"Kate Wilhelm - The Fountain of Neptune" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilhelm Kate)

тАЬNeptuneтАЩs Fountain, poster size? Postage?тАЭ

She didnтАЩt know how to say about eight by ten, and held up her hands
to indicate the size.

He found one in a stack of glossy prints and as she counted out
money, he said, тАЬYou should visit it at dawn, the first light of the sun. Some
say thatтАЩs the time of magic.тАЭ

тАЬGrazie,тАЭ she said and he answered that she was welcome.

That night she was not surprised when the glossy professional print
proved to be unlike any of her own. Again, not glaring differences, but
significant, meaningful.

That night she also recalled another of the phrases one or the other
doctor had used: need a companion. Of course, she thought, she couldnтАЩt
be left alone acting out a hallucinatory experience. She could harm herself
or, worse, harm others. A companion. Institution? It was just as well she
had put it out of mind for four months. She marveled at how her mind was
protecting her from remembering too much.

There were things she had to do: address the envelope to her sister,
write her a letter, include a copy of her will, details about her bank account,
some passwords, name and address of her attorney who had drawn up the
will. Edit the ongoing report of her situation for the doctors, make two
printouts, address those envelopes.

And she had to arrive at the Fountain of Neptune at dawn to see the
magic of the first rays of light. That had to wait until after she had taken care
of more mundane things.

****

The days were becoming quite warm, even hot, but the predawn
twilight was pleasantly cool, and there was a slight mist in the air. She was
disappointed to see another person at the fountain that early morning, a
man seated on the bench she had come to regard as her own. He rose and
moved to a different bench as she approached. They were the only two
people in sight at that hour.

тАЬGood morning,тАЭ he said as she drew near. тАЬItтАЩs a lovely morning, a
lovely time of day.тАЭ

An Englishman? Canadian? Possibly even an American. He had no
trace of an accent. She nodded at him and sat down.

The light was changing from the soft pearliness of predawn to a more
luminous, sharper light, the mist was dissipating and the world was taking