Octavia E. Butler - Earthseed, Book 1 -… [264]

There was a clap of dull, muffled thunder, and a sudden heavy shower. Radio weather reports say today’s rain will be the last of the four-day series of storms. I hope not. — , Octavia E. Butler - Earthseed, Book 1 -…, 264

Note

The entire emotional weather of the chapter compressed into two deflating sentences. ‘Dull, muffled’ removes the thunder’s drama; a weather report flattens it into scheduled information; then ‘I hope not’ quietly reverses the reading — she wants the storm to continue, which tells us what the clear weather will bring without ever naming it.