Life was complicated for Autumn. She stuck out like a sore thumb from every pocket of the crowd. All she wanted was just to make her way through life. It seemed like everywhere she went there was a giant road block that shouted 'Halt ye who goeth!' And so she'd turn around and try another path if there was no way to get around it. And each time, she'd end up back in the middle.

It wasn't like Autumn was especially pretty, or ugly for that matter. She was just sick of being...well, Autumn. Everywhere she went, people generally were quite short, maybe five foot five, five foot six at the most. Well, she was five foot eight. She was sick of people attacking her for her height. She was not a giant! What made it worse was that she had a slim build- she wasn't a big person. On the contrary, she was just tall and skinny. Nothing special to look at. So why was she called a giant, yet also being told she was too skinny? Hypocrites, she deemed people.

It wasn't like she was curvy. It wasn't like she super gorgeous, or built like a model. On the contrary, she was little...just elongated. And she was sick of hearing people speaking about how great it was to be short and small, just so their perfect, large man could come and sweep them into their arms and ride off into the sunset- leaving her feeling like a giant, clumsy monster. Sometimes she wanted to punch the girls who said things like that. She could still be picked up! She could still ride off into the sunset! ...If she had a man.

Which brought her to more misery. It wasn't like she couldn't get a man; no, that wasn't the issue. If she wanted attention, she knew how to doll herself up and get some sort of attention. It was just that...men didn't exist these days. Not the kind she wanted. She was tired of all the 'gangsters' showing their 'true love' to their 'baby girls' and then going after some 'next' chick a week after. She was tired of the 'rockers' strumming a few notes and getting some preteens to swoon, and never really getting involved. She was tired of parties (though she never really got involved with them), tired of the high school scene, tired of typical, everyday life. What she wanted was a bit old-fashioned.

She wanted a man with manners. A man not scared of saying 'Hello dear, how was your day?' A man not scared of saying 'Thank you, I'm sorry, I love you.' A man who would hold the door open for her, a man that would send her a flower for no reason. A real man. Not a man trying to hide his pussy. But she knew she was only dreaming. What men knew what manners were!

But there was one character that started to grate her nerves. And it all started with a phone call in a food court some Sundays ago...