THE ACCIDENTAL IMBIBER
Sitting on a fault line meant that the towns residents were used to the occasional shudder, but this jolt was far more energetic than the standard quake and had had a profound effect on the local townsfolk.
Ron looked out the window to check on the local landmark's, and was pleased to see that the Lighthouse and pier were still standing. Although unsure if they were structurally sound, he was reassured by their enduring presence as he scanned the picturesque visage laid out before him.
The see breeze was stronger than usual as it blew in from the frigid but ruffled ocean, and the gulls and shags screamed a shrill shriek as they took advantage of the uplift from the towering cliffs, and soared above the coastline and the communities startled brethren. Other than the rolling surf and the screech of the birds all seemed unimaginably still.
The local congregational church had been badly hit by the tremor and was suffering from fallen masonry and shattered windows. In particular, a large circular stained glass window was cracked at an angle of 66.6 degrees, and a scene of St Paul administering a psalm to the crew of a stricken fishing vessel was in danger of disintegrating. The lead holding the sections together had become loose and appeared to have melted at various joints in the colorful glass jigsaw. However, most of the glass segments were still in situ and undamaged.
Ron was dismissive of the shock and was determined to continue his day as originally planed. After his morning ablutions and a rudimentary breakfast of coffee and cookies he quickly dressed and started for his front door, only pausing to quickly look down at his chest and the pendant containing a gold cross with a red garnet set in its center. His mind turned to the day his ex wife had placed over his head and a shiver passed through his body.
Ron's family were originally from the western isles of Scotland, and had been prominent members of the local clergy, and in particular members of an insular sect that was influenced by its druid past. In fact, Ron was initiated in to the Druadic faith as a child and had trained as an apprentice Monk in a small Irish monastery on the island of Inniscock.
After a couple of years of self denial and inhuman living conditions, Ron decided that the tonsure and habit was not for him, and began a slow but gradual accent in to the world of the unclean and nonreligious, whilst at all times retaining a sense of druidic well-being.
Leaving Inniscock in a small coracle and reaching out for his destiny, Ron initially arrived on the west coast of Ireland at a small fishing village on the Isle of Achill, and began searching for his true identity.
His druid instincts bestowed him with a feeling of belonging and trust in the local inhabitants, who unknown to him were directly descended from Iberian ancestors who spread their influence north with their beaker pottery and associated life-style.
The specific stock of Iberian people had also brought their DNA with them and an inherent genetic adaption that enabled them to ingest alcohol without any serious effect to their livers or other important organs.
To be continued............
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