"Big U, The" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stephenson Neal)

Several seconds of silence. A few nods were seen, some "yeah"s
heard, and Love Boat was dead. More names were suggested, most
of them obviously dumb, and then Mari Meegan raised her hand. All
quieted as her fingernails fluttered like a burst of redhot flak above
the crowd. "I know," she said.
There was silence save for the sound of Hyacinth's comb
rushing through her hair. Man continued. "We can call ourselves
'Castle in the Air.' "
The lounge gusted with oohs and aahs.
"I like that."
"You're so creative, Mari."
"We could do a whole Dark Ages theme, you know, castles and
knights and shining armor."
"That's nice! Really nice!"
"Wait a sec." This came from Hyacinth.
At this some of the women were clearly exasperated, looking at
the ceiling, but most wore expressions of forced tolerance.
Hyacinth continued flatly. "Castle in the Air is derogatory. That
mean's it's not-nice. When you talk about a castle in the air, you
mean something with no basis in reality. It's like saying someone
has her head in the clouds."
They all continued to stare morosely, as though she hadn't
finished. Sarah broke in. "You can call it anything you want. She is
just making the point that you're using an unflattering name."
Man was comforted by two friends. The rest of them defended
the name, nicely. "I never heard that."
"I think it sounds nice."
"Like a Barry Manilow song."
"Like one of those little Chinese poems."
"I always thought if your head was in the clouds, that was nice,
like you were really happy or something. Besides, caslies are a neat
theme for parties and stuff—can't you see Mark dressed up like a
knight?" Giggles.
"And this way we can call ourselves the Atrheads!" Screams of
delight. Hyacinth's objection having been thus obliterated, Castle In
the Air was voted In unanimously, with two abstentions, and it was
decided that paints and brushes would be bought and the wing would
be painted in this theme during the weeks to come. Presently the
meeting adjourned.
"We've got forty minutes until the Candle Passing," observed
Mitzi, "and until then we can have a social hour. But not a whole
hour"
The meeting dissolved into chattering fragments. Sarah leaned
towards Hyacinth to whisper in her ear, and Hyacinth tensed. They
had been whispering to each other in turns for the last half hour, and
as both had ticklish ears this had caused much hysterical lip-biting
and snorting. Sarah did not really have to whisper now, but it was
her turn. "What candle passing?" she asked.
Hyacinth's attempt to whisper back was met by violent
resistance from Sarah, so they laughed and made a truce. "It's kind