The Day After the Avalanche

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The Day After the Avalanche

EMPTY

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When I arrived at Boundwons Village - as it was called at the time, before the avalanche - the houses still smelled of fresh paint. Artisans and qualified labourers were rushing in from all over the island to join Count Harebourg's big project. Each one had been provided with their own house, as well as the tools necessary for them to be able to work under the best possible conditions. As for me, I'd been given a comfortable little chalet and a set of very high quality gears.

Count Harebourg financed the construction of the village and all its facilities. He made sure everything was perfect. He believed that ensureing his workers were comfortable would increase their productivity. But I think the real reason was that this great man was a philanthropist, and the well-being of those around him was fundamental in this yes. Whatever it was, the artisans repaid him for his hospitality a hundred times over. You should have seen them at wrok on that building site! It was like a swarm of Moskitos on a Jullier night. They were buzzing about in all directions. For my part, I was feeling more motivated than ever. I had some experience in clock-making, but I'd never worked on anything this big before. It was very exciting!

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The village was built at the foot of Mount Scauldron. In this respect, it was ideally located between the building site and the raw material supply points. Nothing had been left to chance and we were able to focus our efforts entirely on the success of the project. The Count used to come down to supervise the construction himself. It was the same routine every day: he visited the workshops, gave his instructions and used the oppportunity to warmly congratulate us. From the forger to the carpenter, to the clockwork installer, everyone was entitled to their own compliment and pat on the shoulder. It was always gratifying! We felt useful and appreciated. We got the feeling we were part of something extraordinary, something that was going to change the world!

Alas! Frigost was the only thing that changed... and not in the way we hoped. When Descendre's cold hit the island, enormous quantities of snow accumulated on the slopes of Mount Scauldron, just above the village. They build up so quickly that it wasn't long before they threatened to come crashing down upon us.

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Just a few minutes after the start of the Big Freeze, we heard a deafening and monstrous sound far away, a roar that sounded like it had escaped from the depths of Tartare. It was like an earthquake, a typhoon on the sea, a big crash of thunder that would destroy everything. The tremor was so violent it upset the fragile balance that was the only thing protecting us from the inevitable: an avalanche.

In and instant, a flood of frozen powder poured down on us, covering all that lay in its path. Instead of lava, the volcano seemed to be spweing out fountains of snow, which transformed into a relentless blizzard as they hurtled down the side of the mountain. In the blink of an eye, men were swept away, everything we owned was pulverised and our houses were blocked in by thick layers of ice.

The avalanche was brief. Voilent. Merciless. And it had buried Boundwons Village forever.

It takes time to recover from a tragedy like this. People had lost everything. It only took a couple of minutes to destroy our hopes, swept away by tonnes of snow. But the biting cold of Descendre forced us to into survival mode. We needed to react immediately if we didn't want to freeze to death.

The most cowardly among us ran away. They left the place which had welcomed them with open arms, and didn't look back. They preferred the warmth and comfort of the village to dealing with the consequences of their work. They were the ones who accused the Count of being responsible for their unhappiness. They hypocrites!

The rest, on the other hand, set to work clearing the roofs of the houses and repairing what they could. They had been seriously shaked, but they remained loyal to the Count. After all, Harebourg wasn't the only one responsible for what had happened. We'd all taken part in the project. And who could have foreseen the nasty turn events would take?