That Mystery Floating Alongside

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  “The side of the ship made an opaque belt of shadow on the darkling glassy shimmer of the sea. But I saw at once something elongated and pale floating very close to the ladder. Before I could form a guess a faint flash of phosphorescent light, which seemed to issue suddenly from the naked body of a man, flickered in the sleeping water with the elusive, silent play of summer lightning in a night sky. With a gasp I saw revealed to my stare a pair of feet, the long legs, a broad livid back immersed right up to the neck in a greenish cadaverous glow. One hand, awash, clutched the bottom rung of the ladder. He was complete but for the head. A headless corpse! The cigar dropped out of my gaping mouth with a tiny plop and a short hiss quite audible in the absolute stillness of all things under heaven. At that I suppose he raised up his face, a dimly pale oval in the shadow of the ship’s side. But even then I could only barely make out down there the shape of his black-haired head. Howev...

Finished Reading: “Twelve Years a Slave”

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Finished reading “Twelve Years A Slave” by Solomon Northup. Kidnapped, beaten, sold into slavery, Solomon Northup recounts his experience in this masterwork that gives a genuine glimpse into a part of American history. Northup could not recount without pain so he cannot be read without pain. Of all he experienced, his description on his reunion with his family after twelve years a slave is most remarkable and moving. The 2013 movie might be more familiar to many, but his book is worth the read. Available on Kindle.

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