The singing stopped. Silence wrapped around them. Shion had closed his eyes without realizing. The silence seemed to gently urge him to lift his eyelids. He opened his eyes to see Nezumi still on one knee, about to take his hand off the man's face.
The man still had his eyes closed. His mouth was still stained with blood, but it was no longer twisted in agony.
I was in it up to my neck by the time I realized the way things were going. What could I do? . . . if I refused to obey I would be killed. Or I could commit suicide. On three different occasions I thought of resigning, but it was impossible.
-Wilhelm Keitel, The Nuremburg Interviews [1]
The darkness was stabbing at him. Into his retina, his eardrums, his skin, the darkness turned into needles that pricked at him viciously.
Good fortune, then,
To make me blest, or cursed'st among men!
- The Merchant of Venice Act II Scene I [1]
Shion.
She tried to call to him. But her voice would not come out. Her tongue would not move. Her arms and legs were heavy as if they had been bound in shackles, and she could not get them free. Shion didn't turn around. His back, clad in a white shirt, moved further and further away. Around them was darkness. An inky black darkness spread out all around. There was not even the smallest ray of light.
In the heavens, black clouds gathered
On the earth, blustering winds blew
For seven months and seven nights, the storm clouds covered the sky
For nine months and nine nights, violent gusts buffeted the land.
The waters of Yangtze swelled up to the top,
and river waters spread to every corner of the land.
- Chinese myth - Creation Story of the Lisu
Trans. Kimijima Hisako (Chikuma Shobo) [1]
"Ma'am, can I have some muffins, please?" Lili came bursting into the store.
"Huh?" She stopped abruptly, and blinked quizzically, still clenching the coins in her fist. Karan couldn't help but smile at how adorable she was.
"You're here again, Uncle?"
Yoming smiled wryly at his niece's frank attitude.
"Lili, I'm here to do my job. You understand, right?"
Adorable ladies, just as our pity is commended, so is our cruelty severely punished by divine justice. And in order to prove this to you, as well as to give you an incentive for banishing all cruelty from your hearts, I should like to tell you a story as delightful as it is full of pathos.
- Boccaccio, The Decameron [1]
He was walking amidst the blades of grass, in a hot and humid haze. He could see his own feet. They were very small. The grass grew high, and reached up to his shoulders.
He realized that he was almost buried in the mass of vigorous grasses because he was still very young. He looked up to see the cerulean sky, which was far and high up. The winds were quiet, and it was very hot.