while the chorus of the birds drifts in like steady ocean waves. Little Autumn didn't waste a single second to go off into the big lump of water and hastily reaches out for the sterile flocculent bath towel that is sitting in the corner.

She doesn't want to make her Nana wait and that's why after the cloth absorbs and seeps the water flowing freely over her, she grabs her pink, Tuesday pantie along with her chosen hazel dress with its flattering V-seamed bodice with side panels cut on the bias, just a simple dirndl style skirt that has in-seam pockets. The fleecy fiber of the cotton lawn knee-length dress slips onto her shoulders, peppering her body with indescribable softness.

Afterward, avalanches of curly chestnut-hair cascades down her back like chocolate ice cream melting down in the blazing sun. The soft, ringlet strands flow down her little back, stopping in a line around her hip. Eventually, Autumn glances at the glistening mirror in front of her, which reflects her small, lovely face, drizzled with pulchritudinous imperfections. None other than her beguiling freckles scatter over her nose to accentuate her quintessential features.