The Winter Winds - Tall Tales

They arrive with rains and unending gray skies. Unwanted, uncalled for, hoary, hairy, and full of malaise and madness. At first it is a slow steady stream of sullen. Then a terrified surprise. The hatches are battened, rubber boots donned, and umbrellas safely tucked away or steeled against the inevitable onslaught. They seep through without substance, utterly unstoppable. A force of nature to be fully respected. When rejected they'll whisper, wail, and whine in the corner, and whistle their discontent. They purposely set your teeth on edge, make your flesh goosebump and leaden your eyes to bloodshot.

They will seduce you with soft steady streams of screams. Then they will terrify you by flooding through large cracks. Complacent, quiet, you cannot will yourself undeterred by their abominable swish and flow. The temperature rises and the entire mass becomes unhinged. They rise and make a toast to eternal suffocation. The howling wails arrive with a volley of cluster bombs that cannot be silenced. Our calm collected is spirited away. Heads hit palms hit desks. Pulling, pushing, gnawing. They lull us to sleep. They tune to our dreams and rob the beauty of present and scramble it to a deep and profound silence of loss.