The Serenade of Persephone [tom riddle]

Chapter twenty-six

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

     ALTHEA SHAMEFULLY REALISED that she had forgotten many things since the last time she had come to Greece; one of them was this strangely warm weather of December.

She had left England with the weather ready to show its cruelty by bringing a bitter winter, full of snow and frozen crystal lakes, where small children would spend their time away from the ferocity of war. When she set foot in Greece she felt that the thick coat she was wearing was unnecessary, as her body felt scorching by the high temperatures. The Thessalian Plain was known for the fact that could only torture its citizens with two things; natural disasters and the unbearable good weather.

Althea found herself torn between conflicting emotions as she grappled with the cheerful weather of Greece. She did not know if her moody and inherently melancholic self loved the cheerful weather of this country or if she was simply disgusted by it. Part of her could not help but feel a sense of dissonance as if the vibrant atmosphere clashed with the sombreness of her thoughts. Yet, amidst the confusion, there was a subtle longing, a glimmer of appreciation for the beauty that surrounded her.

The area where her mother's parents' home was located was just outside eastern the city of Larissa, near a village where the trees were always dense since they belonged to the evergreen category. Hundreds of pine trees, some snowy firs, and puffy acacia ones were scattered around here and there, while somewhere far away towards the horizon the mountain of Olympus loomed majestically with its peak gleaming against the sunlight.