The warmth of the sun, the gentle touch of the wind across her face, the sound and smell of the sea behind her; the colors of the earth, grass and sky all shone with a clarity that made her feel that the impressions of her mind were more real and more substantial than she. Her father had begun to voice a few pleasantries, but they sounded shallow to her and her own responses were weak and distant. They fell silent and Leoda embraced the world again with her mind, fatally confident that she would find out what was on her father's mind soon enough.
Leoda told herself her fantasies were ridiculous but still the fear increased. The fear threatened to consume her and tear her insides to pieces, and yet she kept walking, she kept walking towards her fate, whatever it might be, for the world of nature and vitality took her into itself and kept her sane.
They walked into the house together and as they passed through the hallway and began to ascend the stairs to her room, Leoda realized, without surprise, that there were no servants in the house, even though it was the middle of the day. When they finally reached her door, he placed himself dramatically between her and whatever lay behind it.
And then he said, "You know, Leoda, you've always been a restless girl, hard to amuse, hard to occupy. Your father has spent much more time and money than other fathers would have on things that would've filled other little girls' hearts with joy and wonder. Why, you've never even thanked your father properly for all the things he's done for you. But that's all right. Your father's always considered it a challenge to give you something that would dazzle and mystify you. And anyway," he added, with the very same smile that had greeted her, "what are little girls for, if not to give presents to?"
At the end of this speech Leoda only barely repressed the desire to fill her panties. Then he opened the door, as always with an eye to the greatest effect. She followed him in, and, when he got out of the way, she saw, bathed in the light of her bedroom window, one of the most beautiful and ridiculous things she'd ever seen. Spread across her room on a huge table - was a model-train set.
Everything about it was exquisitely crafted. The engines and cars were all made of dark cast-metal or finely-polished wood, each carefully lined with silver or gold. So were the buildings. People and trees, however, were made of delicately spun glass, appropriately tinted for each object. Staring at it, Leoda forgot her fears, and even forgot that her father was in the room with her. She did think, amusedly, that model-trains are supposed to be for boys, but otherwise, she did nothing, within or without, nothing but allow herself to fall in love with the toy train.
Without really knowing it, she stepped slowly toward the table. Her father, now completely unheeded, pulled a chair from out of the darkness and placed it close behind her. She sat down and a passenger train, surrounded by the tiny glass people boarding and leaving it, began to move. Her eyes followed it without comprehending it. She began to be drawn into the movement of the train, until she thought she saw the scenery outside her bedroom window begin to move to one side. She looked up; it was just an odd rustling of the curtains. And then her body began to feel as if it were made of glass....