Life
Sentence
By JAMES McCONNELL
"Happy New Year!" she cried. But how often should one hear it said in a single lifetime?
Illustrated by DICK FRANCIS
Outside, bells were ringing. "Happy New Year!"
The mad sound of people crazed for the moment, shouting, echoed the bells.
"Happy New Year!"
A sound of music, waxing, waning, now joined in wild symphony by the voices, now left alone to counterpoint the noise of human celebration....
For a while, Oliver Symmes heard the raucous music of the crowd. It became a part of him, seemed to come from somewhere inside him, gave him life. And then, as always, it passed on, leaving him empty.
Shadows....