Read "The Man Who Awoke" by Laurence Manning online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Two young persons leaned against the balustrade at the top of the tallest tower in Niagara City and looked out over the countryside. From where they stood they could see many miles in every direction, for the tower was two thousand feet in height and the city itself was built at some considerable elevation above the surrounding terrain. At their feet stretched the glass pavements and white buildings of the city, terminating in the surrounding white walls-a perfect circle with a radius of two miles. Beyond that was wilderness-unexplored in detail, though generally known from ancient maps prepared in the days when the human race dwelt in individual homes scattered among the fields and woods below.
It was a fair scene. The clear spring air and bright cloudless sky made the prospect more delightful still. Yet on the dark face of the man an expression of hopeless sorrow was set and the young woman's mouth was bent down in a sullen, petulant scowl. Both were dressed in fur-tipped silk of soft hues, according to the custom of the year 15,000 A.D.-the one in knee-length breeches and close-fitting hose and the other in flowing pajama-like trousers and jacket.