a fleeting ripple

Late evenings before an exam week are quiet in a university town, even on Fridays. The sky is dark, the edges of light pollution fading into the distance, where greenhouses illuminate the night sky. Only a single desk lamp is on, the darkness covers the apartment like a heavy blanket. It keeps the distractions dull, only the notebooks and papers are in focus. Desk has coffee stains from early mornings and tea stains from late nights, the browns bleeding into the cheap wood gr

The dew on the iron railing of the balcony is frozen solid. The whole balcony is coated in powdery white. Sun shines over the whole scene, reflecting and breaking, and then finally reaching in through the windows, illuminating the darkest corners of the house. Some of the frozen dew is melting, hitting the metal gutters with a cheery plink, plink, plink. Each drops catches the light for a moment, shining brighter than any diamond could. It lasts for only a single fleeting mom

It’s late morning, but you wouldn’t have guessed it by looking at the sky. A steely grey, heavy with rain. It has been raining for days, with no intention of slowing down. The wind howls, hurling big, fat raindrops at the windows. The only thing the windows can do is to shiver and shake, the frame letting some draft for good measure. At least nothing leaks this time. There are no unexpected pools of water, no little wet dripping sounds -plop, plop, plop. It is pleasant, the r