Summer Early Morning

Each morning I step into the Stygian gloom of the hallway. In front of me the front door is outlined in a fiery orange glow as if the flames of hell blaze on the other side of it. I open the door. A brilliant white light blinds me. An effluvium of dust, rotting garbage and hot marble assails my nostrils. The fiery glow is an optical effect as the sunlight pierces the gaps between door frame and the ill-fitting varnished wooden doors.  Yet it is an appropriate image, a warning of what temperatures the day will bring.