"Hoffman-HomeForChristmas" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hoffman Abbie)

dining nook. "I make instant cocoa, but it's pretty good."

Matt looked at him a moment, then headed for the kitchen.

"Be there in a see," said Jim, heading toward a dark hallway to the right.

--Cocoa?-- she thought in the kitchen. Honey-pale wooden cupboard doors wore
carved wooden handles in the shape of fancy goldfish, with inlaid gem eyes.
White tiles with a lavender border covered the counters; white linoleum tiles
inset with random squares of sky blue, rose, and violet surfaced the floor. A
pale spring green refrigerator stood by the window, and a small green card table
sat near it, with three yellow-cushioned chairs around it. Just looking at the
room made Matt smile.

--Who are you?--asked the refrigerator as it hummed.

--A visitor.--

--Where's the little-girl-one who stands there and holds my door open and lets
my cold out?--

--I don't think she's coming, -- Matt said. She wasn't sure if a refrigerator
had a time sense, but decided to ask. --How often is she here?--

--Every time Man puts ice cream in my coldest part. There's ice cream there
now.--

Ah ha, Matt thought. She went to the stove, found a modern aqua-enameled tea
kettle. --May I use you to heat water?-- she thought at it.

--Yes yes yes!-- Its imagination glowed with the pleasurable anticipation of
heat and simmer and expansion.

She ran water into it, greeted the stove as she set the tea kettle on the gas
burner, then asked the kitchen about mugs. A cupboard creaked open. She patted
the door and reached inside for two off-white crockery mugs. A drawer opened to
offer her spoons. The whole kitchen was giggling to itself. It had never before
occurred to the kitchen that it could move things through its own choice.

--Cocoa?-- thought Matt. The cupboard above the refrigerator eased open, and she
could see jars of instant coffee and a round tin of instant cocoa inside, but it
was out of her reach. She glanced at one of the chairs. She could bring it over
--

--Hey!-- cried the cocoa tin. She looked up to see it balanced on the edge of
the refrigerator. She held out her hands and it dropped heavily into them, the
cupboard door closing behind it.

"What?" Jim's voice sounded startled behind her.