It was a cloudy, dreary, windy day. A light drizzle fell over the dim landscape, and the first real chill of the season had started stealing the lush summer green from the leaves. It was really no time to be out and about, but sometimes you just don’t have a say in these things. And that was why the young man sat ensconced halfway up an old apple tree, wrapped up in as many layers as he could get away with and trying to reach all the high fruit before the birds got to them. An incautious sweep of his arm knocked his basket from its perch, and he just about swore before he realized the soft, rumbling sound of a basketful of apples spilling every which way was curiously absent. Looking down, he saw a strange man beneath the tree. The man’s hat covered most of his face from this angle, but there was no mistaking that coat. “Want me to hold this while you keep picking?” The man asked, holding up the basket he had caught. “Yeah, that would be great. Thank you.” They descended into silence for a few minutes while the young man kept climbing around after more apples. “You know, I was starting to think I might have just dreamed you up.” The young man said at last. “Would you have preferred it if you had?” “Oh Lord no!” The young man laughed. “Having met a strange fairy with memories in his coat is far more interesting than just having dreamed one up.” “Well then, I’m happy to oblige.” There was a lull in the conversation, the silence broken only by the whistle of the wind and the occasional tap of another apple landing in the basket. “Hell of a day to be out and about.” The young man remarked. “I suppose it is.” “I wouldn’t step foot outside on a day like this if I didn’t have to, but these apples won’t pick themselves, no matter what the weather is like.” “Autumn is a time for doing, after all.” The strange man nodded. “Lord knows winter isn’t!” The young man agreed with a laugh. They kept chatting idly as the young man picked all the fruit he could reach, and once he was done they went their separate ways. Not long thereafter, the drizzle turned to storm.