Saturday, November 15, 2008

Stranger



It was a dull day, the sky was a heavy with clouds of grey and a damp mist swirled around the village. People went about their business with bowed heads and heavy hearts. Here and there a yellow glow poured from a shop window then melted away into the gloom.


Across a field walked a stranger. In the sky above him the sun peeped through the clouds, leaving in his wake a canopy of deepest blue. As he passed by flowers unfurled their brightly coloured petals and appeared to smile in his direction. Birds sang from the treetops and butterflies fluttered and frolicked in the warmth of the sunbeams.


He climbed over a gate and began walking along the narrow cobbled street; suddenly all around him was bathed in sunlight and as he passed, the people of the village looked up and smiled as a fluffy kitten weaved between his feet. He crossed the bridge over the stream and the rippling water began to glisten and silver fish leapt and dived. A pure white swan glided into view from within a bed of golden reeds which swayed in the newfound warmth, then swam between the lily pads as one by one their flowers opened.


The village folk watched as he walked away, stopping only briefly to look over his shoulder and smile. Then he seemed to fade away. The stranger was no more.


23 comments:

  1. Very warm post. Nice take on the prompt.

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  2. that was beautifully descriptive.

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  3. great imagery Keith. I felt I was walking along with him.

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  4. It strikes me that we often take no notice of our surroundings, until something, or someone unfamiliar attracts our attention.

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  5. tell him to come to me, I need him to brighten up my days...

    *hey, am I contributing in hitting you?*



    the stranger I've known

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  6. Ah, a light stranger instead of a dark one. Now there's a stranger I recognize. What a great scribble.

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  7. Perfect description. I felt like I was one of those people watching the stranger pass through town. BJ

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  8. i thought he might have been the pied piper there for a moment!!!!!

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  9. Lovely post , Now that is a stranger who would not go un-noticed . . . . I wish I could see him in reality just like I saw him in your words :D

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  10. I want to meet him!!! :)
    Wonderful and colourful.

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  11. This is feel-good writing that left me smiling! Wonderfully descriptive.

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  12. Oh, that's the best kind of stranger!! Nice work...

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  13. Yet again another wonderful post.

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  14. weirdly enough your post reminds
    me of Oscar Wilde's ballad;
    great metaphores there!!

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  15. Just thought it was time I popped in to see what you were up to. :)

    Lovely piece, as always!

    Jayne :)

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  16. Hi Keith, Nice little commentary.
    'The stranger' has an air of mystery about him, perhaps he's a demi-god!

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  17. Beautiful descriptive language. I can see the sun peeping through and heaqr the birds. Feel all happy now.
    Love the mystery surrounding the stranger

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  18. I was prepared to be terrified when I read the first line. What a lovely ending. It reminds me of Chris von Allsburg's children's book "The Stranger." But his stranger was about Fall, not spring.

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