The hours had turned to days and the days to weeks. The rest had just blurred into one; nothing to separate anything with any real purpose lost and there seemed that no end would ever be in sight. The situation was grim and there was no real reason to expect change. Nothing positive and a general round of toil and struggle was the order of the day for what felt like eternity.

And then, the tide changed. The darkness seemed a little less intense. The wind would howl with a little less gusto and the rain didn’t seem quite as cold as it lashed on his face. A few flakes of softly comforting snow could even be felt and whilst the autumn was definitely heading towards winter, things were definitely changing and changing for the better. His very soul felt the warmth and he started to see a tiny glimmer of light as the tunnel was rounded and the home stretch was in sight.

As he walked the ancient streets from top to bottom in search of what he sought, he found a little more purpose for his once laboured strides. He found a little bit of something he had lost for so long. A little spark had ignited somewhere and it seemed that no matter how hard the world at large might try, it would flicker, waver and it may even come close but it would not be extinguished. He would walk on, tall, proud and he would prevail. He would walk on through the wind and the rain and the darkest days and the storms ahead wouldn’t stop his progress towards a better tomorrow.

At that point the sun faded yet he felt nothing but warmth as he rounded the corner and ascended the age old Castlehill. The wet cobblestones underfoot shone like little slippery blocks of magic and the glistening lights from the buildings were beautiful to his eye. The Christmas Tree stood there, battered for hours on end after one hell of a storm had battered Edinburgh. Yet, it stood there. Unwavering, undamaged, shining like a beacon for the world at large to see and appreciate…