A Stranger in Town
As I walked along the dusty road leading into the city I could feel a sense of heaviness that I had never experienced before. I had traveled this route many times but somehow the city was different. Or maybe just this day was different.
The sun was starting to set and the daylight seemed to be slipping away faster than normal. I felt that the sun was ready for this day to end and was already looking forward to the next.
As I entered the city my only goal was to find shelter for the night, get some rest, and then continue on my journey the following day. But as I made my way along the streets I couldn’t help but notice the extreme difference in the people I saw milling through the streets. The town was oddly quiet as very little talking could be heard. If any communication was going on it was done so in whispers. But most just walked with heads hung low with looks on their faces like they would rather be anywhere else but here.
Some were emotionally shaken and many were sobbing as others tried to console them. I noticed a woman standing in a middle of a small group of people. Each person took their turn hugging her and wiping away her tears away while one young man remained constantly at her side. He seemed to care for her as a son does for his mother.
But in the middle of all this darkness and obvious sadness I noticed several men standing on a nearby hill. Some of them were dressed as soldiers. Not just soldiers but some of Rome’s finest. In stark contrast to the rest of the people the soldiers seemed to be in a celebratory mood. One had a robe draped over his uniform and he laughed and danced around the others. His fellow soldiers looked at him with envy while the rest of the crowd did so with disgust.
By now the sun had started to slip past the hill causing it to take on the image of a skull. It was then that I finally understood the name that it had been given. As the shadows moved across the town the heaviness seemed to grow. I had visited this town many times before but I had never found it in this condition.
As I continued on my search for a place to rest I could only imagine what dreadful event had taken place in this city. What had caused these extreme reactions? While walking along I could only wonder what tomorrow would hold, or even the next day.