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Slithering Silently in the City
I was dead tired but still had to walk 10 blocks before I got home. After 15 hours at my boring desk job, all I wanted was a cold drink and a warm bed. My thoughts lingered wistfully on the soft sheets of my single cot instead of on the hard streets of this strange city.
Turning the corner, I was momentarily blinded by the blazing lights of Broadway that turned black night to bright day. People paraded up and down the crowded street. Taxis beeped at buses. Salesmen shouted at passersby. I continued on, trying not to notice the lush life I was missing.
Try as I could to keep my tired eyes on the pale pavement ahead, a sudden sight stopped me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something shimmer. As I stood there, a small snake slithered slowly into the shadow of a subway station. A snake in New York? Impossible! I rubbed my red eyes and walked quietly toward it. Sure enough, there it lay coiled up in the corner. Its beautiful burgundy skin, circled by yellow and black bands, glowed against the grime of the ground.
As I was crouching down to look at this rarity, a woman in a stylish suit stopped to see what I had found. She glanced shyly at me and our eyes met. I could tell from her aged eyes that her day had also been long. She smiled slightly but said nothing. Then I remembered the snake and looked back. It was gone!
That night I dreamed I was out of the city, living in the wild frontier. In this dream I met a beautiful woman, a snake charmer, who could tame the most dangerous snake and make it dance lightly and playfully. She and I danced until dawn. When I woke, the dream was gone, but an image of the woman with tired eyes stayed with me.
Next Printout: Reading Comprehension
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