The hot summer has passed into a misty early autumn, is a writing prompt from my current work in progress, as yet untitled. The section it comes from is shown below. The story is a sequel to River Witch and a dual timeline.
The hot summer has passed into a misty early autumn with today’s chilly rain a harbinger of the season to come. Hester relishes the warmth from the range and is grateful for the well-stocked wood pile Cornelius organised for her.
The hessian sack she filled in the meadow in July lies in a corner, crumpled and empty. Not gone to waste, however, as Ellen and Rose have kept themselves busy dealing with the wildflower harvest. Hester has more reason to be thankful, this time for Mrs Bryce.
Catherine’s housekeeper enabled Rose and Ellen to stay at home by sending them one of her numerous grand-nieces, a buxom young woman who cheerfully cooked and swept and laundered while Ellen saw to those needs of the villagers she felt able to help – and others whom she wrote to her mother seeking advice – and Rose looked after the garden and hens.
‘I’m no longer needed,’ Hester teased the first evening home, with her bed made and a meal prepared for her. ‘I see I’ll be able to spend my days on the sofa with a book, drinking tea, like a lady.’
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How wonderful. Imagine if we could all do that instead of the daily household chores most of us must contend with. LOL
Hester wishes so too! Or maybe not. I don’t see her being happy to lounge around all day.
THE HOT SUMMER HAS PASSED INTO AN EARLY MISTY AUTUMN
The hot summer has passed into an early misty autumn. Bushfires that ravaged much of the southern part of Australia resulting in massive property losses are now either well under control or becoming part of meteorological history.
The record high temperatures and catastrophic winds that raged from December to February fading in people’s memories as cooler conditions begin to take hold.
Once again, the vagaries of global warming had weather experts totally confounded. One minute, the Earth was on fire – the next, wise heads were predicting another Ice Age.
As an up and coming meteorologist, the more Jake listened to his more experienced colleagues, the more confused he became.
“These climate variations are normal,” some would say. “You only have to look at history to see how volatile weather trends can be.”
And they would cite evidence including sample core ring studies of ancient trees dating back to the Middle Ages that showed Europe’s climate was much warmer then than what it is today.
Others would ignore these results, insisting that the earth was rapidly heating up and anyone with half a brain only had to look at temperature records of the past 100 years for justification.
“If we don’t act soon, it will be too late and we will all be doomed,” they wailed.
Jake really didn’t know what to think. After such a volatile, destructive summer, the cooler, misty autumn conditions were certainly welcome.
However, did this mean that global warming was temporarily on hold and the end of the world was indeed not nigh.
After all, Australia had experienced dreadful bushfires in the past, sometimes with significant loss of life. At least this time, despite the property destruction, no one had died – probably because the old philosophy of staying to fight the flames had been replaced by the mantra “leave early before the danger becomes insurmountable”, taking what precious possessions were needed to start again if necessary.
Jake wanted to believe in the future – a future where the human race would survive and continue to live in relative peace and prosperity in temperatures not so unbearable that people were forced to live underground to escape the suffocating heat.
As he gazed out his office window, the autumn mist continued to thicken, drastically reducing visibility.
He could just make out the shape of large animals on the street below – creatures that looked vaguely familiar.
Hang on, he thought, they look like woolly mammoths. But how, surely it can’t be!!