1.4 Now and Then

On a beautiful summer morning in Wanaka, the birds are chirping like a choir up high on the treetops as high as the heavens. Its almost like a mountain top, no activity and as quiet as a snake travelling across the jungle floor. Empty lake. Empty Streets. Empty bars. Little to no movement within the town as the sun spreads its warmth quickly across the town and the shops begin to open their stores. Shop owners begin unlocking their doors and opening their stores to its customers. Warm atmosphere quickly travels at the speed of light across the town. Joggers running through and cutting the wind feeling the warmth of the sun on their face. Beautiful views shinning everything that the sun touches shining them like a bright diamond sitting in a jewellery store. Down the front of the town is the beautiful blue lake. Always very calm in the morning and only ducks and seagulls are present. Swoosh. Swish. The sound of the water waving up and down. As the morning sun is high up in the sky, the clouds start to leisurely drift away and the blue sky expresses itself to complete the summer morning.

Hours come to past and it is now afternoon. As the town begins to start filling up with people, summer vibes and memories start to flow into peoples minds reminding them the time when life was simple. No school. No cold weather. Little to no sickness. Life was great. Streets start to pack with people feeling the warmth of the sun. Bars and restaurants fill with noise and laughter and it crescendo through-out the day. Music played on almost every street like a musical festival. The town is now packed with noise and happiness. Children playing, adults laughing happiness is filled across the town. Not a cloud in the sky and the sun is shining brighter than anything else. The lakefront is packed with people lying on the beach with red skin like a capsicum or brown skin like a walnut. Waters filled with swimmers escaping the scorching heat from the sun. Ducks and seagulls scattered across the surface of the lake moving like a thief in the night, plucking peoples food and eating them like a snack. As the day goes by the sunset hour begins and the beautiful blue sky starts to fade. The sun slowly starts to descend behind the mountains and its light slowly fading away with each sun stripe slowly disappearing.

The time is now night and the sky starts to fill with white dots that shine like a bright beacon. Countless stars scattered across the sky, each flashing light a bright flashlight. Temperatures steadily drop to a small degree, still not too cold too wear a jacket but just the perfect temperature to call it a summer night. Teenagers begin forming their wolf packs and taking on the night with alcohol. Police officers start to begin their patrols as they watch them like a hawk. Laughter and screaming begins to crescendo in the town and the skatepark begins to fill with new world trolleys, ripped to pieces.

Months later, same town, same area, yet so much as changed. Winter mornings. Cold. Frigid. Unbearable. The cold atmosphere on your face as it freezes it slowly bone by bone. Smoke exits your mouth with every breath as your body tries to adapt to the frigid morning. Out the view, every exposed surface has frost coating all around it. Sidewalks as slippery as a frozen lake, making sure that every step you take is with caution to avoid yourself falling into the ground avoiding your worst nightmare. Where our tiny fingers once could move around so freely, our fingers now grasp for the heat and the warmth. The once beautiful blue lake filled with ducks and seagulls is now nothing but a lake that could drive a human into hypothermia in a matter of seconds. Beautiful blue sky once as clear as a blank piece of paper is nothing but grey clouds filling almost every inch of the blueness.

As the winter day goes on, the frost starts to clear up but the temperature remains the same throughout the day. Fog fills the atmosphere like a fire breakout has just happened. Afternoons turn into state lockdowns as every person is now in their homes, sitting beside the fire and not wanting to go outside. Jackets and pants start to become more common and supermarkets start to pack with families and friends who have just been up the mountain. Afternoons that were once sunny, hot, filled with people on every street are now look like schools. Boring and doll.

As the night begins, temperatures start to drop lower than ever and not a single person seen in sight. Nights that used to be packed with teenagers and police were not to be seen for a long time. Streets and roads, unoccupied and the only thing that can be noticed are the street lights that emit yellow light throughout the town. The lake filled with nothing but darkness and the shops with no life within it.