Random Thinking Under Full Moon

A full moon with a misty circle was hanging in the eastern sky, and there came a cold breeze in the garden with a clear signal to the large crowd that it was early winter now instead of late autumn.

Listen, the autumn, start your thinking with the word “Autumn”, please, I said to her who was eager to know the shortcut to improving her oral English, and her friends who listened attentively with their inquisitive eyes reflecting a full moon image on the shining eyeballs.

How? There are two ways to begin with: you may begin with the word’s intension, then with its extension as every concept has its intension and extension according to logics.

I had no idea how many times I had answered the question such as how to improve oral English, but this time I’ d like to make a change for the better. Oh, perhaps because I just read an article from 21st century, which dealt with a new way of thinking---Lateral Thinking.

As you said, you don’t have topics and more often than not, you don’t know what to say, but if you follow my instruction you’ll find more to think about and talk about. I explained and unconsciously cast a glance at the lonely moon, and then at their eager faces.

The autumn is the third season in a year, a time when the sun has already reached the Tropic of Cancer and begun to move southward toward the equator; the autumn is a harvesting and planting period in a year, a time when the crops in the field have turned yellow and gold with ripe seeds, the fruits heavy on bent twigs; the autumn is also a special quarter in a year, a time when the sun shines brightly and warmly and the sky looks higher and bluer.

Upon this I suddenly thought of my prose “Love in late autumn” that had appeared with another theme “An autumn song” on 21st century last month, and of course the scenes in the story: the pictures of the little boy and little girl picking up yellow poplar leaves under rows of tall trees, of taking pictures before the river, the windmills and tulips in Holland, and of her waving goodbye to me with a small yellow poplar woods as backdrop. The song “Late autumn” began to echo.

The autumn may remind you of your experiences in life, a season that drives many writers and poets crazy with the desire to express what grows wildly within their breasts.

 Yes, yes, yes!

How many thirsty hearts, lonely souls and roaring minds has the autumn been making?

A friend once told me that she disliked the autumn because it made her quite moody;

Another friend praised me for my prose by saying that he had a better understanding of life now when seeing the yellow poplar leaves because I added something meaningful to those common leaves, to the autumn;

That is true: when you define something with your own understanding, you may express yourself and impress your readers or listeners with your special trade mark. What people once take for granted turns out to be something quite new and meaningful after your definition. In this way you are adding some colour or some meaning to your life and other’s life as well.

The lonely moon was rising over the trees, seeming a bit brighter now, and the listeners raised the questions one after another.

Okay, I’ve explained the intension thinking with the word “autumn”, now its extension thinking. From the autumn you may think of the winter, the spring, the summer; you may think of the mid-autumn festival, its full, round moon and the legendary fairy and her Jade Rabbit on the moon, tasteful moon cakes, even unforgettable honeymoon; you may think of anything related to the autumn, any words, phrases, sentences, experiences, and stories. Yes, anything seemingly relevant. Perhaps this is also a kind of so called “Lateral Thinking”.

 I laughed, and they laughed, too.

The full moon over the trees now looked brighter as the misty circle had appeared. The moon perhaps didn’t feel lonely any more because a moonlit sky gathered many nearby or distant stars in the early winter evening, here and now.