The objective: write a flash piece of exactly 55 words. Here it is.

When Autumn Came

The trees were dying. We didn’t know why. The wheat was dying, the tomatoes, the peonies. Even the weeds wouldn’t grow.

We watched all summer for father to come home, as everything died around us.

In the end, we left, with the harsh autumn wind at our backs. If he came home, we never knew.