"Nina Kiriki Hoffman - The World Within" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hoffman Nina Kiriki)

vanished husband, few job skills, and a stack of leftover bills from a previous
life.

Aria would not forgive Pell for this deed. "How could you?" she whispered. "How
could you?"

"I'm sorry," Mrs. Bridge said again. "I think I asked the wrong questions."

"I can't bear it any longer," Mother said. She looked around their room, their
world. No place was distant from any other place. Every place was in view. "I
must go."

She rose, grabbed her purse and jacket, and rushed out.

"Oh, Aria," Mrs. Bridge said, "I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"It's not your fault," said Aria. "How could it be? It's my fault, isn't it? I
don't understand it. I don't see a Pell on television very often. I never see a
Pell at school. Am I the only one who has a Pell?"

"No," said Mrs. Bridge.

"I mean, I know Pell is a poltergeist. There's a word for it. I just don't know
anyone else who has one." Aria rose, got the trash can. She went to where the
records lay in pieces and picked them up, wondering if she could glue them
together and bring the music back to life. The pieces were too small and many.
She didn't know if she could mend things with Mother, either.

"You don't seem surprised by this," Aria said, putting the pieces in the trash
carefully, as though there was anything worse that could happen to them.

"Surprised? By the Pell, you mean?" asked Mrs. Bridge.

"Did you know about Pell before you came over?"

"No. Not exactly. I knew there was something different about you."

Aria sat back on her heels and looked at her teacher. "Different?" She couldn't
remember ever being different. Most of the time she was silent, but there were a
number of other kids in school who were quiet too. If she raised her hand, she
never raised it high. If she had an answer, it was a boring one. If a teacher
forced her to participate, she was subdued. "How could you tell?"

"The pictures," said Mrs. Bridge. "The things you paint."
"Things? But I don't paint things."

"You do. You paint things people don't see with their normal eyes."

"I don't understand."