"C M Kornbluth - The Mindworm" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kornbluth C M)

The engraver's legs folded under him and he fell to the floor, drained and dead.



TheMindworm , locked in the bedroom of his brownstone front, smiled again, reminiscently.



Smiling, he checked the day on a wall calendar.



"Dolores!" yelled her mother in Spanish. "Are you going to pass the whole day in there?"
 She had been practicing low-lidded, sexy half-smiles like LaurenBacall in the bathroom mirror. She
stormed out and yelled in English: "I don't know how many times I tell you not to call me that Spickname
no more!"



"Dolly!"sneered her mother."Dah-lee! When was there a SaintDah -lee that you call yourself after, eh?"



The girl snarled a Spanish obscenity at her mother and ran down the tenement stairs. Jeez, she wasgonna
be late for sure!



Held up by a stream of traffic between her and her streetcar, she danced with impatience. Then the
miracle happened. Just like in the movies, a big convertible pulled up before her and its lounging driver
said, opening the door: "You seem to be in a hurry. Could I drop you somewhere?"



Dazed at the sudden realization of a hundred daydreams, she did not fail to give the driver a low-lidded,
sexy smile as she said: "Why, thanks!" and climbed in. He wasn'tno Cary Grant, but he had all his hair . .
. kind of small, but so was she . . . and jeez, the convertible had leopard-skin seat covers!



The car was in the stream of traffic, purring down the avenue. "It's a lovely day," she said."Really too
nice to work."



The driver smiled shyly, kind of like Jimmy Stewart but of course not so tall, and said: "I feel like playing
hooky myself. How would you like a spin downLong Island?"