Types of Prose Narratives: A Text-Book for the Story WriterFansler, Harriott Ely
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Types of Prose Narratives: A Text-Book for the Story Writer
Fansler, Harriott Ely
English prose literature; Storytelling
Turning a corner, I discovered the vehicle in the same place and
position. This time, as I had before resolved, I would wait until
morning if necessary. So I began pacing up and down the sidewalk in
front of the vehicle, taking strolls of five or ten minutes apart, and
then returning. I walked until I was almost exhausted. In spite of my
heavy ulster I began to feel chilly, so I again took refuge in the
doorway of a building opposite.
Should I give it up, I asked myself, after waiting so long? I stood
debating the question. No, I would wait a little longer; so, puffing
my pipe, I shivered, and watched for developments. At last I was about
determined that I must go or perish, when suddenly I saw through the
blinding snow the shadow of a pair of hands appear at the dimly lighted
window, adjusting a frame or inner sash. You can imagine my interest in
the proceedings.
Just at this moment a street sparrow, numb with the cold, and crowded
from a window-blind by its companions, dropped, half falling, half
flying, to the sidewalk directly in front of the window of the vehicle.
It sat blinking in the bright rays of the electric light, quite
bewildered, turning its little head first one way, then the other. In
the meantime the shadows of the two hands were still visible. The
sparrow, probably attracted by the light and the movement of the hands,
suddenly flew up, not striking the glass, but hovering with a quick
motion of the wings directly in front of the window, its magnified
shadow thrown on it by the rays of the electric light. Then the bird
dropped to the ground. The occupant was evidently much startled by the
large shadow coming so suddenly and at such a time of night. The shadow
of his hands quickly disappeared, and so did the frame. In another
moment the door of the vehicle opened, giving me a glimpse of a cozy
and remarkable interior. It seemed, in contrast with the cold and storm
without, filled with warmth and sunshine. It was like a pictorial
little room rather than the inside of a wagon or carriage. The occupant
looked out in a surprised, excited, and questioning way, as much as to
say, "What could that have been?" His whole manner implied that he had
been disturbed.
This was my opportunity, and, seizing it instantly, I walked boldly to
the door of the vehicle, and said, "It was a little sparrow benumbed
with the cold, that fluttered down to the sidewalk, where it lay for a
moment, until, probably attracted by the light, it hovered for a few
seconds before your window, then fell to the ground again."
I felt the man eying me intently, studying me with a most searching
glance. Was he in doubt as to my sincerity? Was it a hidden bond of
sympathy between us that made him suddenly relent and invite me to
enter his vehicle? What else could have prompted him? For my own part,
I instinctively felt for the man, without knowing why, a deep pity.
"Please step inside," he said; "it is cold."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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