A Night Stop by the Harbor

   Everything around me is quiet. The sea, the sky, the houses, they are all at peace. Everyone who has been working busily at the harbor from dawn until dusk is now home, resting, waiting for the new day ahead. I can feel that there is a harmonious routine – I can imagine the place crawling and buzzing with people in the daytime, all absorbed in their own actions and at night they all scatter to their tiny houses – their own little private worlds. But right now these “worlds” seem inhabited and empty except for one. A single light coming from a small window of a house on the shore that is closer to where I am standing is the only thing that is preventing me from feeling completely alone here. But I don’t mind being alone. Just like the people who spend their time at the harbor at day I appreciate the silence of the night. It feels good to get away from it all. 

    The city on the far end of the harbor also looks deserted. There are no lights around the huge white buildings and they look like sad lonely roamers. 

   What suddenly strikes me is that there are no animals either. Where did everyone go? Why is there no one in sight? I’ve been to many harbors at night before but there has always been someone awake, wandering around or getting home from a bar. Something starts to feel wrong. Then I look to my left where the sea meets the starry sky and I realize why it is so quiet. It is still far way but it is coming. A storm. I can see tiny lightnings playing with each other in the almost-black clouds. And everyone is hiding. Waiting for it to strike.

This piece is a story based on my interpretation of this painting entitled "Harbor at Night" by Milton Avery.