"Nina Kiriki Hoffman - Sweet Nothings" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hoffman Nina Kiriki)

NINA KIRIKI HOFFMAN

SWEET NOTHINGS

EVER SINCE DAD DIED, THE sweet nothings stayed in Douglas's room. He didn't know
how to make them go away.

When Mom came in after lights out, the sweet nothings hid under Douglas's bed.
He wished they would go under Arthur's for a change, but they didn't like the
way Arthur smelled. Arthur thought that soap was some kind of Martian plot to
make his skin hurt, so he usually didn't use it.

Mom had always made Douglas use the soap. She used to make Arthur use soap too,
but since Dad died Morn just wasn't on top of things the way she used to be.

Mom would come in and say good night to Arthur and Douglas, and the whole time
the sweet nothings would be whispering somewhere just below Douglas's ear. The
worst thing about it was that he could almost understand them. He was sure they
were talking about things no ten-yearold should hear.

They had first appeared one night when Dad was whispering to Mom on the sofa
while Arthur and Douglas were sitting on the floor, doing a puzzle and watching
The Simpsons. Arthur didn't seem to notice anything, but Douglas saw Dad's head
close to Mom's, and saw More smile a secret smile that said she was thinking
about something Douglas couldn't understand. Dad whispered some more and Mom let
out a little giggle that made her sound like someone in seventh grade.

Small bouncy pink things showed up in the corners of the room as Dad and Morn
whispered and giggled. It made Douglas feel creepy. They looked like soft rubber
bunnies, but they had no eyes or ears. They had chubby hands, bigger than their
heads, bigger than their feet. And the hands were reaching toward Morn and Dad,
fingers curved to clutch. The wide little mouths always stretched into toothless
grins. Sometimes tongues came out of their mouths and licked -- licked their own
faces, or each others'. Their tongues were way too long.

Douglas nudged Arthur, and pointed toward the pink things. Arthur looked. Then
he looked back at Douglas, his eyes narrowing. "This some kind of trick?" he
whispered.

"What?" Douglas whispered.

"What'd you do? You steal a piece of the puzzle when I looked away?"

"What?"

"What are you up to?" Arthur's whisper was mad now.

"The pink things," Douglas whispered, "don't you see the pink things?"
"What are you talking about?" Arthur peeked over his shoulder at Morn and Dad.
Douglas looked too. Mom and Dad were staring at each other. Masses of pink