"Nancy Kress - Stone Man" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kress Nancy)

Stone Man
NANCY KRESS

Here’s a walk down the Mean Streets of today’s big cities, which can be
made even meaner by battling wizards—unless you can get a little help
from your friends . . .

Nancy Kress began selling her elegant and incisive stories in the
mid seventies and has since become a frequent contributor to Asimov’s
Science Fiction, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, OMNI, Sci
Fiction, and elsewhere. Her books include the novel version of her Hugo-
and Nebula-winning story, “Beggars in Spain,” and a se-quel, Beggars
and Choosers, as well as The Prince of Morning Bells, The Golden Grove,
The White Pipes, An Alien Light, Brainrose, Oaths and Miracles, Stinger,
Maximum Light, Probability Moon, Probability Sun, Probability Space,
Crossfire, and Nothing Human. Her short work has been collected in
Trinity and Other Stories, The Aliens of Earth, and Beaker’s Dozen. Her
most recent book is the novel Crucible. In addition to the awards for
“Beggars in Spain,” she has also won Nebula Awards for her stories “Out
of All Them Bright Stars” and “The Flowers of Aulit Prison.”

****



J
ARED Stoffel never even saw the car that hit him. He ollied off the concrete
steps of the Randolph Street Rec Center down onto the street and was
coming down on his skateboard when wham! his butt was smacked hard
enough to rattle his teeth and Jared went down. A second before the pain
registered, he threw up his arms to shield his face. The Bird-house went
flying—he saw it in the air, wheels spinning, a moment before his body hit
the street. All at once he was smothered under a ton of stones he couldn’t
breathe he was going to die and someone was screaming but it was
mostly the rocks—God the boulders flying to land on top of him, un-der
him, everywhere . . . Everything went black.

****

“YOU with us yet, child?”
 “Rocks.” It came out “bogs.” Jared put his hand to his face. The hand
stopped an inch away on his swollen mouth.

“How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Who.”

“What day is it?”

“Breeday.”