Wot Bron Thunk and what the stream meant to her in the long run...

A photo to accompany 
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHOUsoGn7nN/?igshid=y6qfnyqhdfwr

..and Bron was thinking to herself — ..and that wall too. One of the stone 
walls - the dry stone walls - around and about, all about, across the landscape 
and furthermore in the vicinity always nearby. But this wall was in that sunny 
spot by the silvery barked tree, an ash tree, quite near the chapel. It felt 
historical, old, and had seen a lot of time passed. Anyway this wall, that was 
made mostly from limestone of the nearby pavement outcrops, was grey with light 
grey lichen and yellow lichens. It was that bit in the sun with the hole next 
to the large slightly more elaborate pink sandstone post with the mason’s 
markings.



She rubbed her forehead and pinched her nose then held her head between her 
hands and gently squeezed and rubbed her eyes and cheeks in an effort to clean 
off the cobwebs.

She continued to picture the wall - that hole that had some old pieces of wood, 
some bird feathers and dust. The deep blue shadows in there. There was a sense 
of the past about that place. Ragged sheep stood nearby and their wool hung 
from the barbed wire fence. There were several rooks near that chapel 
chattering and caawing. I’d put my hand in that wall and then I’d found it. The 
tin box - an old tobacco tin. Prying open the rusty lid I’d found the few coins 
and the folded paper gone yellow and brown with age. Later I’d read the paper 
with the fading ink writing. Beautiful neat handwriting. 

It said... something about potatoes, herring, beer... it was a list, a shopping

List for market day.



She raised her head coming back from the memory into the present and moved away 
across the field towards the river where a line of bushes and alders followed 
the bank. She stepped across some mossy boulders and granite stones smooth from 
the water, to the river’s edge. Pools stood among the stones. The river ran 
quite swiftly, less than a foot deep in this part, the stream undulated 
following the curves of the bed, mainly shiny slick stones covered in a black 
and dark green weed, with patches of pebbles. 

Bron removed her shoes and socks tossing them onto the bank and waded out 
between some bright yellow flowers growing between the stones. 

The dark smell of the rushing water and the musky smell from the flowers made 
her head swim slightly as she stood with her bare feet feeling the slippery 
stones all slick and soft like wet velvet. She gazed down mesmerised by the 
flow around her calves and the icy cold of her reddening feet and ankles, bits 
of twig and dried grass stalks flew past her and the water reflected back her 
own dark shadowy self backed by the cloudy sky behind with the large expanses 
of blue between the ripped clouds, the leaves and branches of the alder its 
twirly brown tails hanging down, some dropping to join the other flotsam, then 
to be tugged away downstream.



Ta very much

S




Sent from my spyphone 
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