Winterfell Harbor Gloaming

Winterfell Harbor Stone Guardian

Winterfell Harbor at sunset was calm and quiet in the darkening skies.  Waves were stirred by the winds in overhead.  It had been a odd week.  Rumbles under the harbor's seas had brought old stone ruins pushed up from the sea floor -  debris of storms long past.  Instead of the usual kelp and seaweed floating past, you could peek down and see a blue glow coming from plants no human eye had ever seen.  When I snagged one with a fishing line, it sparkled in the sunlight.  What was going on? Doors were opening and slamming on their own at night.  Even this morning, I tried to step thru the library door and was blocked from moving.  I reached out and touched....felt like a cold stone wall but nothing was there.  Down in the wine cellar, prized bottles had tumbled to the floor...so much for that Christmas wine!  Candles flickered without a window open.  I was blaming it on Lord Tiger and Tigger Cat.  Lord Tiger was the reason for my sunset stroll, he had disappeared from the Great Hall.  Tigger had curled up on his little couch as if hiding from the world - even with his head tucked under a cushion.  No cat meowed under a bush.  No bird chirped sleepily from a branch.  Tonight was peaceful, except for the missing kitty.  As my evening habit, I stopped to check on the stone guardians of my home - giving their stone towers a quiet pat of gratitude for their diligence.

Fog? Blue mists? Rolling over the manor?

Turning to wander the paths back to the manor, the wind changed directions. The first wisps of fog rose above the manor but it was strange.  Were these the blue mists that cover Winterfell?

Dark Clouds Gathering

I hurried for cover on the manor's porch as the clouds gathered. Rain slashed across the Harbor. Wind blasted the summer daisies in the garden.  I rushed to the conservatory to check the back gardens. 

Waters were rushing to the streams. The old stone bridge was still standing in the downpour. Waterfalls pouring on all sides of the manor contrasted with the thunder and lightening booms.

 

Last thing I saw before the storm blasted my view into darkness was the solitary heron out by the pond. I grabbed Tigger in my arms and huddled by library fireplace.  

The winds continued for what seemed forever.  I could hear the manor being buffeted again and again by the storm.  Trees limbs crashed into the windows.  Let's don't even think about the dining table which I could see thru the doorway!  At the height of the noise, I thought of the old abbey which had stood for centuries on this island.  It's chapel stood on the precipice near the house.  The abbey house itself had disappeared leaving stories of ancient priests in the chapel, ladies guarding the Harbor while their lords were gone, and the children who always left stories of little fairies in the trees and beautiful ladies who talked to them down on the fishing rocks.  As the current Lady of the Harbor, I knew my great-grandfather had torn down the abbey ruins and built the manor.  Now I wondered if I would be the last Anderton to live here on the Harbor.

 

Suddenly it was quiet.  As Tigger stirred in my arms, I realized I could see sunlight - grey with clouds but still the setting sun.  The manor was destroyed with only the library chimney and fireplace still standing.  Everything was wiped clean. I stepped hesitantly out onto what was now a rocky landing high above the sea waters. Tigger meowed and I heard an answering kitty.  That rogue kitty, Lord Tiger popped up from under a rock.  I gathered the two cats in my arms.  Seeing a cottage roof still standing across the bridge, I picked my way across the rocks and slid down the muddy hill for a dry place to spend the night.  Who knew what I would find in the morning?  What was the laughter coming from the ancient oak tree?  I was too tired to investigate. Sunday would be a better day.