The park carried the lively energy of a September afternoon.
Families had begun returning outdoors now that the heat of summer had softened. The wide green lawn stretched beneath tall trees whose leaves had only just begun hinting at the colors of autumn. The sky above them held that clear pale brightness that belonged only to early fall, when the air felt cleaner and the sunlight seemed sharper.
Willow chose a quiet patch of grass near the playground and spread a blanket beneath a maple tree whose branches provided comfortable shade. The ground still held warmth from the afternoon sun, and the breeze moving through the leaves carried the faint scent of grass mixed with the distant freshness of water drifting from the nearby lake path.
