Salter and the Frozen River

    It was a wide river, in the middle of a large city. During the winter, no one walked along the banks. It was too cold.

    But Salter walked.

    Salter walked along the river every day, because he needed to clear his head. He drank in the cold, barren landscape, with the grey frozen river and the muddy winter turf. He felt the wind freeze his eyes and cheeks, and he smelled nothing in particular (except perhaps the river ice). Each day, he walked, alone.

    Then one day, Salter did see someone. The man or woman (he couldn’t tell) paused walking. He or she looked out at the frozen river for a while, then walked on.

    Salter couldn’t say why, but he felt quietly happy.