"David Gerrold - The Man Who Folded Himself" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gerrold David)

a sum of money I could understand. (One hundred and
forty-three millionтАФI wasn't sure there was that much
money in the world; but two thousand dollars, yes, I
could count to two thousand.) "What do I have to do?"
"Keep a diary."
"A diary?"
"That's right."
"You mean write things down in a black book every
day? Dear diary, today I kissed a girl and all that kind of
stuff?"
"Not exactly. I want you to record the things that
seem important to you. Type out a few pages every day,
that's all. You can record specific incidents or just make
general comments about anything worth recording. All I
want is your guarantee that you'll add something to it
every dayтАФor let's say at least once a week. I know how
you get careless sometimes."
"And you want to read itтАФ?" I started to ask.
"Oh, no, no, noтАФ" he said hastily. "I just want to
know that you're keeping it up. You won't have to show it
to me. Or anyone. It's your diary. What you do with it or
make of it is up to you."
My mind was workingтАФtwo thousand dollars a
week. "Can I use a dictation machine and a secretary?"
He shook his head. "It has to be a personal diary,
Danny. That's the whole purpose of it. If it has to pass
through someone else's hands, you might be inhibited. I
want you to be honest." He straightened up where he
sat, and for a moment he looked like the Uncle Jim I
remembered, tall and strong. "Don't play any games,
Danny. Be truthful in your diary. If you're not, you'll
only cheat yourself. And put down everythingтАФevery-
thing that seems important to you."
"Everything," I repeated dumbly.
He nodded. There was a lot of meaning in that nod.
"All right," I said. "But why?"
"Why?" He looked at me. "You'll find out when you
write it."
As usual, he was right.


** *


I'm not fooled. Uncle Jim is trying to teach me
something. This isn't the first time he's thrown me into
the deep end of the pool.

** *