"Date of publication 2083 AD" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morrison William)

Date of publication 2083 A. D.
by . . . William Morrison

Lending libraries have been known to make mistakesЧbut never one so potentially
explosive as the time they sent Carrie the wrong volume.

Hypnotism, as anyone who has ever watched a snake charm a bird knows, is for
older than homo sapiens. Yet only since the eighteenth century days of Dr.
Mesmer has it emerged from priestly mambo-jumbo into the realm of science. Even
today, despite its wide medical usage, hypnotism is not wholly accepted. But in
a hundred years Е

IT SEEMED INCREDIBLE, thought Carrie Samason, that a simple postcard like that
could have involved her in so much trouble. If it had been something important,
like her getting a new hairdo, or rearranging the living room, or buying a new
evening gown, she might have expected all sorts of perfectly amazing results to
follow. But from the postcard and the fact that she had sent James instead of
going herself, she expected nothing at all.
It had come, she remembered, that morning when she was so busy getting Barbara
ready to go back to college. All those clothes to try on, and hems to let out
and shoes to fit, and right in the middle of everything, "Dear Madam," she was
informed, "The Perfect Hostess by Wilhelmina Hoskins, which you reserved, is now
being held for you. Please call for it within the next 48 hours."
At first Mrs. Samason was annoyed. She had reserved the book three months before
and her feeling of need for it had long since died away. Nevertheless, it
occurred to her, a book which was in such demand that you had to wait three
months for it must be pretty good. It wouldn't hurt to take a look at it. She
spoke to James about it, but he was only eleven and there was a baseball game in
which he had to pitch and he didn't have any time, and honest, MomЧ
"Either you get that book for me or you don't receive your allowance for next
week," she said firmly.
James got the book for her. But on the way home he stopped off to play baseball
and when he finally arrived, she recalled, she hadn't asked him about it.
The next morning she remembered it just as he was leaving for school. "I put it
in the parlor, Mom," said James and departed.
But she couldn't find it in the parlor and there were so many things to do, like
cleaning up the mess Barbara had left in her room and fixing the rips in James'
pants Чshe wondered if any other eleven-year-old on earth could rip so much so
oftenЧthat she forgot all about it for a while.
It was as if there had been no postcard, no book. At least that was the way it
was for a time.
Two days later, when Bill came home from work, he dumped himself into an easy
chair and said, "Saw a funny thing today."
"I had a letter at last from Barbara," said Carrie absently, patting her hair
into place and wondering what her husband would think of her if now, at the age
of forty, she dyed her hair red.
Bill always told her that as a brunette she was both young-looking and pretty.
The question was, would he tell her the same thing if she were a redhead?
Probably not. Men were foolishly conservative about such things.
"Barbara said school supplies are very expensive this year," she went on. "She