DAY FIVE - THEY SAY THE MORNING IS BEAUTIFUL (from 10 SHORT OF 31.)

DAY FIVE -July 5th 2014

This story is dedicated to my beautiful and talented singer/songwriter friend Antonia Kirby

Day 5 - "They Say Morning Is Beautiful..."

Though my soul may set in darkness,

it will rise in perfect light.

I have loved the stars too fondly

to be fearful of the night.

"The Old Astronomer" - Sarah Williams

Thirty-six days of snow and sleet had just about taken its toll on Julian and Cleo, the roads were a nightmarish combination of slush and ice that made even rudimentary travel treacherous.

The carts rolled maybe four or five feet before collapsing or over turning and the noise was horrendous, a sure fire way to get caught and killed by the elements.

There was no respite.

Supplies were at a bare minimum and the fresh water they had managed to save at the last way station was suddenly looking like it too would need to be rationed soon, give this another two or three days and the two would be back at square one again after being so flush and full of joy not a month previous.

There were creaks and moans from the trees on either side of the path where they had taken a break. Branches groaned under the weight of the snow and the icicles now forming deadly stalactites under each branch, some connecting to branches below in an intricate network of iced suspension, like a natural imitation of the golden gate bridge, or so Julian had thought.

They dragged the cart backwards off the road and Cleo jimmied open a barn door using a torque wrench and a broken crowbar they had found in Monroe.

The sound was a splintering creasing noise as the metal, fatigued and rusted, snapped in two and hung lazily from the wood.

The cart had all but died now, two of its wheels were frozen in a rigor that looked near impossible to fix, the other had buckled and the cart dug deep furrows in the grey and brown snow around the barn as they pulled it with so much effort their breath was now dancing a ballet of mist with every exertion.

The barn was surprisingly warm, considering the elements outside, and the moon made it easy to see with shafts of light creaking in small divots and gaps between the beams above.

Not enough so that anything was illuminated, but enough so that there was echoes of light in the room enough to make out shapes and edges and the lay of this new shelter.

Cleo noticed that the entrance way to the barn had a tiny foyer type awning, meaning that it was six or seven feet before the doorway actually broke into the main chamber of the barn itself, this was a side effect of the barns main balcony, used for hay storage and whatever, being directly over the doorway, so the moonlight did not flood the room when the door was open, its light barely caught a foot into the main barn past the awning.