The main road that led to and from Sirencester was barely discernible through the weeds and grasses that had reclaimed it. The wind gently sways the tall grasses in the abandoned gardens while wild bushes make their claim on every acre not taken by the grass.
Most doors still stood in their frames as if nothing had changed. A few were ajar for one reason or another, perhaps left open in a hurry. There were signs of fires, in some cases it was merely a trail of soot and smoke above a window pane, in others it was a pile of ash where once a building stood.
Sirencester, once a pleasant quiet town and home to friendly folk was but a hollow shell of its former self. The air which was once filled with the many sounds of a growing community had grown eerily quiet. The silence was only broken up by the occasional animal sound and gust of wind.
In a strange sense of irony it was the library that was full of sounds now. Scattered pages of books, scratched wood and broken computers had become the home and playground of a huge community of cats.
You could go anywhere in town you wanted, walk into any home and visit any previously private part of town, assuming it hadn’t been destroyed by nature already. But even though many buildings had found a new purpose there was just no way this town’s former self could ever be restored.
Many doorways still stood tall and in some cases it was one of the few things left of a home. But most doors were completely gone and only remnants of rotten wood were left behind. There were signs of fires, in some cases it was merely a trail of soot and smoke above a window pane, in others it was a pile of ash where once a building stood.
Huthwaite, once a growing community of hundreds of families was now a forgotten remnant of a time long passed. Bird songs, animals rustling in the bushes and trees and the various animal sounds from stray pets and other wild animals had taken the place of the sounds of a bustling community.
The scents of fresh bread, various fruits and all sorts of other foods once filled the air of the market place. Now there’s only the fresh air from the nearby forests to enjoy, as well as the occasional animal droppings that ruin it.
You couldn’t help but feel lost in this town now, even if you knew exactly where you were. It was a lonely place with only distant memories of what once was. But there was something oddly poetic about nature reclaiming what was once theirs to begin with.
