Blozzom Everyday

  Plot Summary of When It Happens by Margaret Atwood When It Happens is a post-apocalyptic short story set in a remote rural area after society has collapsed due to war, disease, and environmental destruction. The story is narrated by Mrs. Burridge, a middle-aged woman who lives on a farm with her husband, Mr. Burridge. The couple has adapted to life in isolation. They grow their own food, raise animals, and avoid contact with outsiders. Mrs. Burridge constantly worries about the possibility of strangers arriving and threatening their safety. Her husband believes that one day people from the cities will come looking for food and shelter. The title refers to the anticipated moment when "it" finally happens—the arrival of outsiders. Mrs. Burridge lives in fear of this event, imagining the dangers and violence it might bring. At the end of the story, her fears seem justified when a group of strangers appears on the horizon, suggesting that their peaceful existence may soon be d...

  Songs By George Szirtes F or Helen Suzman Nothing happens until something does.  Everything remains just as it was And all you hear is the distant buzz Of nothing happening until something does. A lot of small hands in a monstrous hall can make the air vibrate and even shake the wall; a voice can break a plate or glass, and one pale feather tip the balance on a sinking ship. It’s the very same tune that has been sung time and again by those whose heavy fate has hung on the weight that they oppose, the weight by which are crushed the broken voices of the hushed. But give certain people a place to stand a lever, a fulcrum, a weight, however small the hand the object however great, it is possible to prove that even Earth may be made to move. Nothing happens until something does, and hands, however small,  fill the air so the buzz of the broken fills the hall as levers and fulcrums shift and the heart, like a weight, begins to lift. Nothing happens until something does. Eve...