Mephisto

A few days ago Hannah, Tommy and i were enjoying an evening wander along the banks of our beloved Anglezarke Lake. The sun was warm, the day had been kind and the water was calm and friendly. I could see no better way to end a day than leaning on the wall watching the swifts screech by with my youngest gazing across her gorgeous countryside.

But we were totally unaware of the absolute and cruel contrast of life over the lake. We could see them on the far side, on the edge of a beautiful beech wood doing what we were doing. Or so we thought. Another family taking solace and soul sustenance from the lake. How wrong we were. The day after we found out that at that very moment a guy was fighting for his life in the glassy lake, drowning in front of his lady and her young daughter who he had jumped in to rescue. She managed to swim to safety but he was grabbed by the currents that rage beneath the surface. I think back constantly. There we were, in heaven. And a few hundred yards away was another family, in hell. United by the still waters that lapped our feet. This morning I walked Tommy right around the lake and laid a bunch of wild flowers on the spot. In memory of a guy I never knew but who, in his dying moments, branded in our minds the fragility of life.

listen

This morning the lake bares its teeth. The wind whips it's surface into a frenzy. No doubt we will swim in the lake again. But our memories will linger.