Page 99 - 1930 Hartridge

TEnFDRRETriDRES
Twilight After Rain
As I stepped out of the inner brightness and warmth into the dusk, the cool, damp air gently fanned my cheek, and light wisps of fog drifted by, but the prolonged rain had stopped falling. An odor of sodden leaves
and fresh earth came to me, bringing the indescribable smell which means Spring.
Then all at once I caught my breath at the strangely unfamiliar aspect of the well-known surroundings, for in the queer ha/dness of the twilight the atmosphere seemed vaguely visible, almost tangible. Here and there the veiled grey tones of the mist were broken by unexpected splashes of color in the topaz gleam around a street lamp, in the pale yellow pool of light which lay on the wet road beneath it, in the amethystine shaciow beside the tall hedge, or in the faint green tinging the edge of the smooth
black concrete under foot. The houses and trees showed only as blurred bulks which loomed with startling abruptness out of the gloom as 1 drew near, and for an instant there seemed to be an absolute silence in which my own footsteps sounded unusually loud.
Only a moment the odd feeling lasted, and when a cheerful orange glow flashed behind an uncurtained window up ahead of me, it passed. The intermittent patter from dripping trees made me feel less alone, and
an automobile going by with its swish and hum of tires against the wetness lightened the darkening night. With a sudden quick feeling of happiness
1 walked briskly toward home.
T. B., ’30.
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