"John Kessel - Downtown" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kessel John)

Downtown
by John Kessel

Story Copyright (C) 2007, John Kessel.
Images Copyright (C) 2007, Rudy Rucker.
600 Words.




So at the end of the week I shut down my left brain, got charged, and told anyone who would listen that I
was going Downtown.

тАЬAnd who is it thatтАЩs supposed to care?тАЭ the Group Average said.

тАЬCertainly not you,тАЭ I said, pulling on my weekend skin. GA and I used to be featured, and they still held
it against me.

тАЬWhat you gonna do down there?тАЭ the Duck asked. The Duck was puny and na├пve.

тАЬTell me something I ainтАЩt gonna do,тАЭ I shot back.

Well, that seemed to intrigue the Duck. тАЬCan I come too?тАЭ

тАЬItтАЩs a free domain,тАЭ I said. тАЬLong as you got your own charge.тАЭWe left the Group in the locker space
and walked out of there. The sun was dying and on the horizon the murder trees were stirred by the
offshore breeze. We walked up to the transit stop, plugged in, bought a couple of passages, and stood
on the platform in the sultry evening waiting for the slip. Far down the slipway glowed the lights of the
city.

тАЬWill there be boys and girls there?тАЭ the Duck asked.

тАЬYou bet your feathers,тАЭ I replied. тАЬDucks, too.тАЭ

When the slip drew up we settled in and before we knew it we were stepping out into the colorful Calle
Rosinante. Boys! Girls! Snakes! Metatron the Archangel, Available for 23 Amps! Ducks!

Hot jazz filled my right brain, singing Go! Go!, along with the Four Noble Truths:



Life sucks.

It sucks because youтАЩre stuck on things.

This can be remedied.

Fake left, fake right, go up the Middle.
Just like Downtown to kill your buzz while pushing it. Stuck on things? I wasnтАЩt going to be stuck on
anything tonight longer than it took me to drink it or smoke it or poke it. Remedy me no remedies, Chaz.