Christ in Flanders

In a mist‑cloaked corner of medieval Brabant, a modest ferry shuttles between the tiny island of Cadzad and the fledgling port of Ostend. The hamlet, a patchwork of drift‑wood shacks and a few sturdy houses, already boasts a governor, a garrison and a convent, hinting at the greater civilization that will one day blossom there. Though the exact dates are lost to legend, the tale has been passed down by Flemish storytellers for generations, each adding a brushstroke of the marvelous and the mysterious.

On the evening of a fading sunset, the vessel brims with a motley crowd: a flamboyant knight with his greyhounds, a high‑born lady clutching a falcon, a burgher from Bruges with bags of gold, and a learned doctor from Louvain. Just as the skipper sounds his horn, a lone stranger appears on the jetty, his sudden arrival stirring quiet rivalry among the aristocrats. As the boat pulls away into the darkening tide, the passengers’ uneasy coexistence invites listeners to ponder the deeper allegories of pride, destiny, and the hidden forces that guide a journey’s course.