A Beautiful

Day

It is Sunday October 15 2023 and I am waking

up in my bedroom in a Dutch city Autumn

is one of my favourite seasons the crisp

mornings colourful trees and drinking hot tea

that warms your belly after a stroll through

the cold forest I am putting on a jumper boots

and a jacket to leave the house and to breathe

in the autumn air I open the front door and

a warm stream of air that feels like the blow

dryer I sometimes use to dry my hair hits my

face The sun shines in my eyes a small girl

in a blue dress and a boy in a red Tshirt are

running on the street playing I turn around go

back inside take off my jacket and change into

a Tshirt that I had packed away together with

my other summer clothes beneath my bed

Once I am back outside I continue my walk My

neighbour across the street greets me Its a

beautiful day isnt it I smile and agree then

I continue walking while the children around

me are playing Everyone seems happy Then

my eyes catch the trees at the end of the road

Usually strong tall and green I cant help but

think that they look different The leaves are

turning a different colour but its not the yellow

that I remember from my childhood autumns

when I was playing hide and seek behind them

They are dry Curling up The whole tree looks

thirsty Another person is greeting me saying

what a beautiful day I smile back but this

time it takes more effort to curl my mouth into

a smile

I turn right at the corner and sit down at a

little café While I look at the menu I notice

two girls next to me They are talking about

their latest shopping haul and the latest

trends On the ground below their table I see

countless plastic shopping bags containing

too many clothes to ever wear Ready to f ill a

wardrobe full of nothing to wears just like

mine They are talking about f lying to London

for the weekend I take out my phone and open

a social media app Forest f ires in California

and Canada I scroll down Flooding in Eastern

Europe I scroll down An advertisement of

a huge company promoting their supposed

environmental efforts I put my phone down

The sun is burning on my forehead like f lames

licking my skin Then I hear the voice of the

little girl with the blue dress who was playing

on my street before My dad says you cant

wait for a prince to come save you you have to

be your own hero she announces proudly to

the boy next to her The words echo within me

A waiter approaches my table and beams at

me Its a beautiful day isnt it This time I

cant smile back

Insa Duvos

Insa Duvos is an Outgoing Exchange Off icer

at the VU Amsterdam where she enables

students to study abroad and to grow their

intercultural competences Next to her work

within the International Off ice she is also

part of the VU Green Ambassadors a group

within the university that is focusing on

making the institution more sustainable

wwwlinkedincomininsaduvos945011121

Insa

Duvos