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A 365-word tale about something that transfixes me each time I travel to places much colder than my island.
The Gmünd had been sitting on his sign since late Spring, when the people had brought him there in a small truck, spending an entire day thumping the metal pole into the concrete, drinking coffee and snoozing. It had been alone since then, passing most of the summer by observing multi-coloured cars whizzing along the autobahn. Summer was long and hot; several cars broke-down nearby, steam billowing from over-heated engines. Their people overheated too ... ranted a bit, but it didn't matter. Nobody visited the Gmünd.
As the days grew shorter and temperatures dropped, it saw fewer and fewer people. They stayed inside their warm vehicles. The Gmünd grew lonely. It missed seeing new faces.
Rain fell one bitterly cold day -- but the rain wasn't wet. It was hard, cold, and very white. The Gmünd watched in fascination as snowflakes floated softly past. With a delighted gasp, it noticed it and they looked exactly the same!
"Excuse me," it called to one snowflake. "Are you a Gmünd too?"
The snowflake, blown by the wind, landed comfortably among his fellows on top of the sign.
"What's a Gmünd?" it asked, confused.
"I am," answered the Gmünd. "And you look just like I do!"
"So we do," mused the snowflake, noticing this for the first time. "Six legs ... you are huge and black ... we are small and white. We come from water and fall from the skies, whereas you are plastic and stuck to that metal thing."
"It's a Sign," said the Gmünd, peeling one limb from the reflective backing. "I don't have to stay here. Look! I'm floating like you are! Wheee!" The wind blew the Gmünd into the air for a breathless moment until it landed by the side of the road. "Now what do we do?" it enthused.
"We melt," answered several snowflakes simultaneously ... and they did just that.
After the spring thaw, the people came back. The sign was defective, they said angrily. It was ripped down and replaced with a new one.
The Gmünd looked up wistfully at the shiny new sign.
The new Gmünd never spoke to the crumpled and discarded piece of plastic laying quietly on the ground.
oOoThe Gmünd had been sitting on his sign since late Spring, when the people had brought him there in a small truck, spending an entire day thumping the metal pole into the concrete, drinking coffee and snoozing. It had been alone since then, passing most of the summer by observing multi-coloured cars whizzing along the autobahn. Summer was long and hot; several cars broke-down nearby, steam billowing from over-heated engines. Their people overheated too ... ranted a bit, but it didn't matter. Nobody visited the Gmünd.
As the days grew shorter and temperatures dropped, it saw fewer and fewer people. They stayed inside their warm vehicles. The Gmünd grew lonely. It missed seeing new faces.
Rain fell one bitterly cold day -- but the rain wasn't wet. It was hard, cold, and very white. The Gmünd watched in fascination as snowflakes floated softly past. With a delighted gasp, it noticed it and they looked exactly the same!
"Excuse me," it called to one snowflake. "Are you a Gmünd too?"
The snowflake, blown by the wind, landed comfortably among his fellows on top of the sign.
"What's a Gmünd?" it asked, confused.
"I am," answered the Gmünd. "And you look just like I do!"
"So we do," mused the snowflake, noticing this for the first time. "Six legs ... you are huge and black ... we are small and white. We come from water and fall from the skies, whereas you are plastic and stuck to that metal thing."
"It's a Sign," said the Gmünd, peeling one limb from the reflective backing. "I don't have to stay here. Look! I'm floating like you are! Wheee!" The wind blew the Gmünd into the air for a breathless moment until it landed by the side of the road. "Now what do we do?" it enthused.
"We melt," answered several snowflakes simultaneously ... and they did just that.
After the spring thaw, the people came back. The sign was defective, they said angrily. It was ripped down and replaced with a new one.
The Gmünd looked up wistfully at the shiny new sign.
The new Gmünd never spoke to the crumpled and discarded piece of plastic laying quietly on the ground.
oOo
Category Story / Abstract
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 103px
File Size 339 B
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