He puffed and chewed on his cigar and stared blindly at his cards. "Sorry." He blinked rapidly and bit his cigar.
OK, this is a bit of an educated guess at Brailing II's quote (I say 'guess' because it's a story I know of but haven't read):
Is it 'Hail To The Chief' ?

IF I'm correct, I'll offer this quote as the next in 'name the story'
(I don't have much of a chance in this game if I wait to see if I'm right - Northern/Southern hemisphere time difference!):

The sun struck his eyes a blow. Never, never so much sun!

Any takers? (this one's not TOO hard)

Oz, Sorry, that isn't correct.
(And no fair posting a quote out of turn!)

Now, should I offer a hint?

OK, inspired by the above OC/DC discussion, it's from one of the stories in "The October Country".

"The Watchful Pokerchip of..."

No, I've got it!
It's 'The Wind'.
Apologies for 'posting out of turn' (as I said, it was only because of the time difference). My quote (above) also derived from the DC/OC discussion.

quote:

Originally posted by greenray:
According to a June 2002 post by Nard, The movie, "It Came From Outer Space" is loosely based on the unpublished and uncollected Bradbury story, "The Meteor." The story was written in 1953.

Update; According to the Gauntlet Special Edition of the same name, It Came From Outer Space, was inspired by the short story, "A Matter of Taste." The story, besides being in ICFOS, can also be found in The Cat's Pajama's collection.

GRay, you are correct, sir! "The Wind" it is!
Sorry for the delayed response. I've been dealing with (to understate) adversities the last several days...
Probably won't be able to get to your quote for awhile...

quote:

Originally posted by Braling II:
GRay, you are correct, sir! "The Wind" it is!

Braling II, actually it is oz-crumley who answered correctly. Wizard of Oz, your quote...

Oops! My error. I did tell you I've been under stress lately.
Anyway, over to you, Oz!

Same quote as above:

The sun struck his eyes a blow. Never, never so much sun!

(relatively easy!)

Ozzie crumbly person,
Give us a clue. My books are awash from the floodwaters here. Even my mouse wears a life-jacket. Is it "All in a summer's day"?

No, not ALL SUMMER (but a good guess).
Here is another quote from the same story:

He tossed his books straight up in the air. They exploded like a great burst of doves, whistling.

... and another:

Here Picasso ladies and Dali gentlemen screamed silently from canvas asylums, their gold eyes burning when he dawdled.

"Jack-In-The-Box"?

That's it!

This is an amazing story (among the best of the early 'dark' tales, I think) - an incredilbly simple yet original premise, beautifully executed. I love imagining the enormous house, its myriad of corridors, staircases, passages & rooms. And what a powerful, liberating (but disturbing) ending! Superb.

Over to you, B.II.

And when they blew again upon their golden horns the strange music came forth and passed slowly over the audience, which now talked and stood up.
"What's wrong with you?" the musicians asked each other.
"What tune is that you played?"
"What tune did you play?"

(By the way, Oz, I'm in the middle of Bryson's "In A Sunburned Country" and gaining a new appreciation for Australia!)

Come on B-II, too easy!
That's 'The Summer Night' from MARTIAN CHRONICLES.

Try this:

I moved through the dreaming late afternoon town, utterly anonymous and alone, a trout going upstream, not touching the banks of a clear-running river of life that drifted all about me.