Превращение

           IfIdidn’thavemyparentstothinkaboutI’dhavegiveninmynoticealongtimeago,I’dhavegoneuptothebossandtoldhimjustwhatIthink,tellhimeverythingIwould,lethimknowjustwhatIfeel.He’dfallrightoffhisdesk!Andit’safunnysortofbusinesstobesittingupthereatyourdesk,talkingdownatyoursubordinatesfromupthere,especiallywhenyouhavetogorightupclosebecausethebossishardofhearing.Well,there’sstillsomehope;onceI’vegotthemoneytogethertopayoffmyparents’debttohim—anotherfiveorsixyearsIsuppose—that’sdefinitelywhatI’lldo.That’swhenI’llmakethebigchange.Firstofallthough,I’vegottogetup,mytrainleavesatfive.”

           Andhelookedoveratthealarmclock,tickingonthechestofdrawers.“GodinHeaven!”hethought.Itwashalfpastsixandthehandswerequietlymovingforwards,itwasevenlaterthanhalfpast,morelikequartertoseven.Hadthealarmclocknotrung?Hecouldseefromthebedthatithadbeensetforfouro’clockasitshouldhavebeen;itcertainlymusthaverung.Yes,butwasitpossibletoquietlysleepthroughthatfurniture-rattlingnoise?True,hehadnotsleptpeacefully,butprobablyallthemoredeeplybecauseofthat.Whatshouldhedonow?Thenexttrainwentatseven;ifheweretocatchthathewouldhavetorushlikemadandthecollectionofsampleswasstillnotpacked,andhedidnotatallfeelparticularlyfreshandlively.