A Tale of a Gloomy day

A Tale of a Gloomy Day

by

Allan James Lammiman ©

The day began with a fog. It was a cold damp fog which gripped at a man?s sole and threatened to drag it down into the pits of hell. As the day progressed, the fog grew denser and a gloom lay over the land, silencing the birds in the trees and keeping the animals in the fields and woods to remain in their borrows. The gloom crept into the people?s hearts filling them with a cold dread that few could disguise. The afternoon brought little in the way of respite. The markets were empty of customers and the church yards, gloomy and uninviting at the best of times, seemed to reach out to the people and invite them to join its inhabitants in unhappiness. Even the sound of the church bell, its peel normally crisp and clear, had a damp and muted feel to its ring. It was if the dead in their graves were calling out for company.

And as the evening drew near the sun, which had until then been hidden, finally broke though the overcast sky and cast dying rays of blood red over the land and a stillness like never felt before spread out across the land as if a dark forbidden presence had taken up residence in the earth and sky.

As night fell and its black shroud enveloped the land, the people in the villages huddled together in the safety of their homes. There they waited, fearfully for the hours of darkness to pass. The fires though kept alight, burned dimly and the smoke only drifted slowly upwards from the cottage chimneys. It was if it too feared to enter the darkness of the night.

The hours past slowly by and the night grew shorter. Until at last the sun, hidden the previous day crept slowly up from out of the horizon and endeavoured to cast its warm glow over the lonely land. The church bell rang out, crisp and clear, calling the faithful to prey. The flowers in the church yard bloomed, filling the air with a sweet scent. Birds sang joyfully in the trees and the woodland animals emerged from their burrows to forage for food. The markets filled with customers and the stallholders beamed with happiness as the land became alive with a wonder few had previously remembered. It promised to be a day which embraced a man?s sole and lifted it heavenwards. For the fog had gone and a new day, full of sun and joy had begun.