The first autumn by Erskine Caldwell(1903-)

They sat on the lawn looking up at the fluttering leaves on the old maples. He was beside the wagon with his arm over the red wooden body; she was on the other side, sitting with her legs crossed under her and with her hands folded in her lap.“That’s the oldest tree over there,” Elizabeth said, pointing across the lawn. “I Know it’s the oldest, because it’s the one where the squirrels live.”“But that’s not why it is the oldest, silly,” Robert said. “It’s the oldest because the leaves stay green the longest. The little trees turn red first.”A week ago all the trees were as green as the newly mown lawn, and then all of a sudden they had begun to turn. The grove of maples on the hill was orange and gold, the younger trees were the deeper colour; and in the yard the old maples that had been there scores of years were turning yellow and purple. In a short while the leaves would begin to twirl and spin on the branches when the breezes blew, and then they would twist themselves off and come fluttering down. After that the grass would die, the flowers would shrivel, and the hills and fields would be a deep dark brown until the first snow fell.“The sky was raining paint last night while we slept,” Elizabeth said. “It rained a pot of paint on every tree.”“Daddy says it is the end of summer. He said that the trees turn red and orange and yellow every year when summer is over.”“I didn’t see it last year.”“But Daddy said that last year all the trees were coloured. They were yellow for a while, and then all of them were red. When the leaves turn red, that’s when they are ready to fall almost any minute. That’s because they are dead.”
The front door opened. Robert dropped the wagon tongue and raced to the porch. “Here’s Daddy! Here’s Daddy! Daddy’s come out to play!” Elizabeth ran after him. They clambered up on the porch steps as fast as they could.“Now what?” Daddy said.“Play!” said Robert, jumping up and down, swinging on his arm. “We’re going to play!”“Is this the end of the week, Daddy?” Elizabeth asked. “Are you going to stay two whole days now?”“It’s the end of the week. No more city for two whole days.”“Let’s play,” Robert said, pulling him down the steps. “Let’s play everything!”“We are tired of playing bear, aren’t we?” Daddy asked. “We played bear last week-end. What’ll we play this week?”“Bear!” Robert cried. “Let’s play bear again. It’s more fun than anything else.”“I’ve just thought of a new game to play,” Daddy said.“How would you like to play horse, Robert? We’ve never played horse before, have we Elizabeth?”“Oh, let’s do!” she said. “It’s going to be lots of fun, isn’t it, Daddy?”“It certainly is,” said Daddy. “But who is going to be the horse?”“Oh, you are!” cried Elizabeth. “You be the horse.”“All right. I’m the horse. Now look out! Here comes the wild white horse!”“What’s the horse going to do?” Robert asked.“The horse would like some sugar,” Daddy said. “The horse like sugar better than anything else. He likes salt sometimes but he would rather have sugar now. He hasn’t had any sugar for a long time.”“Where’s the horse going to get sugar?” Elizabeth asked. “We haven’t any out here.”“Neigh! Neigh! Neigh!” Daddy said, galloping around in a circle on his hands and feet.“The horse is looking for sugar,” Robert said. “Look out! Don’t let the wild horse kick you!”
Daddy stopped, twisted his head from side to side and raised his foot high into the air behind him.“Look out!” Robert cried. “The horse is getting ready to kick!”Daddy held his foot up behind him a moment, and kicked. He kicked so hard it made his shoe come tumbling off.“The horse kicked his shoe off!” Elizabeth said. “Let’s be careful, because the horse is angry with us for not giving him some sugar. Oh where will we find some sugar?”“I’m not afraid of the horse,” Robert said. “Watch me! I’m going to ride him!”“He’ll throw you off,” said Elizabeth. “You’d better wait until he gets some sugar first.”“Watch me! This is the way to catch a wild horse and ride him away!”“Neigh! Neigh! Neigh!” Daddy said, galloping off. He stopped and kicked high into the air with his other foot. That shoe did not come off as the other one had.“Here I go!” Robert said. “Watch me ride the wild horse all around the pasture!”Daddy stood still until Robert had climbed on his back. Then he shook his head from side to side, snorted and pawed the lawn.“Let me ride, too,” Elizabeth begged. “I’d like to ride the wild horse.”She climbed on Daddy’s back behind Robert and held Robert around the waist so she would not be thrown off when the horse bucked and reared.“What are you getting down flat on the ground for, Daddy?” Robert asked. “We are all on. You may get up now, Daddy.”Daddy lay down flat on the lawn. Elizabeth got off, but Robert took a maple tree twig and tried to make the horse get up.“The horse won’t get up,” Robert said. “He wants to lie down.”“Why don’t you play horse any more, Daddy?” Elizabeth asked. “If you are tired of playing horse, let’s play another game. I know a good one called ‘Hunting the Kitty’. Don’t you wish to play that with us? It’s lots of fun, Daddy.”Robert got up and walked towards the porch. He stopped and looked back at Daddy and Elizabeth on the lawn.
“I’m going to tell Mother you won’t play with us any more, Daddy,” he said. “She’ll come out and make you play.”He ran into the house. Elizabeth moved closer to Daddy and began searching for four-leaf clovers in the grass. Mother and Robert came out the front door and walked across the lawn. Mother put her finger over her lips so that no one would make a sound. She came closer, tiptoeing softly, trying not to make any noise. In another moment they could all scare Daddy, because he did not know that Mother and Robert were there.“Boo!” Mother cried, falling down beside Daddy on the grass.“Boo! Daddy!” Robert said.“Boo!” said Elizabeth, jumping up and down.Mother looked down at Daddy, waiting for him to raise his head and smile at her.A small black ant was crawling over his nose. On the back of his shirt a big green grasshopper sat with his long legs all ready to spring.“Shh!” Mother said, putting her fingers over her lips again. “Don’t make any sounds. Daddy is fast asleep.”“Then how can we play, if Daddy isn’t going to be the wild horse?” Elizabeth asked, pouting.“Playing horse isn’t much fun,” Robert said. “I would like to play something else when Daddy wakes up.”Mother sat down close to Daddy, taking one of his hands in hers. She held his hand a moment, and dropped it.“What’s the matter?” Elizabeth asked, clutching Mother’s skirt. “Why did you scream, Mother?”Mother was biting her lips and looking down at Daddy’s white shirt where the grasshopper had been sitting. A maple leaf fluttered down, fell on Daddy’s shirt and lay there.“Will Daddy play with us again when he wakes up?” Robert asked.“Daddy kicked so hard while we were playing horse that his shoe came off,” Elizabeth said. “Look! Here it is!”She picked it up, and Mother took it from her and held it in both her hands, pressing it against her breast.The little black ant on Daddy’s nose crawled up to his forehead and stopped there to look at something.
“We must go into the house now,” Mother said, taking Elizabeth and Robert by the hands. “I wish both of you to go to the playroom and stay there until I call you. Look at the pictures in your books or build something with your blocks, but do not look out of the window until I call you. Mother will be busy for a long time.”They went into the house and Mother waited at the bottem of the stairs while they were going up to the playroom.“It’s a shame to stay indoors when it’s so nice out there,” Robert said. “All the red leaves will soon be gone.”Will you call us the minute Daddy wakes up, Mother?” Elizabeth asked. “Please do. We wish to finish playing horse – and have some new games to play, too.”“Yes,” Mother said, “I’ll call you.”

