It was winter. A heavy mantle of ominous foreboding had settled over the village.

Everywhere you looked, it was dismal and gray. The graphite naked branches of the trees against the gunmetal of the sky created an air of somberness that seemed to seep into your pores. Even the whiteness of the snow had become dirty and ashen. It had become a season of 50 shades of gray.According to an old Indian legend, all conditions were in motion for the perfect storm … for the arrival of CaCaPelli ... the Imp of Tumbles (not to be confused with Kokopelli, the fertility god). It is said that when he arrives, he visits all the old women of the village (even if they dye their hair, he knows they are gray underneath) and makes them fall.Brenda was just pursuing an avenue of exercise as she spent a long time in search for a bicycle that fit her short stature. To her delight, she finally found one. On her maiden voyage, CaCaPelli invisibly ran in front of her, causing her to fall. Hard on her shoulder. She spent the winter months recuperating from surgery.Joyce, a hard and dedicated worker, was leaving her job when CaCaPelli pranced in front of her and made her slip and fall in the icy parking lot. She suffered a broken nose.Diann was walking to her car when CaCaPelli crossed her path and down she went. When she saw her wrist at an odd angle, she didn't need the doctor to tell her it was broken.Linda had spent an exhausting day and night on her feet. Dead tired, she made her way into the bedroom. She didn't see CaCaPelli dancing in front of her. Not wanting to wake her sleeping husband, she got undressed in the dark. But as she tried to take her jeans off, something made her lose her balance and she fell backward on the floor, like an overturned turtle. The doctor said her back was strained.Jaylene was planning on going down into her basement when CaCaPelli pushed her down the cellar stairs. All the way down. She doesn't remember a thing about the ride to the hospital where the doctor treated her for a very serious concussion.Connie was more fortunate. When she and her husband went out to dinner with friends, CaCaPelli went along. When she suddenly began to experience a bout of vertigo, it was only her quick thinking to find a seat that saved her from falling as she nearly passed out. CaCaPelli was very disappointed. He vowed to do better the next time.Devoe was the next time. Coming down her attic stairs, CaCaPelli shoved her from behind and she went crashing down. She was black and blue from her head to her toe on her right side. She suffered a fractured eye socket, needed nine stitches to close a gash on her forehead and had surgery on her wrist, which she broke in three places, needing several screws and a plate.Fearing more attacks, Linda searched for a way to rid the village of CaCaPelli. She found an old tome of Indian legends, and this is what she read:"When CaCaPelli comes to visitThere's only one way to rid his spirit.Spring must come to chase the graysAs flowers bloom from the sun's warm rays.All his victims must meet at Rita's,Dressed up like a bunch of cheetahs.With their cup of Italian IceOr cone of vanilla custard … (nice,)They must circle and recite,These words for him to take his flight:'CaCaPelli go away.Be gone and do not stay.Be gone your season of doom and gray,It's time for fun and a sunny day.No more tumbles, no more falls,Go back, your dismal world recalls.'"So ends this horrible season of 50 shades of gray.Or as this small village calls it, 50 shades of pain.