День триффидов
A Light in the Night
IdidnearlygetmarriedwhenIwasnineteen,"sheadmitted,"andaren’tIgladnowitdidn’thappen.ButIdidn’tfeellikethatatthetime.IhadafrightfulrowwithDaddy,who’dbrokenthewholethingupbecausehesawrightawaythatLionelwasaspizzardand—"
"Awhat?"Iinterrupted.
"Aspizzard.Asortofcrossbetweenaspivandalizard—theloungekind.SothenIcutmyfamilyoffandwentandlivedwithagirlIknewwhohadanapartment.Andmyfamilycutoffmyallowance,whichwasaverysillythingtodo,becauseitmighthavehadjusttheoppositeeffectfromwhattheyintended.Asithappened,itdidn’t,becauseallthegirlsIknewwhoweremakingoutthatwayseemedtometohaveaverywearingsortoftimeofit.Notmuchfun,andanawfullotofjealousytoputupwith—andsomuchplanning.You’dneverbelievehowmuchplanningitneedstokeeponeortwosecondstringsingoodcondition—ordoImeantwoorthreesparestrings?"Shepondered.
"Nevermind,"Itoldher."Igetthegeneralidea.Youjustdidn’twantthestringsatall."
"Intuitive,youare.Allthesame,Icouldn’tjustspongeonthegirlwhohadtheapartment.Ididhavetohavesomemoney,soIwrotethebook."
IdidnotthinkI’dheardquitearight.
"Youmadeabook?"Isuggested.
"Iwrotethebook."Sheglancedatmeandsmiled."Imustlookawfuldumb—that’sjustthewaytheyallusedtolookatmewhenItoldthemIwaswritingabook.
