"The Walls Of The Universe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Melko Paul)

woods, he'd invite me in to dinner."
"Tell," John said.
"Fine." The young man flung himself on a hay bale and munched the apple. "It's
simple, really. I'm you. Or rather I'm you genetically, but I grew up on this
same farm in another universe. And now I've come to visit myself."
"Bullshit. Who put you up to this?"
"Okay, okay. I didn't believe me either." A frown passed over his face. "But I
can prove it. Hold on a second." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Here we go: That horse is named Stan or Dan. You bought him from the McGregors
on Butte Road when you were ten. He's stubborn and willful and he hates being
saddled. But he'll canter like a show horse if he knows you have an apple in
your pocket." He turned to the stalls on his left. "That pig is called Rosey.
That cow is Wilma. The chickens are called Ladies A through F. How am I doing so
far?" He smiled an arrogant smile.
"You stole some of your uncle's cigarettes when you were twelve and smoked them
all. You killed a big bullfrog with your BB gun when you were eight. You were so
sickened by it you threw up and haven't used a gun since. Your first kiss was
with Amy Walder when you were fourteen. She wanted to show you her underwear
too, but you ran home to Mommy. I don't blame you. She's got cooties everywhere
I go.
"Everyone calls you Johnny, but you prefer John. You have a stash of Playboys in
the barn loft. And you burned a hole in the rug in your room once. No one knows
because you rearranged your room so that the night stand is on top of it." He
spread his arms like a gymnast who'd just struck a landing.
"Well? How close did I come?" He smiled and tossed the apple core into Stan's
stall.
"I never kissed Amy Walder." Amy had gotten pregnant when she was fifteen by
Tyrone Biggens. She'd moved to Montana with her aunt and hadn't come back. John
didn't mention that everything else he'd said was true.
"Well, was I right?"
John nodded. "Mostly."
"Mostly? I nailed it on the head with a hammer, because it all happened to me.
Only it happened in another universe."
How did this guy know so much about him? Who had he talked to? His parents?
"Okay. Answer this. What was my first cat's name?"
"Snowball."
"What is my favorite class?"
"Physics."
"What schools did I apply to?"
The stranger paused, frowned. "I don't know."
"Why not? You know everything else."
"I've been traveling, you know, for a while. I haven't applied to college yet,
so I don't know. As soon as I used the device, I became someone different. Up
till then, we were the same." He looked tired. "Listen. I'm you, but if I can't
convince you, that's fine. Let me sleep in the loft tonight and then I'll
leave."
John watched him grab the ladder, and he felt a twinge of guilt at treating him
so shabbily. "Yeah, you can sleep in the loft. Let me get you some dinner. Stay
here. Don't leave the barn, and hide if someone comes. You'd give my parents a
heart attack."