we left off under that tree. that cigarette truly had been the smoker's last. after that day i never saw him light up again. things changed fast. the thin-mustached man called for a few weeks but then disappeared as fast as he'd shown up. i acquired a dog, with big, bulging eyes, and ears that perked up every time i said a word. he followed me around the house and so i spent my time teaching him tricks. eventually he was able to shake and play dead. he was a charmer. on the weekends the smoker and i would take him to the park and throw the frisbee for a few hours. if there weren't too many people we would let him off of the leash and go nap under a tree for a bit. it was always nice waking up with the sunshine on my face, the backs of my legs damp from the grass. the smoker and i would take turn picking the grass out of each other's hair. on the hottest days we would go wade in the creek for as long as we could stand, until the days became nights and the police would make their rounds.

at some point we ventured out of our town and onto the open road. we ended up among miles of fields, where at night the crickets sung us to sleep and the fireflies danced around as far as the eye could see. we tried to catch some in a jar but it was always harder than it looked. after the dishes were done we would run out to the barn and sit in the window waiting for the sunset; it was always so beautiful through our eyes and especially through the lens as I tried to teach the smoker how to take photos. after the sun had set the fires were always warm and many times i caught him staring at me through the shadows and the glow. the night before the vacation ended the smoker took me out to a haybale and we lay there for hours watching the sky for shooting stars. i had never seen such beautiful skies in my life and wasn't ready for the night to end, so we stayed and talked until my teeth were chattering. the smoker got down and poked at the last of the fire to try to warm me up until it was dead and we retired to our separate rooms. neither of us were ready for that week to end but it had to.

back home we climbed a few more mountains, and spent late nights forging rivers and sitting underneath bridges. more often than not we would end up watching old movies from our childhood's passed. the smoker's hands would always shyly find mine until our fingers were interwoven. we made it through a lot of movies and memories that way.

eventually that summer of sun flares and beginnings became fall, though. i started becoming busy with school and new work opportunities. the smoker had classes too and so the times we saw each other were few and far between. there was a distance that didn't exist over the summer, and so he tried to bridge it with sweet messages for me to wake up to, or smile on the train, but things weren't quite the same. the leaves became golden, then brown, and one by one they fell off of the trees and onto the sidewalks. one night the smoker met up with me and tried his best to destroy the distance. on the long drive home he put his arm around me so that i could fall asleep on his shoulder. our hands clasped together for warmth as we walked along the dark path afterwards, the leaves always crunching under my boots. it was the last great night of the fall i can remember.

winter came with more of a bite. we stopped talking to each other altogether, citing lack of time, school, disapprovals as our reasons, but really we were scared to talk to each other, because we just wanted the simplicity of summer back. so when the smoker is ready, and when i am, i will be back under that tree, waiting. but, for right now, i have other business to tend to. and so does he.

it is a lot colder now than it was a few weeks ago, the last time i saw him. but winter is going faster than i expected.