Atlas Abdicated: Chapter 1 Continued

Eddie Willers walked on. Why did he always feel it at this time of day? That sense of dread with no reason. No, not dread. Nothing to fear, just an immense uncentered apprehension, no source or object. By now he was accustomed to the feeling, but there was no explanation for it. Yet the bum had spoken as if he knew that Eddie felt it and that he knew the reason.


Eddie Willers straightened his shoulders in conscientious self-discipline. He was imagining things. He had to stop this. He was thirty-two year old. Had he always felt this? He tried to think back. No, not always. But he couldn't place a finger on when it began. It came to him suddenly. Randomly. But now more than ever before. It's the twilight. I hate it.


A fading masterpiece. An old oil painting. The clouds and the shadows of skyscrapers were turning brown. Grime ran down from under the crowns of the soot coated walls. A lightning shaped crack ten stories high marred a nearby tower. Half a spire jaggedly cut the sky above the rooftops, still holding the glow of the sunset even though half the gold leafing had long since peeled off. The glow was red and still, the reflection of a fire. Not an active fire. The fire was dying and it was too late to stop it.

No. Nothing disturbing about the city’s appearance. It looked as it had always looked.

Eddie walked on. He was late and he needed to get back to the office. He did not like the task he would have to perform on his return. But it had to be done, so he quickened his step. Turning a corner, he saw the face of a giant calendar suspended in the sky, its image rested between the dark silhouettes of two buildings.

Start from the Atlas Abdicated beginning Here