Winter Nights (part I)

And there opened before me a high arch-ed proscenium divided vertically into three roiling cloudmasses, roughly equal in proportion and vehemence to the others, each contending with its neighbour. In the east and the west swelled great curls of inky black vapour attempting but never quite succeeding to overtake the space dominated by the centremost cloud--a confident bank of translucent mist that ebbed and billowed rhythmically with a warm, golden light.

None of these appeared in any way to be stronger or weaker, faster or slower than the others; and one sensed that, so far as any awareness or intelligence could be ascribed to them, the darkness of east had no acquaintance with or awareness of the darkness of the west, and vice versa. They frenetically struggled simultaneously against the calm confidence of the central light but they did not struggle together. For a long time I watched, and none made any appreciable inroads against the others that were not immediately countervaled by corresponding concessions. Each sortie was quickly and inevitably followed by a retreat, every sharp-edged curl disintegrating quickly into the background as an incoherent mass of thousands of individual transparent droplets.

Below such a sky lay a snow covered winter tableau, ringed by pine trees of fantastical height and focused upon a warmly lit building in the middle distance. It was not a private dwelling, although a few sparsely scattered homely cabins, more dimly lit, did float in its orbit. It was a gathering place of some type and built in a sober style that announced neither pretension nor its opposite. About three stories in height, each marked by a row large rectangular windows and neatly made of an inoffensive beige brick. A wide and tidy set of steps four or five courses deep led up to its shining glass vestibule.

From where I stood there seemed to be an easy flow of steady human traffic both into and out of the building. Curious, I made my way through the crowd to discover the exact nature of the transactions conducted here. And as I drew nearer, the pleasant rhythmical hum and human register of their voices gave me to understand that some sort of provision was being distributed here, though I could not detect any discretely intelligible words or phrases.

As my first footfall sounded against the barren concrete of the steps, I looked up to see about three metres away an attractive red-haired woman approaching. She was strikingly got up in a dramatic ensemble of leopard-spotted fur, a long coat and short skirt, with silky black stockings accentuating her shapely legs to good effect. She led a hungry-seeming jungle cat on a stout metal chain.