"Barker, Clive - Lost Souls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Barker Clive)

Common sense counseled a swift retreat, but what now caught his eye glued
him to the spot. There she stood-the woman of whom the cabbie had
spoken-and she was the most obese creature Eddie had ever set his sight
upon. She had more chins than fingers, and her fat, which threatened at
every place to spill from the light summer dress she wore, gleamed with
either oil or sweat.

"Eddie," she said. Everybody seemed to know his name tonight. As she
moved toward him, tides moved in the fat of her torso and along her
limbs.

"Who are you?" Eddie was about to inquire, but the words died when he
realized the obesity's feet weren't touching the ground. She was
floating.

Had Eddie been sober he might well have taken his cue then and fled, but
the drink in his system mellowed his trepidation. He stayed put.

"Eddie," she said. "Dear Eddie. I have some good news and some bad news.
Which would you like first?"

Eddie pondered this one for a moment. "The good," he concluded.

"You're going to die tomorrow," came the reply, accompanied by the
tiniest of smiles.

"That's good?" he said.

"Paradise awaits your immortal soul..." she murmured. "Isn't that a joy?"

"So what's the bad news?"

She plunged her stubby-fingered hand into the crevasse between her
gleaming tits. There came a little squeal of complaint, and she drew
something out of hiding. It was a cross between a runty gecko and a sick
rat, possessing the least fetching qualities of both. Its pitiful limbs
pedaled at the air as she held it up for Eddie's perusal. "This," she
said, "is your immortal soul."

She was right, thought Eddie: the news was not good.

"Yes," she said. "It's a pathetic sight, isn't it?" The soul drooled and
squirmed as she went on. "It's undernourished. It's weak to the point of
expiring altogether. And why?" She didn't give Eddie a chance to reply.
"A paucity of good works..."

Eddie's teeth had begun to chatter. "What am I supposed to do about it?"
he asked.

"You've got a little breath left. You must compensate for a lifetime of