“Human nature is not black and white but black and grey” – Graham Green

Milky white peaks charmed their senses
With the astounding fusillade
From the puddle a mouse emerges
The hinge pulses like some beatings

Story to tell if there’s a chance
Milky white peaks charmed their senses
Round and round with a clay pigeon
A chain of daisies all over

A glade of infinite nothings
A place to set out their stall
Milky white peaks charmed their senses
A sense of wooziness they feel

A place of wonder and foible
With the green bubbles popping out
Further afield some grey background
Milky white peaks charmed their senses*

*Quatern

On this cold morning the ghost came
Buried his gold on soil
I pinched myself on who’s to blame
At any rate, such spoil
Icicles were formed overnight
And so cold it gave me a fright
Icicles were formed
Icicles were formed
When snow is melted by sunlight

On this cold morning the ghost came
Leaving some weird feeling
Inside we were playing some game
And the baby’s babbling
What could we do when it’s so cold?
And we have time to look for gold
What could we do?
What could we do?
Don’t be silly, my Mum scold

The only residents remaining in the small town of Miners Hill are spirits.

On this cold, grey day, I stood on top of the hill as the rain started to pour. Thunder rumbled, accompanied by a slash of lightning which sparked the sky for an instant.

I felt totally jaded as I made my way up there. This used to be our playground. We all ran up and down until we were tired but satisfied. Ah, the joy of childhood memories.

Now, Miners Hill is like a ghost town, only spirits live here after a big fire burned most of our houses.

It happened again! This was the second time that I have seen her ghost. She was wearing a flowing white wedding gown, barefoot, her long hair cascading and she was running. I was taking photos of some of the spring flowers that were peeking out in the garden – cherry blossoms, crocuses, daffodils and some tulips. When I looked at the photos, she was there in the background; just some part of her gown was shown. The first time I saw her, she was coming down the stairs, also in a rush. I just saw some parts of her black hair. I thought I was just imagining things, but that time, it was also very cold in that part of the house.

I rang my mother straight away and she said it was probably my great, great ancestor Maria Clara who was supposed to get married but the groom didn’t turn up. Ibarra, the groom was on his way to the church when he was captured by the Spanish Civil Guards. They accused him of rebellion and sentenced to be hanged. Maria Clara went to see him in prison but they denied her of that right. She went berserk and tried to kill the guard. In his defence, the guard shot her. It was very tragic.

“Blessing you on your special day,” my son’s great granddad, bless his soul, would be saying this as my son wore this pocket watch on his wedding day. This old watch could be as old as 107 years, as that year was engraved on it. He won it for sprinting, together with a silver medal which he won in cricket. My husband wore it on our wedding day 32 years ago and this year, he passed it to our son. And hopefully, the son will pass it to his son when the time is right. Life is such a bliss!

For: https://secondwindleisure.com/2023/01/15/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-days-of-gray-and-white/