An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

“He was a civilian who was at heart a soldier.”

Peyton Farquhar was just a guy trying to protect his home. It shows how easily war turns regular people into targets.

“The intervals of silence grew progressively longer.”

The way his hearing sharpened in those final seconds was terrifying. Even the ticking of his watch sounded like a hammer hitting an anvil.

“His wife, he thought, looked fresh and cool and sweet.”

He imagined his wife so clearly while he was literally hanging. The brain creates such beautiful lies to keep us from feeling the end.

“He saw the individual trees, the leaves and the veining of each leaf.”

Nature feels so much more vivid when you think you are dying. He suddenly noticed the individual veins in every leaf on the trees.