"FWLS12" - читать интересную книгу автора (A Future We'd Like to See)

my pockets for a hankie. "Look, lemme just rip a page outta my
diary and sign that, okay?"

"Your PERSONAL diary?" she asked, curiosity back in full
swing, all depression gone like a lightswitch. "The one you
write your profound thoughts in and everything?"

"Yeah. No prob, I get these things with three-ring
attachments so I can take out old pages. Here," I said, turning
to a random page and scribbling my name on the bottom, then
ripping it out. "Share and enjoy."

Sally examined the paper, holding it as gently as the dead
sea scrolls. "The world is dull. Anything that can... ohmygosh!
It's your first poem! And you signed it!"

"Well, I keep multiple copies handy," I said. "It's my
mantra, sort--"

"Wow! Oh my god, I can't believe you'd part with something
so amazing, so profound, so holy..."

"Wot's so religious about it?"

"Gee... THANKS!" she said, leaping up a few feet and
clamping a kiss right on me. It lasted quite a few seconds and
went in quite a few centimeters, mostly due to my combined shock
and surprise. Then she hopped down and raced off, clutching her
new prize.

I wiped off my mouth and coughed a bit. Boy, she's got
quite a vertical leap for a Murfle. Well, every famous dude's
got some weird groupies. So much for that. I walked on, back to
the pad.

*

The light was off when I wandered into my low-income housing
/ personal rent-paid hell / hovel. Makes sense, I was out for
quite awhile tonight. Eroki'll be ticked, but she'll get over
it. We bounce back from problems like a happy fun ball.

I carefully slipped out of my shoes and shirt and such, and
tiptoed over to my side of the bed. I had perfected a way of
climbing in so that the bed didn't squeak, tilt, or move in any
way at all; Eroki was quite a light sleeper, and a grumpy waker.

Odd, usually she steals all the sheets. They're on my side.
I reached over to drape about half of them on her, and bumped
into--