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In fact, it was so quick, and so many slivers fell that day, that when the storm had passed, I stepped away froirl of glass stepped out of the girl of skin So lass than flesh in that moment, and so it has been ever since
My do at all on their backs Clutch after clutch of eggs were laid in the hopes of finding a cure She sent letters to every doctor and wizard and witch, begging theain They even—I hesitate to say it!—fed solass-lore on their backs slices of erly carried frolass They tried rolling lass with oil and paint, or rass But I am made of rain; it all slides away
Finally, on a day when it was so clear that roa snow fell on those fields, and walking withwith flakes, I feltover ed in the air, and the sun shone through irl’s curls
My ers stuck toWe strode through the fields, and she picked crocuses for ave me honey cakes to eat We talked of the lizards, of the Rain, of silly things which ays talked about when I was only a voice and a weight on the couch—but they seehter and ed eyes close when I laughed
But it cannot snow all the time
On those few days when the sun and snow join hands, rass When all the other days dawn snowless, eep, and tend the lizards in silence, and I try to spare her the pain of hearing hter, and I am sorry, I should not have run off That silly old lizard I should not have done it
But in secret, I think glass is very beautiful, and I airls may stand in the Glass Rain and look into the clouds as they weep their hard, cutting tears They cannot hurtht to have inherited it—the lizards love ers never feel it; their teeth leave no ood at it, better, even, thanjewels to food, for which I was much praised
But ht, and cannot see that I am there
THE TALE
OF THE
LIZARD’S LESSON,
CONTINUED
“I AM A GHOST-LIBRARIAN,” THE VOICE SAID “A shade who carries lizards to and fro, opens and closes pens, but no lass crone rinkles like prisms, but I will never be Queen I will haunt s are dry, and that is all”
We gawked a little, I adiven
“What is it, then, that you wish to barter fro?”