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Blackwood, Algernon, 1869-1951

"The Extra Day"

" It broke like a sea upon the
coast-line of another world. It seemed to contain an entire language
in itself, nothing more to be said but those two soft syllables. It
was everywhere.
But another vaster sound lay underneath. As the crest of a breaking
wave utters its separate note of foam above the general booming of the
sea that bears it, so the flying wave of daisy-tones rose out of this
deeper sound beneath. Both humans became aware that it was but a
surface-voice they imitated. They heard this other foundation-sound
that bore it--deep, booming, thunderous, half lost and very far away.
It was prodigious; yet there was safety and delight in it that brought
no hint of fear. They swam upon the pulse of some enormous, gentle
life that rose about and through them in a swelling tide. They felt
the heave of something that was strong enough to draw the moon, yet
soft enough to close a daisy's eyes. They heard the deep, lost roar of
it, rising and coming nearer.
"The Earth!" he whispered. "And the Spring is rising through it.
Listen!"
"We're growing together," replied the Little Human. "We're rising with
the Spring!"
Ah, it was exquisite.


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