Wainer

Wainer

The man in the purple robe was too old to walk or stand. He was wheeled upon a purple bench into the center of a marvelous room, where unhuman beings whom we shall call "They" had gathered and waited. Because he was such an old man, he commanded a great sum of respect, but he was nervous before Them and spoke with apology, and sometimes with irritation, because he could not understand what They were thinking and it worried him. Yet there was no one left like this old man. There was no one anywhere who was as oldbut that does not matter. Old men are important not for what they have learned, but for whom they have known, and this old man had known Wainer. Therefore he spoke and told Them what he knew, and more that he did not know he was telling. And They, who were not men, sat in silence and the deepest affection, and listened.... William Wainer died and was forgotten (said the old man) much more than a thousand years ago. I have heard it said that people are like waves, rising and riding and crumbling, and if a wave fell once on a shore long ago, then it left its mark on the beach and changed the shape of the world, but is not remembered. That is true, except for the bigger waves. There is nothing remarkable in Wainer's being forgotten then, because he was not a big wave. In his own time, he was nothing at allhe even lived off the stateand the magnificent power that was in him and that he brought to the world was never fully recognized. But the story of his life is probably the greatest story I have ever heard. He was the beginning of You. I only wish I had known. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 32230
Author: Shaara, Michael
Release Date: May 3, 2010
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Illustrator: Ashman, William