Changing Seasons

Changing Seasons

It was on the last day of August that Luke met Frank. Winter was waning, and its cold company had begun to embrace warmer times, passing on its annual duties in a passive surrender. Mornings no longer carried the same sting, flowers were beginning to bloom and the town had come to life.

Luke was out shopping for a new school uniform, grudgingly following his mother from store to store trying on shoes that would last him for the next four years. His birthday was in two months, but for Luke the day did not carry with it the normal excitement or childish impatience that he was so used to. This year he felt nothing but an impending sense of doom, for what was a birthday without friends? Last year Luke had been able to pick and choose the friends he wanted to invite, but things were different now. Now Luke was in a different town, living in a different house, going to a different school, living in a different world.
Soon he would be thirteen, but not before he was plunged head-first into the imposing and frightening world of high school. To Luke, high school was a wild and unfamiliar jungle which he was sure would eat him up at its first opportunity. Frank was Luke’s new neighbour; Luke hadn’t met him yet, but he’d heard him playing in the back yard next door. He knew his new neighbour was a boy, for no girl that Luke had ever known could make that much noise. Today Luke planned on going over and introducing himself, more so out of curiosity than politeness; but before he could do that he first had to finish trying on his new uniform.
The shirt was stiff and over-starched, and the collar bit into the back of his neck, while his tie was only ever a hairs breadth away from suffocating him. His mother asked him if everything fit all right, and Luke smiled weakly and nodded, hoping this affirmation would provide him with a fast escape from the grasp of this uncomfortable cotton prison that he would be forced to resign himself to for the next and final stretch of his schooling sentence.

At a quarter to one, when the sun still sat high and unclouded, and the temperature was perfect for building tree houses or swimming in the lake, Luke made his way next door with a plate of his mothers ham sandwiches. He was greeted at the door by a woman with long flowing hair that reminded Luke of a brown autumn leaf recently fallen from an ancient oak. She started to speak, and Luke quickly realised he would have to listen a lot faster if he wanted to hear everything this woman was saying.

“You must be Luke, your mother has told me all about you, well come on in now! I’m Ms Delaware. Frank is my precious little boy, though I’m sure you’ve heard him around the place already. Those sandwiches look delicious! Have you met our Frank yet?”

All this Ms Delaware said without stopping to take a breath, and seemingly without causing any disturbance to her perfect and unmoving smile. Luke returned the smile and told Ms Delaware that he was pleased to meet her and no he hadn’t met Frank but the sandwiches were for him as well if he was hungry. Ms Delaware laughed, and Luke noticed that even her laugh seemed to be moulded around her flawless and ever-present smile.

“Frank is always hungry, don’t you worry about that. I think you might become his new best friend once he sees the food you’re carrying, I don’t exactly have enough dough to make bread at the moment, what with the divorce and all.”
Luke had no idea what she was talking about, but just the thought of having a new friend excited him, even a friend as loud as Frank. He followed Ms Delaware through the house, soaking up his surroundings as he went. He reached the back door that led to the yard and looked up as Ms Delaware started to speak again.

“Frank is a little ball of energy, but don’t worry, he’s harmless. I think you two will get on just fine.”

With that, and with her smile still intact and unchanged, Ms Delaware departed, leaving Luke standing in the open doorway looking out at the back yard. Nervously he ventured out into the yard, looking around for any sign of Frank. Toward the back of the yard he spied a cubby house, and slowly started toward it. When he was only a few steps away from the entrance a shadowed figure burst out of it, running at Luke at a phenomenal speed. The figure stopped just short of knocking Luke down, allowing him to get a good look at his new neighbour.
Frank was a good deal shorter than Luke, though that could be attributed to the fact that he seemed to stand in a permanent slump, never straightening up to achieve his full height. He had short brown hair, large brown eyes and ears that stood out almost an inch further than most peoples. Over time, Luke would notice that Frank, like his mother, also wore a near-permanent smile and was always willing to play; and eat, as Luke was now finding out. Frank had taken advantage of his new neighbour’s momentary daze and knocked the sandwiches out of Luke’s hand, managing to catch one before the rest fell to the ground. He sat down and started chewing happily; leaving Luke to look down at his mothers now ruined sandwiches in a state of shock.

Despite this uneasy beginning, Luke and Frank were soon firm friends, and it was with an overt sense of sadness that Luke started school without his new friend two weeks later. Luke wished he could have Frank with him when he started, but he knew it would not happen. Frank, who was a few years younger than Luke, came from a one parent family with no other children and no income. Luke’s new school was a private school, and even though it boasted quite modest fees, Luke knew they were still out of reach for the struggling but still smiling Ms Delaware. Reminding himself of these facts, Luke still could not help but wish for someone to come on this journey with him. It wasn’t just school that frightened Luke, it was the very idea of taking responsibility for himself, of being an individual. As walked through the gates to his new school and into his new life, all he wanted was for someone to be an individual with him.

Luke walked into class and sat down in the seat closest to the door, just in case he needed to make a fast escape. When the morning roll was called, Luke found that his name had not yet been added to the list of students for his class, and so he was forced to suffer the abysmal embarrassment of explaining that he really did belong in this class, that his name was Luke and he was new. He could feel every eye in the classroom boring holes into him as he stammered out his explanation; and he felt certain that when lunchtime came around he would meet the first bully of his new life. At lunchtime, however, he found himself being subjected to an even worse fate, indifference. Too shy and uncertain to approach anyone, Luke was bypassed, ignored and pushed aside for the rest of his first day. By the time the school bell rang out in final release, Luke had made up his mind to quit school.
He refrained from expressing this sentiment to his mother when he returned home that day; he simply dropped his schoolbag in his room, changed out of his uniform and made his way over to Frank’s house. He knew something was not right the moment Ms Delaware answered the door. Her smile had vanished and she spoke erratically, faster than usual so the words were just a sonic blur to Luke.

“Oh Luke I’m so glad you’re here, Frank went around looking for you today, and when he didn’t find you he started to panic and took off down the street before I could stop him. He just kept running and running, I couldn’t keep up.”

She paused and looked down the street, as if watching it all play out in front of her again like the ghost of her afternoon.

“The car came from a side street, Frank didn’t see it coming. He…”
Her words trailed off into a deafening silence, the moments turned to years and Luke could take it no longer. Exasperated, he shook Ms Delaware back into reality, unable to ask the question for fear of an answer. Finally, after a lifetime of breathless moments, Ms Delaware composed herself and spoke again.

“He’s in surgery at the moment; come on, I’ll give you a ride.”

A tangible silence filled the car as they drove, but Luke didn’t notice, he sat motionless, watching the world passing by, an indistinct blur that he felt strangely detached from. Then finally the car stopped, and out the window Luke saw the sign 'Goldstein Veterinary Centre'. Ms Delaware led as they walked inside, and they were met in the foyer by a man in a green surgery gown.

“Ms Delaware, I’m Dr Goldstein. Your dog, Frank has several breaks in both of his back legs and two fractured ribs. The good news is that he will make a full recovery. I have been informed of the story behind Frank’s accident and let me tell you I’m not at all surprised.”
The doctor turned to Luke, his smile evident behind his surgical mask.
“You must be Luke, it seems Frank took quite a liking to you. It happens when they reach this age, you spent some time together and he became used to you being with him, became attached to you. Having you around became normal, and when all of a sudden you were gone he was thrown into a situation he wasn’t prepared for, so he ran.”
He turned back to Ms Delaware, leaving Luke reeling from the words that he had said. Life changes, he had said; run with it, not from it.
Luke followed closely behind Ms Delaware as they left, safe in the knowledge that Frank would be okay, and so would Luke.