A Death in the Family
by James Agee
"When he was nearly asleep Rufus heard once more the crumpling of freight cars, and deep in the night he heard the crumpling of subdued voices and the words, “Naw: I’ll probably be back before they’re asleep”: then the quick feet creaking quietly downstairs. But by the time he heard the creaking and departure of the Ford, he was already so deeply asleep that it seemed only part of a dream, and by next morning when his mother explained to them why his father was not at breakfast, he had so forgotten the words and the noises that years later, when he remembered them, he could never be sure that he was not making them up."
mine
In the middle of the night Rufus awoke to whispers in the next room, his parents room, the words barely audible over the whir of the cars on the street below and the whir of the clock on the dresser above: “Naw, don’t’ wake em, I’ll be back before they’re asleep,” then the shuffle, click of feet down the stairs, two sets, and the door, then only one set back up. Rufus was so sleepy he thought he was asleep and the words and noises were part were part of some dream, so that the next morning when his mother told him why his father was not at breakfast that morning, he was as surprised as Catherine, and years later whenever he remembered that night he could never be sure if it was a dream or real.
100 Years of Solitude
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
“Many years later as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. At the time Macondo was a village of twenty adobe houses. The world was so recent that many things lacked names, and in order to indicate them it was necessary to point. Every year during the month of March a family of ragged gypsies would set up their tents near the village, and with a great uproar of pipes and kettledrums they would display new inventions. First they brought the magnet...Melquiades...went from house to house dragging two metal ingots and everybody was amazed to see pots, pans, tongs and braziers tumble down from their places and beams creak from the desperation of nails and screws trying to emerge, and even objects that had been lost for a long time appear from where they had been searched for most and went dragging along in turbulent confusion behind Melquiades’ magical irons...
Inside there was only an enormous, transparent block with infinite needles in which the light of the sunset was broken up into colored stars. ...
‘It’s the largest diamond in the world.”
“No,” the gypsy countered. “It’s ice.”
“This is the greatest invention of our time.” ”
mine
Only after the mules around him had fallen down in convulsions did Colonel Leononda Mulatio remember the strange man in brown at the dinner table. They were passing through Grenido, the town of twenty springs. They were so refreshed the mules had regained their baby teeth and in order to ride one it was necessary to ride two. Every year the army passed through here on the way to the world, carrying guns and oatmeal cans the younger men pounded on like bongo drums. The first wave brought the horses, such strong horses they led the entire town away, the young men, the slightly younger ones, the slightly older ones and even the young girls and boys in arms followed after them into the street until their mothers came and held them back, howling because they could not ride the horsey.
Colonel Leononda Mulatio led the second wave of mules. Around the dinner fire that night there had been all of his men and mules talking about all they had left behind until he could not see anything in front of them, the sunset danced on the flames of the fire until it went out, hiding the strange man in brown behind a smoky haze as thick as the stories.
“That’s the best story I ever heard.”
“No,” his last man countered, “it was real.”
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
by James Agee
"When he was nearly asleep Rufus heard once more the crumpling of freight cars, and deep in the night he heard the crumpling of subdued voices and the words, “Naw: I’ll probably be back before they’re asleep”: then the quick feet creaking quietly downstairs. But by the time he heard the creaking and departure of the Ford, he was already so deeply asleep that it seemed only part of a dream, and by next morning when his mother explained to them why his father was not at breakfast, he had so forgotten the words and the noises that years later, when he remembered them, he could never be sure that he was not making them up."
mine
In the middle of the night Rufus awoke to whispers in the next room, his parents room, the words barely audible over the whir of the cars on the street below and the whir of the clock on the dresser above: “Naw, don’t’ wake em, I’ll be back before they’re asleep,” then the shuffle, click of feet down the stairs, two sets, and the door, then only one set back up. Rufus was so sleepy he thought he was asleep and the words and noises were part were part of some dream, so that the next morning when his mother told him why his father was not at breakfast that morning, he was as surprised as Catherine, and years later whenever he remembered that night he could never be sure if it was a dream or real.
100 Years of Solitude
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
“Many years later as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. At the time Macondo was a village of twenty adobe houses. The world was so recent that many things lacked names, and in order to indicate them it was necessary to point. Every year during the month of March a family of ragged gypsies would set up their tents near the village, and with a great uproar of pipes and kettledrums they would display new inventions. First they brought the magnet...Melquiades...went from house to house dragging two metal ingots and everybody was amazed to see pots, pans, tongs and braziers tumble down from their places and beams creak from the desperation of nails and screws trying to emerge, and even objects that had been lost for a long time appear from where they had been searched for most and went dragging along in turbulent confusion behind Melquiades’ magical irons...
Inside there was only an enormous, transparent block with infinite needles in which the light of the sunset was broken up into colored stars. ...
‘It’s the largest diamond in the world.”
“No,” the gypsy countered. “It’s ice.”
“This is the greatest invention of our time.” ”
mine
Only after the mules around him had fallen down in convulsions did Colonel Leononda Mulatio remember the strange man in brown at the dinner table. They were passing through Grenido, the town of twenty springs. They were so refreshed the mules had regained their baby teeth and in order to ride one it was necessary to ride two. Every year the army passed through here on the way to the world, carrying guns and oatmeal cans the younger men pounded on like bongo drums. The first wave brought the horses, such strong horses they led the entire town away, the young men, the slightly younger ones, the slightly older ones and even the young girls and boys in arms followed after them into the street until their mothers came and held them back, howling because they could not ride the horsey.
Colonel Leononda Mulatio led the second wave of mules. Around the dinner fire that night there had been all of his men and mules talking about all they had left behind until he could not see anything in front of them, the sunset danced on the flames of the fire until it went out, hiding the strange man in brown behind a smoky haze as thick as the stories.
“That’s the best story I ever heard.”
“No,” his last man countered, “it was real.”
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
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