"Bud Sparhawk - Childish Things" - читать интересную книгу автора (Sparhawk Bud)

file:///J|/sci-fi/Nieuwe%20map/Bud%20Sparhawk%20-%20Childish%20Things.html (1 of 8)16-2-2006 19:22:42
 file:///J|/sci-fi/Nieuwe%20map/Bud%20Sparhawk%20-%20Childish%20Things.html




Banker sighed at the brash Lunarian's outburst. “Very well; I get the point. I will request that the
Australians listen on their dish when the radio horizon comes around. Uh,” he hesitated, “Is there any
chance that this could be one of our own vagrant signals reflecting back on us? The Minister would hate
to get everyone exercised about this over nothing.”

“Believe me, Doctor Banker, this signal is like nothing we've ever seen. It is definitely an ordered, non-
natural, SETI message!”

At that point the impact of what they were talking about finally hit Banker, making him quite forget his
peckish mood from missing dinner. What would this mean, he wondered?

****

“Come on, Billy. Let it go.” The little boy pulled the soft bunny closer to his cheek as his mother tugged
on its ears. The stuffed rabbit was really worn and stained, so much so she worried about its hygienic
attributes despite her frequent cleaning. In some places, close where the clasping, grasping hands of a
young child seeking comfort would clutch, the soft brown nap was worn down to the underlying fabric.
At the bunny's bottom were a small tangle of threads that once had held a puffy tail in place, victim to
Billy's early anatomical explorations.

The front legs were mashed into limp approximations of their original form. In his early years Billy had
sucked and chewed on them as he lay with his arms about the bunny, waiting for sleep to arrive. Both of
the soft rabbit's eyes had been removed by his father when his mother read an article about children
choking after swallowing poorly attached items, such as eyes. Unfortunately the manufacturer had read a
similar article and had ensured against liability by using D-435a, an adhesive that created a absolutely
unbreakable bond with the fabric. In desperation his father had finally sliced small circles about the
eyes, from which stuffing occasionally dribbled like foam tears.

The bunny was narrow and lacked substance in its mid section; the result of many nights of being held
too tightly for assurance from the frightening and lonely dark. Most of the stuffing had migrated to
either end which made him resemble a soft dumbbell rather than a proper bunny.

“Show him the little car,” his father suggested. “I'm sure that he'll want that and let the bunny go.” He
was as embarrassed as his wife over the child's reluctance to give up the cheap rabbit they had gotten
two christmases past. Despite the best educational toys they could find for young William, the boy
persisted in clinging to this damned abused and disreputable toy rabbit. As far as he was concerned it
was far beyond the time for the boy gave up this baby stuff and started to behave like a real boy, one
who played with cars and things that made noises, not a kid that liked soft weak things like plush rabbits.

“Maybe we should wait a little longer,” his wife replied. “Let's leave it for now. He'll give it up on his
own, I'm sure. Just give him a little while longer.”

file:///J|/sci-fi/Nieuwe%20map/Bud%20Sparhawk%20-%20Childish%20Things.html (2 of 8)16-2-2006 19:22:42
 file:///J|/sci-fi/Nieuwe%20map/Bud%20Sparhawk%20-%20Childish%20Things.html