"Harvey Jacobs - The Retriever" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jacobs Harvey)

sexist pig. She got two weeks vacation pay and two weeks severance after
signing a paper that absolved the company of any wrongdoing, packed her
personal belongings and left the office behind. The day got worse. When
Aurora reached home she couldn't find her collection of LPs. She called
Henry who was in the middle of a conference. He said they'd agreed to
give the stack of vinyl to the Salvation Army years ago, then disconnected
her call.
Insulted by her boss and infuriated by Henry Platz, Aurora went to
comfort herself with an ice-cream soda. On the way she thought she saw
Chuck West who was usually at football practice weekday afternoons.
When she got closer she realized the person who looked like Chuck was old
enough to be his father.
Aurora was making sucking noises with her straw, finishing the dregs of
her black-and-white soda when Joe Luna sat himself down on the
adjoining counter stool. "I see you're wearing those earrings," Luna said.
"They look great, kiddo. Scintillating."
"Thanks, Uncle Joey," Aurora said, surprising herself. "You don't mind
if I call you Uncle Joey?"
"Call me anything except shmuck," Luna said. "So tell me, what's
happening in your exciting life?"
"Don't get me started," Aurora said.
"So let's change the subject. Did you read the paper today? There's this
article about scientists discovering a mini-planet circling between Uranus
and Saturn. What an age we live in. What will they come up with next?"
"I'm bored of outer space," Aurora said. "Yawn yawn."
"I understand your feelings," Luna said. "Are you bored of this?" He
reached into a brown bag and came up with a battered Kermit wearing a
torn blue ribbon around its green neck.
"Froggie," Aurora said, grabbing the frog and kissing its matted fur. "I
thought he went away forever. That's what they told me. Where did you
find him, Uncle Joey?"
"Seek and ye shall find," Luna said.
"He's my best and dearest friend," Aurora said. "But how can I pay you?
I lost my job this morning. If you let me keep Kermit I could pay you after,
when I get a job. Promise."
"Don't bother yourself about paying me," Luna said. "There's no hurry."
"Look at this poor thing. He's all scruffy and dirty. What happened to
you, Froggie? Did a bad person kidnap you? I'm so sorry you got lost."
"Your slimy friend didn't get lost," Luna said. "He got discarded. Tossed
out. By your ever loving mom."
"And all this time I punished myself," Aurora said. "But why would she
do that? She's like Henry. So cruel. People just throw your things away."
 "So they do," Luna said. "They throw things away without asking. Well,
I've got places to go and I'm late already. Take care of yourself, pumpkin
pie."
"Who told you about my Kermit?" Aurora asked but Joe Luna was
already out the door. When Aurora reached up to pay for her soda the
cashier smiled and said it was all taken care of compliments of a friend.
A week later, Aurora sat playing a game of Chinese Checkers with her
husband. Her frog, with a new blue ribbon tied around its tufted neck,