The November Nobody Knew

 

Mara woke to frost on her window and a calendar that made no sense. October 31st had passed, but the date now read December 1st. Her wall calendar skipped straight from Halloween to Christmas. Confused, she checked her phone, her planner, even her journal—November was gone. Outside, neighbours strung up lights and played carols. The grocery store flyer advertised candy canes and snow globes. No turkeys. No autumn leaves. No Thanksgiving. She called her dad. “What happened to November?”

“November?” he chuckled. “You mean last year?”

“No. This year. It’s missing.”

“Mara, there’s no such thing. It goes October, then December. Always has.”

But Mara remembered. She remembered planning her gratitude comic strip, sketching her bunny character holding a tiny pie. She remembered cinnamon candles, leaf piles, and her dad’s burnt stuffing. She was the only one. That night, she wandered into the woods behind her house, sketchbook in hand. In a quiet clearing, she drew: a bunny in a scarf holding a calendar page marked November. Around it, she added scenes of warmth—Thanksgiving dinner, cozy sweaters, golden leaves. As she finished, the wind stilled. A figure emerged from the shadows: a woman cloaked in russet leaves, eyes shimmering like twilight.

“You remember,” the woman said.

“Who are you?”

“I am November. Forgotten. Erased. The world rushed past me, eager for sparkle and snow. But you held on.”

“Can I bring you back?”

“Not to everyone. But to those who need me, I’ll return. Through your art. Through memory.”

The next morning, Mara posted her comic strip online: a bunny holding a pie, surrounded by scenes of gratitude and warmth. She titled it “The Month That Slipped Away.”Comments poured in.

“This feels familiar…”

“I dreamed about Thanksgiving last night.”

“I swear I remember November now.” And slowly, quietly, the world began to remember.