It’s summer in England, and I am sitting watching pales of rain drench my surroundings, the wind howling through the miniscule gaps in the seals of our double glazed windows. Old Audrey refused to switch the heating on. She is saving the utility for another occasion…..
I ventured out. The wind caught my umbrella, turning it outward and revealing me to a naked breath – a blow that cut me to the bone, pulling my hair and spitting on my face. I laughed silently as I drew back my pathetic plastic shield and quickened my pace. Looking down I avoided any eye contact with this wrath. I was certain that I had heard a distained murmur echoing, gripping into my thoughts, threatening me with vast realizations about the world I was now living in. The challenge made me feel alive. I was determined not to look back.
“The longer I live, the more I am certain that the great difference between the great and the insignificant is energy — invincible determination — a purpose once fixed, and then death or victory.†Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton