Orpheus and Eurydice

An excerpt out of China Miéville's collection of short stories entitled Looking For Jake, from the selfsame tale

When Orpheus looked back, Jake, it wasn't stupid. The myths are slanderous. It wasn't the sudden fear that she wasn't there that turned his head, it was the threatening light from above. What if it was not the same, out there? It's so human, to turn and catch the eye of your companion on a return journey, to share a moment's terror that everything you know will be changed.

To get a sense of the original tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, read it in Bulfinch, here.