Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker

by Gregory Maguire

It seemed that the world was no more wonderful than Bach. It was no less wonderful, either. Magnificent imperturbability, exactly sized, one to the other. What did that mean about Bach, about the world?

The things that could be seen versus the ones that could only be imagined. Dirk still felt he didn’t have a grasp on what divided the two armies. Was it a function of God’s revelation, or of personal talent at seeing?

We sleep with exhaustion, thought Dirk. We do this every night, don’t we. And we wake with such exhaustion.

If I wanted to join them, I’d have to go to the size of a mouse, and become one of their toys—for they live at the scale of their toys.

“He was once a handsome young boy,” said Drosselmeier, “but he didn’t find love in time, and this is what happens to some of us.”