“Mining communities had lived in the shadow of the black for as long as they could remember. It was respected. Yet often, as with death, when the blackness was feared it was because they were heading in its direction. That gave them a semblance of control, or at least a belief that the dark matter could be tamed. Aberfan was different. The abyss itself was moving towards. And once it was unleashed, it showed no mercy for the innocent or the town in which they dwelled. That which was meant to be static and fixed into place, showed how it could move at tremendous speeds, like a black bolt of lightning striking across darkened skies to leave mortality in its pass. Death is not meant to run that fast.”