Foreshadow — A Vocabulary Story
The Painter of Slemish Mountain
Rafael had hiked Slemish Mountain three times that summer, but never with a sketchbook tucked under his arm. His cousin Bibi marched ahead, pointing at the bruised clouds gathering over the volcanic plug.
"Those clouds foreshadow rain," she said. "Mum will be cross if we come back soaked."
Foreshadow means to indicate or suggest something, usually unpleasant, that is going to happen in the future.
Rafael paused, studying the slope. The dark sky made the mountain look mysterious, as if it might foreshadow a difficult climb or a story worth drawing. He told Bibi this, and she rolled her eyes.
"Everything you say is meant to foreshadow something dramatic."
They climbed onwards, boots scuffing basalt. Halfway up, they met an older woman called Ekaterina, a geologist from Belfast carrying a battered notebook. She showed them tiny crystals in the rock that, she explained, were signs of ancient eruptions.
"Stones are honest," she said. "They keep the past carefully written inside them."
Rafael sketched her hand resting on the boulder. Bibi watched the sky thicken, and a low rumble seemed to foreshadow the downpour Ekaterina had already expected from the weather.
They sheltered under an overhang, sharing oatcakes while rain hissed against the rocks. Rafael drew quickly, capturing Ekaterina mid-laugh, Bibi cross-legged, and the streaming hillside beyond.
On the page, three thin pencil strokes seemed to foreshadow a friendship he had not expected to find.
Word Definition
foreshadow
meaning
to indicate or suggest something, usually unpleasant, that is going to happen in the future
synonyms
predict · portend · prefigure · augur · harbinger
antonyms
follow · result · conclude
example sentence
Dark clouds foreshadow a storm.