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At the end of the corridor the old nun opened the heavy screens just far enough to form a tiny gap, and the smell of clean air burst over my nostrils. She hesitated, and I wondered whether she was strong enough to pull them further apart. Just as I started forward to help, she seemed to reach down into herself and with a mighty tug...the wide garden was before us. It had the look of perfection, a look of everlastingness. And something else-an unmistakable vitality, something alive and breathing there. It seemed to hug the contours of the forest and the hillside. I felt a desire stir in me like some nearly extinct beast shaking off the effects of a long and troubled hibernation. |