Dark! But very well written. You incorporated elements of the back story seamlessly into the present action and build your own history really well. The recurring line was a nice way to close the story. There was only one typo I could pick up: 'Sickness was kept ay bay', and only one sentence which stood out as mildly clunky: 'much of what he had seen and owned resembled much of etc.' This is just nitpicking here; the story was really nicely crafted. Your descriptive skills are brilliant! :)