“There, conspicuous in the light of the conflagration, lay the dead body of a woman—the white face turned upward, the hands thrown out and clutched full of grass, the clothing deranged, the long dark hair in tangles and full of clotted blood. The greater part of the forehead was torn away, and from the jagged hole the brain protruded, overflowing the temple, a frothy mass of gray, crowned with clusters of crimson bubbles—the work of a shell.The child moved his little hands, making wild, uncertain gestures. He uttered a series of inarticulate and indescribable cries—something between the chattering of an ape and the gobbling of a turkey—a startling, soulless, unholy sound, the language of a devil. The child was a deaf mute.Then he stood motionless, with quivering lips, looking down upon the wreck.”

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About Ambrose Bierce

American author, journalist, and poet

Ambrose Bierce was an American author, journalist, and poet. He was a prolific writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known for his sharp literary style and his influence on American journalism and fiction. He wrote realist fiction, horror, satire, war stories, and poetry, and was also known as a forceful literary critic. His work later won broader recognition for its range, especially his fiction and poems, while his war writing influenced later writers such as Stephen Crane and Ernest Hemingway.

More from Ambrose Bierce (194 quotes) →

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Books by Ambrose Bierce

The Devil's Dictionary

2007

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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

2003

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Cobwebs from an Empty Skull

1874

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Can Such Things Be? [24 stories]

1893

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Can Such Things Be?

2015

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