Out of Nowhere

It was a sunny morning at the end of October. I was sitting on the couch drinking coffee and looking out the window. It was pretty, but I noticed that in the breeze, leaves were falling like snow. Suddenly, and out of nowhere, the strangest sense of sadness gripped me. It was a visceral feeling. 

The emotion was one of sadness, depression and heaviness. It weighed on me and filled me with a feeling similar to what you might experience when learning of a friend’s death.  It seemingly gripped my forehead and around my eyes. 

A couple of minutes later it disappeared, as if the morning breeze itself scattered the oppressive feelings. 

I don’t know why it happened. And I can’t tell you if it was caused by something in the past, or a sense of foreboding about something in the future.  I know, or think I know, that it occurred at the exact time the dead leaves were whirling in the breeze and falling like snow. 

I left the couch and walked outside. It was a beautiful sunny morning. The autumnal colors were all there – shades of reds and yellows, oranges and browns. The breeze had died away. I tried to pick up some sense of something in the air, but there was nothing. 

I returned to the couch and sipped my coffee. I thought about life and love, family and friends, and nothing at all. The view through the window was just as pretty, but I didn’t enjoy it quite as much. 

Addendum:

In the days since the event, there has been no reoccurrence.