Sunday Snippet

These two extracts are from a book 'Forest of the Night' by John Rowe Townsend. It was bought for my teenage daughter, many years ago, and has somehow found its way to my bookcase.

Chapter 8 page 51:

'Asleep, all are asleep, deeply asleep. Soft through the streets, the boy moves, brushing the furry dark. Across the wide road, quiet now, marked out by lamps. The lonely lamps in line. no wheel turns now.'

Chapter 11 page 73:

'The boy says, "Hold my hand. Don't go."
"I can't come farther. You have to face it alone. You have the strength."
"I don't feel strong."
"Yes, you are strong, you have shown it."
"How can I fight such power?"
"You face it, do not fight it. Face it with questions."
"If I can face it, I shall know the questions. That I know. But can I face it?"
"Yes, you can face it. You are yourself, yourself."

The language is uncomplicated; direct. Haunting and menacing.

The story is based on William Blake's poem 'The Tyger'