Stormy Meadow

The sheep bleated in the meadow covered with burgundy colored flowers. The smell of bread wafted from a village nearby. The village had about two dozen buildings and had a lazy river running on one side of it. Fish jumped in the river, possibly the most you have seen. The fishing boats in the river were full with caught fish, gray mounds in their nets, like little individual hills of gray scales that reflected the light into an iridescent display. Children played amid the row of buildings and people started to go to work. The buildings were mostly between two styles: Tudor and an older Dutch style that you might see in Amsterdam. A small road passed through the town and a few cars drove on it. The town and meadow looked idyllic this morning. Before long however, a storm approached from the South changing the wind currents. The air sped up and the smell of fish replaced the sweet smell of freshly baked bread. The shepard corralled his sheep into the barn and the children in the streets were pushed into their homes by their families. The people going to work walked a little faster as if the storm was almost upon them.

The storm slowly took over the beautifully blue sky of the Netherlands and the sounds of thunder were audible. Yet, the thunder sounded less like a billowing brass instrument announcing the arrival of an esteemed guest but more of a musician practicing the notes as a pianissimo trying to avoid bothering people with his practice. If you would have heard it it might be the faintest thunder you've heard. As the storm got closer and the intensity of the rain became a downpour the thunder got closer but still stayed far away. As if it felt it would hurt the little village and meadows beauty by coming close; as if it would somehow corrupt it. It sounded like a composer had put soft piano to the climax of a scene rather than the characteristic blaring notes of trumpets that storms are so fond of.

Slowly the storm went by and eventually gave its last sighs of thunder like a musician forgetting the breath mark and just reaching a full rest and then it was gone. The workers moved outside for their lunch break, the shepherd brought out his sheep to eat the renewed grass, and the children went out to play, some being chastised by their mothers for jumping in the newly formed puddles.