Autumn Island

by Igor Zenin

A small stand of trees holds its own little island in the middle of a lake gone glassy with mist, layered hills fading back into haze behind it and one branch of red leaves hanging into frame like a signature. It's autumn condensed down to the smallest possible piece of land — one island doing the work an entire shoreline usually does. Some scenes don't need scale. They need exactly this much, held perfectly still.