“

TheSt
oryofanHour
”byKat
eChopi
n

Publ
i
shed:
1894,
©Publ
i
cDomai
n

KnowingthatMr
s.Mall
ardwasaffl
i
ctedwithaheartt
roubl
e,gr
eatcar
ewast
akent
obr
eakt
o
herasgentl
yaspossi
blethenewsofherhusband’
sdeath.

ItwashersisterJosephinewhot ol
dher ,inbrokensentences; vei
l
edhi ntsthatr
evealedinhalf
conceali
ng.Herhusband’ sf
riendRichardswast here,t
oo, nearher.I
twashewhohadbeeni n
thenewspaperof f
icewheni ntel
l
igenceoft herail
roaddisasterwasr eceived,wi
thBrently
Mallard’
snamel eadi
ngt hel
istof“kil
led.
”Hehadonl ytakent heti
met oassur ehimselfofit
s
trut
hbyasecondt el
egram,andhadhast enedtoforestal
lanyl esscareful,l
esstenderfr
iendin
bearingthesadmessage.

Shedidnothearthestoryasmanywomenhav ehear
dthesame, wi
thaparaly
zedi
nabil
it
yto
acceptit
ssi
gnif
icance.Sheweptatonce,
wit
hsudden,wi
ldabandonment,i
nhersi
ster
’sarms.
Whent hest
orm ofgri
efhadspentit
sel
fshewentawaytoherroom al
one.Shewoul
dhav eno
onefoll
owher.

Therestood,
faci
ngt
heopenwindow,acomf or
table,
roomyarmchai
r.I
ntot
hisshesank,
presseddownbyaphysi
cal
exhaust
ionthathauntedherbodyandseemedtoreachi
ntoher
soul.

Shecoul
dseei ntheopensquar ebef or
eherhouset het
opsoftreesthatwer eallaqui
verwi
th
thenewspri
ngl i
fe.Thedel
iciousbreathofr ai
nwasintheai
r.I
nt hestreetbelowapeddlerwas
cryi
nghi
swar es.Thenotesofadi stantsongwhichsomeonewassi ngingreachedherfai
ntl
y,
andcount
lessspar r
owswer etwit
teringintheeaves.
Therewer
epatchesofbl
ueskyshowi
ngher
eandther
ethr
ought
hecl
oudst
hathadmetand
pi
ledoneabov
et heot
heri
nthewestf
aci
ngherwi
ndow.

Shesatwi
thherheadthrownbackuponthecushi
onofthechai
r,qui
temoti
onl
ess,
exceptwhen
asobcameupi nt
oherthroatandshookher
,asachi
ldwhohascr i
edit
sel
ftosl
eepconti
nues
tosobini
tsdr
eams.

Shewasy oung,wit
haf ai
r,cal
mf ace,whosel
inesbespokerepressi
onandevenacertai
n
str
ength.Butnowt herewasadul lstar
einhereyes,
whosegazewasf i
xedawayoffyonderon
oneofthosepat chesofbluesky.Itwasnotaglanceofref
lecti
on,butr
atheri
ndi
cateda
suspensionofintel
li
gentthought
.

Therewassomet hi
ngcomingtoherandshewaswai t
ingforit
,fearfull
y.Whatwasit?Shedid
notknow;itwastoosubt
leandelusi
vetoname.Butshefelti
t,creepingoutofthesky,r
eachi
ng
towardherthr
oughthesounds,
thescents,
thecol
orthatf
ill
edtheai r.

Nowherbosom r
oseandf el
ltumult
uousl
y.Shewasbeginni
ngtorecogni
zethi
sthi
ngt
hatwas
appr
oachi
ngtopossessher,andshewasstri
vi
ngtobeatitbackwit
hherwil
l
—aspowerlessas
hert
wowhitesl
enderhandswouldhavebeen.

