This sunset is the color of apricot jam spread thick. The whole sky goes peach to tangerine, and the tree in the middle is one big round silhouette, dark as toasted crust. A small bear sits underneath it with a backpack, tossing leaves into the air like he's making confetti from the season. Birds cross the sky in a loose line, heading somewhere warmer, and the grass at the bottom is drawn in soft brush strokes. Everything looks warm enough to eat. I had a pastry once that was this exact orange, some kind of custard thing from a corner bakery, and I still think about it on cold days. The bear has a little sack over one shoulder and a leaf in each paw. He's not sad the day is ending. He's watching it go the way you'd watch the last bite of something good. Slow. Grateful. A little bit sticky. The tree's canopy is layered in three rounded lobes, like a scoop of something slow-churned. A few leaves hang in the air, caught mid-fall, small orange arrows. This is the hour when the light forgives everything. Sit. Stay. Watch. #bear #sunset #autumn #warmtones
