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Ray Bradbury Stories Volume 1
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‘Well—’
‘You wouldn’t like it at all. I keep running. There’s no way to shut me off. I’m perfectly alive and I have feelings.’
‘It’ll only be a few days now. I’ll be off to Rio and you won’t have to stay in the box. You can live upstairs.’
Braling Two gestured irritably. ‘And when you come back from having a good time, back in the box I go.’
Braling said, ‘They didn’t tell me at the marionette shop that I’d get a difficult specimen.’
‘There’s a lot they don’t know about us,’ said Braling Two. ‘We’re pretty new. And we’re sensitive. I hate the idea of you going off and laughing and lying in the sun in Rio while we’re stuck here in the cold.’
‘But I’ve wanted that trip all my life,’ said Braling quietly.
He squinted his eyes and could see the sea and the mountains and the yellow sand. The sound of the waves was good to his inward mind. The sun was fine on his bared shoulders. The wine was most excellent.
‘I’ll never get to go to Rio,’ said the other man. ‘Have you thought of that?’
‘No, I—’
‘And another thing. Your wife.’
‘What about her?’ asked Braling, beginning to edge toward the door.
‘I’ve grown quite fond of her.’
‘I’m glad you’re enjoying your employment.’ Braling licked his lips nervously.
‘I’m afraid you don’t understand. I think – I’m in love with her.’
Braling took another step and froze. ‘You’re what?’
‘And I’ve been thinking,’ said Braling Two, ‘how nice it is in Rio and how I’ll never get there, and I’ve thought about your wife and – I think we could be very happy.’
‘Th-that’s nice.’ Braling strolled as casually as he could to the cellar door. ‘You won’t mind waiting a moment, will you? I have to make a phone call.’
‘To whom?’ Braling Two frowned.
‘No one important.’
‘To Marionettes, Incorporated? To tell them to come get me?’
‘No, no – nothing like that!’ He tried to rush out the door.
A metal-firm grip seized his wrists. ‘Don’t run!’
‘Take your hands off!’
‘No.’
‘Did my wife put you up to this?’
‘No.’
‘Did she guess? Did she talk to you? Does she know? Is that it?’ He screamed. A hand clapped over his mouth.
‘You’ll never know, will you?’ Braling Two smiled delicately. ‘You’ll never know.’
Braling struggled. ‘She must have guessed; she must have affected you!’
Braling Two said, ‘I’m going to put you in the box, lock it, and lose the key. Then I’ll buy another Rio ticket for your wife.’
‘Now, now, wait a minute. Hold on. Don’t be rash. Let’s talk this over!’
‘Good-by. Braling.’
Braling stiffened. ‘What do you mean, “good-by”?’
Ten minutes later Mrs Braling awoke. She put her hand to her cheek. Someone had just kissed it. She shivered and looked up. ‘Why – you haven’t done that in years,’ she murmured.
‘We’ll see what we can do about that,’ someone said.
No Particular Night or Morning (#ulink_1fe1446b-885c-59ed-b904-a28cd1997a32)
He had smoked a packet of cigarettes in two hours.
‘How far out in space are we?’
‘A billion miles.’
‘A billion miles from where?’ said Hitchcock.
‘It all depends,’ said Clemens, not smoking at all. ‘A billion miles from home, you might say.’
‘Then say it.’
‘Home. Earth. New York. Chicago. Wherever you were from.’
‘I don’t even remember,’ said Hitchcock. ‘I don’t even believe there is an Earth now, do you?’
‘Yes,’ said Clemens. ‘I dreamt about it this morning.’
‘There is no morning in space.’
‘During the night then.’
‘It’s always night,’ said Hitchcock quietly. ‘Which night do you mean?’
‘Shut up,’ said Clemens irritably. ‘Let me finish.’
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Так получилось, что книга ко мне попала в тяжелый эмоциональный кризис и многое мне дала. Написано актуально, тут многих полезных вещей, никакого злоу...
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