"Jack Dann - A Quiet Revolution for Death" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dann Jack)

astrologers and mediums work right here.тАЭ Roger pauses before a shop
which specializes in candles and oils and incense made of odoriferous
woods and herbs. тАЬWhat a wonderful place,тАЭ Roger says as he takes
SandraтАЩs hand in his own. тАЬPerhaps we should buy a little something for
the children.тАЭ
A hunchbacked beggar pulls at RogerтАЩs sleeve and says, тАЬAlms for the
poor,тАЭ but Roger ignores his entreaties.
тАЬThe children are getting restless,тАЭ Sandra says, her hand resting
limply in RogerтАЩs. тАЬLetтАЩs find a nice spot where they can play and we can
have our picnic.тАЭ
тАЬThis is a nice spot,тАЭ Bennie says as he winks at a little girl standing in
an alleyway.
тАЬHello, big boy,тАЭ says the girl, who cannot be more than twelve or
thirteen. тАЬFifty dollars will plant you some life in this body.тАЭ She wiggles
stylishly, leans against a shop window, and wrinkles her nose. тАЬWell?тАЭ She
turns to Roger and asks, тАЬDoes Daddy want to buy his son some life?тАЭ
Then she smiles like an angel.
Roger smiles at Bennie, who resembles one of the death dancers
painted on the walls of the Church of the Children.
тАЬCтАЩmon, Dad, please,тАЭ Bennie whines.
тАЬDonтАЩt even consider it,тАЭ Sandra says to Roger. тАЬWe brought the
children here to acquaint them with death, not sex.тАЭ
тАЬThat smacks of left-brain thinking,тАЭ says the little girl as she wags her
finger at Sandra. тАЬDeath is an orgasm, not a social artifact.тАЭ
тАЬSheтАЩs right about that,тАЭ Roger says to Sandra. Only youth can live
without pretense, he thinks. Imagining death as a simple return to
natureтАЩs flow, he hands Bennie a crisp fifty-dollar bill.
тАЬThanks, Dad,тАЭ and Bennie is off, hand in hand with his five-minute
friend. They disappear into a dark alley that separates two long
tumbledown buildings.
тАЬHe shouldnтАЩt be alone,тАЭ Sandra says. тАЬWho knows what kind of people
might be skulking about in that alley?тАЭ
 тАЬShall we go and watch him, then?тАЭ Roger asks.
тАЬItтАЩs love and death,тАЭ Rose Marie says as she primps her dress, folding
the thin material into pleats.
тАЬI want to go there,тАЭ says Samson, pointing at a great Ferris wheel
turning in the distance.
Roger sighs as he looks out at the lovely gravestone gardens of the
cemetery. тАЬYes,тАЭ he whispers, dreaming of God and angels. тАЬItтАЩs love and
death.тАЭ



Sandra prepares the picnic fixings atop a secluded knoll which
overlooks spacious lawns, charnelhouses, cloisters adorned with ivory
gables, and even rows of soap-white monuments. Processions of mourners
wind their way about like snakes crawling through a modern Eden. Priests
walk about, offering consolation to the bereaved, tasting tidbits from the
mournersтАЩ tables, kissing babies, touching the cold foreheads of the dead,
and telling wry jokes to the visitors just out for a Sunday picnic and a