Зима тревоги нашей

           Say—knowwhatwouldbeinteresting?Howaboutifyouturnedthecardsblindfoldedorsomethingandseehowclosetheycometoyesterday."

           "No!"shesaid."Thatwouldn’twork.Youkiddingme,ordoyoureallygoforit?"

           "WayIlookatit,itdoesn’tmatteraboutbelieving.Idon’tbelieveinextrasensoryperception,orlightningorthehydrogenbomb,orevenvioletsorschoolsoffish—butIknowtheyexist.Idon’tbelieveinghostsbutI’veseenthem."

           "Nowyou’rekidding."

           "I’mnot."

           "Youdon’tseemlikethesameman."

           "I’mnot.Maybenobodyis,forlong."

           "Whatcausedit,Eth?"

           "Idon’tknow.MaybeI’msickofbeingagroceryclerk."

           "It’sabouttime."

           "DoyoureallylikeMary?"

           "SureIdo.Whywouldyouaskthat?"

           "Youjustdon’tseemtobethesamekindof—well,you’resodifferentfromher."

           "Iseewhatyoumean.ButIdolikeher.Iloveher."

           "SodoI."

           "Lucky."

           "IknowIam."

           "Imeanther.Well,I’llgomakemylousycoffee.I’llthinkaboutthatcarddeal."

           "Soonerthebetter,beforeitcools."

           Shetappedout,herneatbuttocksjumpinglikeliverubber.Ihadneverseenherbefore.IwonderhowmanypeopleI’velookedatallmylifeandneverseen.It’sscarytothinkabout.Pointofreferenceagain.Whentwopeoplemeet,eachoneischangedbytheothersoyou’vegottwonewpeople.Maybethatmeans—hell,it’scomplicated.IagreedwithmyselftothinkaboutsuchthingsatnightwhenIcouldn’tsleep.