Four Pages
“Phew, there’s so much dust here,” James complained as he coughed, opening the sealed boxes that had been stored for quite some time. “These books are from when I was a kid. What do you want me to do with them, Mom?” “Take the ones you want for your kids, and we’ll donate the rest. They’re just taking up space here, and I was thinking of renovating this storage room, even if your father disagrees. You understand, Brian?” “But Mom, I don’t even have kids. I’m just moving in with my girlfriend,” he grumbled, knowing that the battle with his mother was lost, so he decided not to waste any more time and started going through the books. Suddenly, a marble glimmered in one of the boxes, catching his attention to the box full of comics. His restrained laughter echoed, filling the gloomy space as he left the first box of books open, his attention now focused on the comic-filled bundle.
In the first box, a collection of four thick books lay inside. “Has anyone seen my pages?” asked the book titled Autumn, shaking a bit. “I think I’ve lost some.” Its attention turned to the Spring book that should have been beside it, but instead there was an empty space. “Hey!” it exclaimed, seeing the Spring book at the bottom of the carton, activating a music box and dancing to a famous classical tune. Balancing skillfully, its sheets moved to the rhythm, and pages filled with pink petals and spring flowers flipped rapidly like a movie.
On the other side of the box, the Winter book remained still, receiving a breeze from the Summer book fanning it with its pages adorned with sunny vacation landscapes, attempting to lower its fever. “I think I have yellow fever,” Winter said. “Look at my pages, they’re yellowish.” Summer replied dismissively, “Nonsense, that’s just because you’re old. Mosquitoes are more attracted to me. You just have a common, run-of-the-mill cold.”
“Are you cold, Winter?” asked Autumn. “No, my hard leather cover keeps me warm. But what I need right now is to get this fever down, thank you for your concern,” Winter replied. “Actually, I was wondering if you used my lost pages to keep warm since winter nights can be chilly...” Autumn clarified. “My plastic cover wouldn’t help much, but you can have it if you want,” Summer offered without stopping the fanning. “Would this bookmark create more wind for you? I found it in my last pages,” Spring said, bringing over a fuchsia piece of cloth with a keychain-like finish.
“You see, I’m missing pages, not many, but it’s strange and I don’t know, maybe a wicked being like a witch or a vampire took them,” Autumn said, playfully pretending to shiver in fear. “That’s the influence of Halloween for you. You shouldn’t read yourself, that’s the first rule of the book’s decalogue,” Summer rebutted. “I don't read myself, but I like to look at the pictures. Observing flowers is beautiful, they celebrate it a lot in Japan,” Spring said, spinning around so the others could leaf through its decorated pages.
“If you know that, it’s because you’ve read yourself, caught red-handed!” Summer exclaimed. “I bet your content is boring, just surfboards and beaches,” Spring teased, making faces. “Of course not, there are also bonfires, fireworks, and in some countries even Christmas celebrations,” Summer retorted with a smile, but soon realized its mistake. “Oops.” “Christmas? Oh, don't take away my best part!” Winter stuttered. “Don't say that! What people like the most are gifts and that happens at birthdays too. There are a lot of those in the summer,” Summer rebuffed. “There are also a lot of birthdays in the spring,” Spring chimed in.
“Wow, it looks like I tore out pages from another book to use as bookmarks for the comics. Where is the bookmark I stole from my mom? Oh, I think I left it in the Spring book, I never finished it,” Brian mumbled to himself. “And what book were these pages from? Let's see, Mid-Autumn Festival, Day of the Dead, Thanksgiving… these must be from the book about Autumn! Although this page… ‘After autumn comes winter, don't miss the next book about winter…’ This promotional page would fit better here,” he said, placing it inside the Winter book. “Ouch, it’s hot! Ah, now it’s cooling down,” he remarked, observing the other books in the boxes.
“Brian are you finished?” his mother asked, entering the room. “Yes, Mom. All of those can be thrown away,” Brian said, pointing to one of the boxes. “Are you sure? They were from when you were little, how sweet,” his mom reminisced. “Yeah, I’m sure. I just skimmed through the comics. Won’t be reading them again. I’ll just keep the ones about the four seasons.”
“You’re going to keep those, even though they’re so old? I thought you’d take the comics or the shiny ones that are better preserved,” his mother said, surprised. “That’s unconditional love right there,” she laughed as Brian played with the pop-up elements of the four books. When placed together, they formed a complete silhouette of the Earth divided into four parts, each representing a different season.