And from this twisting mass came sounds of laughing
and crying, whining and humming, rustling and chattering, shouting and
whispering, and snarling and hissing and howling, and even sounds for
which, even now, there are no ways to describe.
Up and away, flying and running, strutting and crawling, staggering and
marching and plodding and toddling, they cascaded over the sides of the
box. Some took to the air, others moved toward the forest where they
disappeared into trees, shrubs and flowers, and into the burrows of tiny
animals and the caves of larger beasts. They dove into the river and the
sea, and dug themselves into the ground or slithered under rocks. A few
raced each other across the meadow and slipped into the homes and
shops of the nearby village. They took to the air and the sea for distant
places. Soon they were everywhere.
What did they look like? They looked like everything and anything:
trolls and elves, trees and clouds, birds and people, horses and barns,
airplanes and boats and spaceships and stars in the sky, and all the
things that are or ever were, and also things that are not and never could
be.
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