In her own words...


"Abyss"

1949


It was then that the door opened and a stretched thin beam of light fell before him on the scrolled carpet. Someone said, Who is there?
 
The young man went back slowly, dragging his feet, blinking in the light. Tusnelda stood in the doorway, her hand firmly grasping the knob. She wore a white kerchief tied on her head. Who is it? she asked again.
 
It's me, said the young man nervously. I mean my name is Albert….

     –excerpt, p. 138.

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About this work


"Abyss" was first published in  Zero: A Quarterly Review of Literature and Art, Nos. 3-4 (Autumn 1949-Winter 1950), pp. 138-150.  The story was expanded for publication in 1977, and again in 2004 as the short novel Chasm: A Weekend.