День триффидов
World Narrowing
"Ifitcancomeonce,itcancomeagain,"saidJosellasturdily,butnotveryconvincingly.
Butthesightofthemachinehadchangedourdayforus.Itdestroyedquitealotoftheresignationwehadcarefullybuiltup.Wehadbeensayingtoourselvesthattheremustbeothergroupsbuttheywouldn’tbeinanybetterpositiontanwewere,morelikelyinaworse.Butwhenahelicoptercouldcomesailinginlikeasightandsoundfromthepast,itraisedmorethanmemories:itsuggestedthatsomeonesomewherewasmanagingtomakeoutbetterthanwewere...Wasthereatingeofjealousythere?...Anditalsomadeusawarethat,luckyaswehadbeen,wewerestillgregariouscreaturesbynature.
Therestlessfeelingthatthemachineleftbehinddestroyedourmoodandthelinesalongwhichourthoughtshadbeenrunning.Inunspokenagreement,webegantopackupourbe-longings,and,eachoccupiedwithourthoughts,wemadeourwaybacktothehalf-trackandstartedforhome.
