Literature

READING WORKSHOP 2

out. The offending dust, hair, or paper, seized in miniature steel Practice the Skills

jaws, was raced back to the burrows. There, down tubes which

fed into the cellar, it was dropped into the sighing vent of an

incinerator which sat like evil Baal^4 in a dark corner.

The dog ran upstairs, hysterically^5 yelping to each door, at

last realizing, as the house realized, that only silence was here.

It sniffed the air and scratched the kitchen door. Behind the

door, the stove was making pancakes which fi lled the house

with a rich baked odor and the scent of maple syrup.

The dog frothed at the mouth, lying at the door, sniffi ng,

its eyes turned to fi re. It ran wildly in circles, biting at its tail,

spun in a frenzy, and died. It lay in the parlor for an hour.

Tw o o ’c l o c k, sang a voice.

Delicately sensing decay at last, the regiments^6 of mice

hummed out as softly as blown gray leaves in an electrical

wind. 5

Tw o - fi fteen.

The dog was gone.

In the cellar, the incinerator glowed suddenly and a whirl

of sparks leaped up the chimney.

Tw o t h i r t y - fi ve.

Bridge tables sprouted from patio walls. Playing cards

fl uttered onto pads in a shower of pips. Martinis manifested^7

on an oaken bench with egg-salad sandwiches. Music played.

But the tables were silent and the cards untouched.

At four o’clock the tables folded like great butterfl ies back

through the paneled walls.

Four-thirty.

The nursery walls glowed.

Animals took shape: yellow giraffes, blue lions, pink

antelopes, lilac panthers cavorting in crystal substance. The

walls were glass. They looked out upon color and fantasy.

Hidden fi lms clocked through well-oiled sprockets, and the

5 English Language Coach

Suffixes What is the base

word of sensing? What letter

do you drop when you add the

suffix -ing?

4. An incinerator is a kind of furnace for burning trash. Here, the fi re’s glow suggests the face of
   Baal, a god worshiped in ancient times.


5. To behave hysterically is to be very upset and out of control emotionally.


6. Regiments are groups of soldiers.


7. On playing cards, pips are the small printed dots or symbols that show a card’s value. The
   alcoholic drinks (martinis) and sandwiches suddenly appeared (manifested).

Vocabulary

frenzy (FREN zee) n. unusual mental excitement leading to wild activity

There Will Come Soft Rains 571