Jamie sat alone in the middle of the library, his eyes wide with panic and terror, flipping through book after book, the massive shelves looming over him.

"It was a dark and stormy night." "It was a dark and stormy night."
A Wrinkle in Time, Let's All Kill Constance, they all began with the frightening line. Why? he thought. Why do all these books begin with It was a dark and stormy night? The piles of books grew taller and taller. This can't be true! Why? No! This is all a nightmare! No! No!

He looked up from his trance out the window. It was a dark and stormy night. The rain fell in torrents, and the thunder seemed to rattle his very bones. Terrified, he turned back to the books.

The piles of books grew yet even taller.

Over and over again, the same seven words pounded past Jamie's eyes: "It was a dark and stormy night."

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashed across the book in his lap, illuminating the letters. And yes, it was different!

Jamie's frightened eyes turned into shining gems as he finally found a different opening, a deviation from the common: "It was a stormy and dark night."