The Hinge of the Year

Michaelmas Eve – when the year tips into the dark. The last geese sizzle, the last debts get squared, and the devil, they say, is out spitting on the blackberries. It’s a night for charms, for peering into bowls of water to see who you’ll marry – or if you’ll die – and for hoping St. Michael, sword flashing, is on duty. Because after tonight, the dark takes over.