Falling for Fall

An Alleycat Crew Short

Kash was sitting at his monitor perusing the cyber-web when he heard Calynn let out yet another heavy sigh. He turned to look at her.

Calynn was sitting in the chair at the helm with her knees pulled to her chest, lost in thought. She had her hair down today and was wearing her signature blue jeans and a white tee shirt. She looked up from staring at the floor and caught him looking at her. A soft smile tugged at one side of her mouth.

“Okay, what’s wrong?” Kash asked.

“Nothing,” Calynn sighed again.

“Okay,” Kash replied and went back to scrolling news reports.

Dragging information out of Calynn was nearly impossible. If he asked her what was wrong, she would say it was nothing and continue to mope. But Kash had figured out that if he took her responses at face value and ignored the emotions in her voice, she would uncork an emotional tirade of everything that had bugged her for the last month. It was a little manipulative, but it got to the root of the problem without them fighting.

He didn’t have to wait long.

“I miss the trees changing color,” Calynn blurted out like it was some dark truth she had been hiding. “It’s fall on Earth and I wanna see the trees.”

Kash smiled and chuckled.

“Why are you laughing at me?”

“No… Baby Girl… I’m not. I promise,” Kash said, trying to stifle the laughter in his voice. “I just wasn’t expecting you to be upset about trees.”

“They’re not just trees,” she huffed. “They’re… magical. They change colors like the whole world is sighing in relief after summer. Reds, golds, orange… it smells different. Feels different. And I miss them.”

Kash leaned back in his chair. “Calynn, Earth is weeks away. We’ve got a job lined up, and we’re already pushing the clock.”

Her chin dropped to her knees. “I know.”

“Don’t pout.”

“I’m not pouting,” Calynn pouted.

He watched her for a moment, then turned back to his console. Fingers flew across the keys.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Scouring the cyber-web,” Kash muttered. “Looking for planets that mimic Earth’s fall. With the right atmosphere and plant life, some colonies get a pretty good show, and hoping that it’s the right time of year for—ah ha! Found one. Two days out of our way.”

She looked up at him and her soft smile reached her eyes. He spun the screen so she could see. The monitor filled with a vista of rolling mountains, their forests a patchwork of crimson and gold. Her smile grew.

“Will this do?” Kash asked, smiling back.

“But what about the stolen jewelry?” she asked, eyebrow raised.

“It will still be stolen,” Kash replied. “The thieves get an extra two-day head start. Small price to pay for… leaves.”

“Isn’t that a bad thing?”

“No, not really.” He leaned back with a grin. “We’ll just have to recover the jewels from the fence instead of the thieves. Or maybe even the ones who commissioned the theft. We can research the social media posts of the rest of the family while en route. One of them may be involved, and it would give them time to reveal themselves.”

Calynn’s smile turned sly.

“So this is actually a strategic move.”

“And you get to frolic in leaves.”

“Then it would be irresponsible not to go.”

“And you stop pouting.”

“I wasn’t pouting.”

“Yes, you were.”

“I wasn’t pouting,” Calynn smirked as she stood up from her chair and slid down onto Kash’s lap.

“No fair,” Kash muttered as his hands found her waist.

“What’s not fair?” Calynn grinned, twirling her fingers in his hair.

“Using your cuteness to win arguments.”

“Only because you let me.”