great change

I was standing with other people on a narrow path set high on a cliff face. We were looking out over the land below as the day turned to night. To our left, the setting sun caused a myriad of colours to flood the sky, reminiscent of one of my abstract paintings: red, blue, golds, greens and oranges bled into one another. I took my camera out of its case and, just at the moment that I took a photograph, the sky, directly where the sun was sinking below the horizon, erupted. A charcoal cloud billowed up and out, poisoning the brilliant colours and spreading over the entire landscape. Simultaneously, a giant wave of grey sea water emerged from the point at which the sun disappeared and rushed toward us, quickly traversing the miles, growing rapidly in size and terror. Everyone began to run, back along the path to our right. It had happened so fast and without warning that I still had my camera out of the bag. I ran a few steps but needed to secure the camera so that I could move freely. I stopped and huddled into the rock-face to avoid being stampeded, placing my camera back into its protective case. Behind me, the water had spread across the land and was rising.