Tag: ann_petry

He listened to her with his eyes fixed on her face.
She started choosing her words carefully.
The weather had changed, she thought.
The street is nice in this light, she thought.
They were good with coffee in the morning.
I’m young and strong, there isn’t anything I can’t do.
A wave of self-confidence swept over her.
She was walking faster and faster because the air was crisp and clear.
It was like having the earth suddenly open up.
Maybe you’d like to look at this.
Now I wonder if you’re being wise, dear.
It was a world of strange values.
But these people were different.
It was, she discovered slowly, a very strange world that she had entered.
Patient and good-tempered and hard-working and more than usually bright.
She never quite got over that first glimpse of the outside of the house.
Even on the day she was to leave he was sullen. Not talking. Frowning.
Yet what else could she have done?
It was the most beautiful street she had ever seen.
Her mouth curved as though she were about to smile.
The dog’s ears straightened into sharp points.
What difference does it make to him?
And she thought, everything he does, he does quietly.
He said something, but she couldn’t hear what it was.