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Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
| Time |
Event |
| 9:53a |
@@@@@ And even so they talked without feeling the
@@@@@ And even so they talked without feeling the wordsGoldstein did not want to realize Wilson was dead; he held his mind away from the knowledge rigidly, thinking of nothing, merely sloshing forward through the shallow water upstream, his shoes sliding on the flat smooth rocksThere was something he could not face once he understood
And Ridges was bewildered tooHe was not convinced Wilson had begged for forgiveness; it was all jumbled in his mind, and he fastened on the thought that if he could get Wilson back, get him buried decently, the conversion would takeAnd more, both of them felt a natural frustration with having carried him this far only to dieThey wanted to complete their odyssey with success
Very slowly now, more slowly than they had moved at any time, they shambled through the water, the litter swaying between themOverhead the trees and foliage met; as before, the river wound a tunnel through the jungleTheir heads drooped, their legs moved stiffly as if afraid of collapsing if they were hinged at the kneeNow when they rested they would flop in the shallow water, leaving Wilson half submerged while they sprawled beside the litter
They were almost unconsciousTheir feet blundered along the floor of the stream, crunching on the river pebblesThe water flowing past their heels was chill, but they hardly felt itIn the dim light of the jungle aisle they stumbled onward, following the current dumblyThe animals chattered at their approach, the monkeys screaming and scratching at their haunches, the birds calling to one anotherAnd then as they would pass the animals would be silent, and remain quiet for many minutes after they had goneRidges and Goldstein reeled forward like blind men, their bodies expressing a mute eloquenceBehind them the animals were silent, passing a warning through the congested channels of the jungleIt might have been a funeral march
They descended a waterfall from one flat waist-high rock to another, Ridges dropping down first, and standing in the foam while Goldstein slid the litter over, and flopped down to join himThey struggled through the deeper water, which lashed at their thighs, floating the litter between themThey worked along the riverbanks, splashed through shallow water againThey stumbled and staggered and fell many times, Wilson's body almost washing awayThey could not go more than a few feet without halting, and their sobbing fitted into the murmurs of the jungle, was lost in the washing of the wat | | 12:40p |
@@@@@She stood in the midst
of
the reflected
@@@@@She stood in the midst
of
the reflected images of the High Kings and imagined Rhett there with
her, full of envy and admirationIt would be years from now, when
Cat
was grown, and he would be heartsick that he had missed seeing
his daughter grow up to become the beautiful heiress of the home of
the
O'HarasScarlett ran to the stairs and up them and through the
corridor to Cat's room
She was sitting at her little table, carefully pouring milk into a cup
for her big tabbyOcras was watching attentively from his
commanding
position in the center of the table"Sit down, Momma," Cat invited
Scarlett lowered herself onto a small chairIf only Rhett were there
to join the tea partyBut he wasn't, and he never would be, and she
had to accept itHe would have tea parties with his other child,
his other children-by AnneScarlett resisted the impulse to grab Cat
in her arms"I'd like two lumps of sugar, please, Miss O'Hara," she
saidThat night Scarlett couldn't sleep
She sat upright in the center of her exquisite French bed with her
silk-covered eiderdown wrapped closely around her for warmthBut
the
warmth and comfort she wanted was to feel Rhett's arms around her,
to
hear his deep voice mocking the disastrous party until she could laugh
at it and at the error of giving itShe wanted comfort for her
disappointmentShe wanted love, grown-up caring and
understanding
Her heart had learned to love, it was overflowing with love, and she
had nowhere to spend itDamn Rhett for getting in the way! Why
couldn't she love Bart Morland? He was kind, he was attractive,
Scarlett enjoyed being with himIf she really wanted him, she didn't
doubt for a minute that she could make him forget Grace Hastings
But
she didn't want him, that was the problemShe didn't want anybody
except RhettIt's not fair! she thought, like a childAnd, like a
child, eventually she cried herself to sleep
When she woke, she was in control of herself once mo |
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