A distant line of white light traversed the horizon, piercing the clouds in mid-afternoon suggesting the sun would set within the hour. The clouds were heavy with a tired mist which the cold winter air seemed to freeze in space, the dome this created gave all creatures under its gaze a quiet sense of duty: eat and seek warmth. Under this cloudy dome stood skeletal trees, a few of which still had dying yellow leaves clutching for dear life, whilst all their compatriots lay dead on the ground, an orange carpet which was welcomed by the mud-loathing walkers of the winter season. No wind, branches stood as still as the air that fed them, the only movement one could see was the silent hop of an unidentifiable bird pecking the ground for seeds, disturbed only by the rapid shuffle of a hungry squirrel. A mist was forming from the water behind the trees, enveloping the trunks in a dense haze that suggested the clouds were hungry for the bark. A deer retreated deeper into the foliage somewhere to the left, one could only ever see it from out the corner of the eye. This particular eye belonged to a somewhat grumpy man in his late forties, who had decided he would enjoy the end of the day sitting outside listening to nature; typical then for nature to be so quiet at this time of year. The white light had now turned blue and he expected the sun (wherever it was) to steal away the remaining clarity the day in about half an hour. He was a lumberjack, a hard working contributor to the local villagers’ warmth. An axe lay to his side, its head buried in a log for safety. He enjoyed the cool air and as the sky turned light blue to the west he felt a sense of utter peace enter his mind. He closed his eyes, shutting out the view from his hilltop property and breathed in as he dozed off. The village was also resting, about five miles from the lumberjack it consisted of little less than 500 people scattered over a fairly wide area. While he was in the North end, most of the people were centred along the High Street, farmer Chipperfield resided to the east, farmer Johnson to the south and Mr. Percy owned the watermill to the west. Within these boundaries lived the people of Lupton. The light faded over the gloomy country and silence took complete hold of the landscape, not even the smallest of birds made a sound, the trees stood still, frost began to consume the grass, that’s when the lumberjack woke up. He didn’t know how or why, but something about the quiet deafened him enough to wake him. It was dark, pitch black, the darkest night of the winter so far engulfed the trees into the distance while the clouds retained some light, suggesting the moon was somewhere above. He gazed over the tree tops and his vision eventually adjusted. Something moved about on hundred feet away. He sat still, held his breath, ignored his heartbeat and listened as hard as he could. It weighed as much as a large dog, if not more, it moved carefully. A light step meant it had caught his smell. A wolf? He spotted motion, too short to be a deer. Another step, it was walking in a semi-circle, not directly at him, but testing the situation before moving in. One hand slowly lifted off the arm rest onto the axe beside him; he yanked it carefully, not wanting to look alarmed. The axe was embedded too deeply in the wood so he estimated the distance to the door: 3 steps, the handle was on the far side. He stared at it with such intensity that he felt he perceived it’s every move and thought. As his hand let go of the axe, it brushed again a cold glass bottle. Another step signalled the lumberjack’s last chance to make a move, he grabbed the bottle and threw it high, not aiming to hit the animal but when it landed, he would take advantage of the split second of the animal’s distraction to leap up and close himself safely in his home. And sure enough, before he could think of where the beast was, he had locked himself safely inside. Taking his first breath since hatching his plan, he heard it on the other side on the door. He’d seen some large predators in the area before, but this beast sounded enormous. With confidence he stood up, relaxed, and peered out the window. He caught a glimpse of the animal just as it rounded the corner of his house. The doors were closed, locked. He was safe, this peaceful winter’s night would be spoilt by his murder.
