Then I drew a long breath, and the illusion faded.

The illusion had faded with the folding of the central part of it.

But now the mask returned - or the illusion faded.

When the illusion faded, and the pain with it, the rat continued to whimper.

When that illusion faded and he saw his own face, he quickly looked away.

Then the illusion faded, and they were back on the mountaintop.

But their illusions faded rapidly when Alex failed to adjust.

He would blink, and the illusion would fade, but the sense of it never left him.

And in those quarters, illusions of quickly transforming an entire country's economy from the top down through aid have faded.

That illusion faded with the industrial revolution, if it ever existed.