Whensheabandonedher selfali
ttl
ewhi sper
edwordescapedhersli
ghtl
ypart
edlips.Shesaidit
overandoverunderherbreath:“
free,
free,fr
ee!
”Thevacantstar
eandthelookofterrorthathad
fol
lowedi
twentf r
om hereyes.Theyst ayedkeenandbri
ght.Herpul
sesbeatfast
,andt he
coursi
ngbl
oodwar medandr el
axedever yi
nchofherbody.

Shedi
dnotstoptoaski
fitwer
eorwerenotamonstr
ousjoyt
hathel
dher
.Acl
earandexal
ted
per
cept
ionenabl
edhert
odismisst
hesuggest
ionast
ri
vi
al.

Sheknewt
hatshewoul
dweepagai
nwhenshesawt
heki
nd,
tenderhandsf
oldedi
ndeat
h;t
he
facethathadneverl
ookedsavewit
hloveuponher,f
ixedandgrayanddead.Butshesaw
beyondthatbit
termomentalongprocessi
onofyear
st ocomethatwoul
dbelongtoher
absolut
ely.Andsheopenedandspr
eadherarmsoutt othem i
nwelcome.

Therewoul dbenoonet oli

veforduri
ngthosecomingyears;shewouldl i
veforhersel
f.Ther
e
wouldbenopower fulwil
lbendinghersi
nthatbl
indpersi
stencewi t
hwhi chmenandwomen
beli
evetheyhavearighttoimposeapr i
vat
ewilluponafel
low-creatur
e.Akindintenti
onora
cruelint
enti
onmadet heactseem nolessacri
measshel ookeduponi ti
nthatbri
efmomentof
i
ll
umi nati
on.

Andy etshehadl ovedhim—sometimes.Oft

enshehadnot .Whatdiditmat
ter
!Whatcoul
dlov
e,
theunsolvedmy stery
,countf
orinthefaceoft
hispossessionofsel
f-
asser
ti
onwhi
chshe
suddenlyrecognizedasthestr
ongesti
mpulseofherbeing!

“
Free!Bodyandsoul
free!
”shekeptwhi
sper
ing.

Josephi
newaskneeli
ngbefor
ethecloseddoorwit
hherli
pst
othekeyhol
d,impl
oringf
or
admissi
on.“
Loui
se,openthedoor
!Ibeg;openthedoor
—youwil
lmakeyoursel
fil
l
.Whatarey
ou
doi
ng,Loui
se?Forheaven’
ssakeopenthedoor.
”

“Goaway.Iam notmaki
ngmy
sel
fil
l
.”No;
shewasdr
inki
ngi
nav
eryel
i
xirofl
i
fet
hrought
hat
openwindow.

Herfancywasrunningri
otal
ongthoseday
saheadofher
.Springdays,andsummerdays,and
al
lsortsofdaysthatwoul
dbeherown.Shebreat
hedaquickprayert
hatli
femightbel
ong.It
wasonl yy
ester
dayshehadthoughtwit
hashuddert
hatl
if
emi ghtbelong.

Shearoseatl
engthandopenedthedoortohersister
’si
mportuni
ti
es.Ther
ewasaf ev
er i
sh
tri
umphinhereyes,andshecar
ri
edhersel
funwitti
ngl
yli
keagoddessofVictory.Sheclasped
hersi
ster’
swai
st,andtoget
hert
heydescendedthestair
s.Ri
chardsstoodwait
ingforthem at
thebott
om.
Someonewasopeni ngthefrontdoorwit
hal atchkey
.ItwasBr ent
lyMal
lar
dwhoent er
ed,alit
tl
e
tr
avel-
stai
ned, composedlycarryi
nghisgri
p-sackandumbr ell
a.Hehadbeenf arf
rom t
hescene
oftheaccident,anddidnotev enknowtherehadbeenone.Hest oodamazedatJosephine’
s
pi
erci
ngcr y;atRichards’
quickmot i
ontoscreenhimf rom t
hev i
ewofhiswife.

ButRi
char
dswast
ool
ate.

Whent
hedoct
orscamet
heysai
dshehaddi
edofhear
tdi
sease—ofj
oyt
hatki
l
ls.