winchester 5

It's after midnight. There are still lights in the rooms of the housemaster who lives across the way, but we decide to risk it. We climb the wall and run through the large garden. At the other end of the garden, we climb the fence. Land on the pavement. Now is the time to walk briskly. Still in the badlands. When we reach the first playing field we can start to relax. When we get to the second, my friend can light a cigarette. I don't smoke. We get to the water meadows. They glisten under moonlight. The reeds shimmer. The water gurgles. Trees loom out of darkness. Swans patrol the banks. It's cold but we don't feel it. For an hour we inhabit another planet.