"James Patrick Kelly - Fruitcake Theory" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kelly James Patrick)

open it first."
The rooster glances up and down the deserted mall.
=There is no pay person.=
Bjorn is unwrapping a white chocolate snowman. "DonТt
worry. WeТll take care of it."
=This one pays. That is the habit.= He sets the
fruitcake, unopened, back on the counter. =Christmas is.
The Kuvat pay.=
"No, really...," says Bjorn, but I nudge him in the back
just as the rooster begins to eek.
"Eeeeeek, eek, eek, eek. Eeeek! " Beneath his
translucent skin, the flesh appears to seethe. We can
hear a sloshing, like a mop in a bucket of water. The
rooster claps a hand to his chest and I see a viscous
ooze between stubby fingers. He brings the hand to his
mouth and blows on it, once, twice, then opens it and
shows us.
=Pay.= he says. Bjorn drops his chocolate snowman.
Clicking softly on his smooth palm are four green
pearls.
"What are they?" says Bjorn.
=The end of fat,= says the rooster. He offers them to
Bjorn. =Person eats?=
Of course, I am immediately suspicious of the green
pearls. What is the end of fat anyway? What will these
things do to the human digestive system?
"How many?" BjornТs face is as soft as cookie dough.
"Wait a minute!" IТm stunned, but I canТt bring myself
to stop it.
=The one.=
"What was it you said, Maggie?" He smiles at me. "WeТre
not observing anymore. WeТre part of things now." He
accepts a pearl from the rooster. "Thank you. Do I
chew?"
=Swallow hurry.=
"Bjorn!"
He pops it into his mouth and itТs over. I wait for him
to keel over and writhe or throw up or maybe even
explode, but he just watches me with that goofy smile,
which I absolutely understand. Whatever happens is all
right, is true, is good. WeТll both accept it because
the world smells so sweet tonight.
Bjorn raises his hands over his head like a Sugar Plum
Fairy and does a pirouette.
When the rooster offers me the green pearls, IТm not at
all tempted. "Thanks." I sweep them onto my hand and
pocket them. "But I think IТll save these for
breakfast."
The roosterТs eyes glitter for a moment and go dim.
=One,= he says. =Share.= He turns to the North Pole and