De titel 'first autumn' slaat erop terug dat dit de eerste keer was dat de kinderen bewust de herfst meemaakten. Op overlijdenskaarten staat vaak de herfst afgebeeld, omdat dit seizoen gerelateerd wordt met de dood (bladeren vallen, de natuur sterft af). Seizoenen worden dus vaak met het leven vergeleken. Voor de kinderen is het de eerste keer dat ze met de dood te maken krijgen.
De schrijver beschrijft het proces van verval in de herfst; hoe alle bladeren verkleuren en uiteindelijk op de grond zullen vallen en afsterven. De jonge Elizabeth heeft haar eigen verklaring voor de herfst: 'the sky was raining paint last night while we slept, it rained a pot of paint on every tree' (het regende verf waardoor de bomen gekleurd waren). "Daddy says it is the end of summer. He said that the trees turn red and orange and yellow every year when summer is over.” zegt Robert.“I didn’t see it last year.”, zegt Elizabeth. De laatste toevoeging, dat ze zegt dat ze het vorig jaar niet had gezien, toont aan dat ze nog erg jong zijn en dat ze de herfst nog niet eerder bewust hebben meegemaakt.

Nadat de woorden ' Thats because they are dead' zijn geuit verschijnt vader op het toneel. Hij speelt met ze in de tuin en neemt zijn kinderen op de rug en ze spelen 'paardje rijden'. Opeens valt vader plat op de grond en antwoord niet meer.
“I’m going to tell Mother you won’t play with us any more, Daddy,” he said. “She’ll come out and make you play.” Deze reactie is vanuit een kind geredeneerd, een ouder kind of volwassene zou gealarmeerd kijken wat er aan de hand was, maar Robert denkt alleen maar aan spelen.

" Elizabeth moved closer to Daddy and began searching for four-leaf clovers in the grass." Deze zin toont aan dat Elizabeth jonger is dan haar broertje, ze is nog erg jong want ze is snel afgeleid. Terwijl haar vader bewegingsloos op de grond ligt gaat zij opzoek naar klavertjesvier.

Haar moeder doet tegenover haar kinderen alsof er niets aan de hand is, ze voelt zijn pols en slaakt een kreet. "She held his hand a moment, and dropped it." In deze regel wordt vanuit kinderlijk perspectief omschreven hoe de vrouw de pols van haar man voelde, om te controleren of hij nog een hartslag heeft. De moeder slaakt een kreet en aangezien moeders haast nooit schreeuwen, worden de kinderen bang: '“What’s the matter?” Elizabeth asked, clutching Mother’s skirt."
" Mother was biting her lips and looking down at Daddy’s white shirt where the grasshopper had been sitting". Moeder bijt op haar lippen om haar verdriet te verbergen voor haar kinderen. Ze zegt niets tegen haar kinderen, maar antwoord dat ze straks zal roepen als hij weer wakker is.

Het proces van verval dat de schrijver al eerder in het verhaal beschreef speelt een belangrijke rol. Als vader dood is neer gevallen komt de natuur tot hem. Als iets sterft neemt de natuur het weer in zich op. Ook vader wordt als het ware weer opgenomen in de natuur. Dit komt duidelijk naarvoren in de volgende voorbeelden:
'A small black ant was crawling over his nose. On the back of his shirt a big green grasshopper sat with his long legs all ready to spring.' (een mier zit op zijn neus, een sprinkhaan op zijn benen)
'A maple leaf fluttered down, fell on Daddy’s shirt and lay there.' (een blad valt op vader, verwijzing naar de herfst, het seizoen van verval)