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  • Aliens by David Leavitt

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    Stacey Salvilla
    230 Ansichten9 Seiten
    This is a short story by David Leavitt. This is told in the perspective of a family who gives a sense of alienation towards each other after an accident. One of the characters, a little girl, believes she is an alien herself, about to be taken away anytime.

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    This is a short story by David Leavitt. This is told in the perspective of a family who gives a sense of alienation towards each other after an accident. One of the characters, a little girl, believes she is an alien herself, about to be taken away anytime.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Als PDF herunterladen oder online auf Scribd lesen
    Markieren Sie unangemessene Inhalte
    230 Ansichten9 Seiten

    Aliens by David Leavitt

    Hochgeladen von

    Stacey Salvilla
    This is a short story by David Leavitt. This is told in the perspective of a family who gives a sense of alienation towards each other after an accident. One of the characters, a little girl, believes she is an alien herself, about to be taken away anytime.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Als PDF herunterladen oder online auf Scribd lesen
    Markieren Sie unangemessene Inhalte
    von 9
    Aliens avid Leavitt Ame mee a ve deme Te where ‘am now: in the recreation room on the thd Boor of the State Hopital, watching, with my danghte, ten men who sit in a circle in the center of the room. They lock almost ‘normal fra a ditance—Lhaki pants, lamberjack shits, white socks—but I've learned to detect the tics, the nervous disorders. The taen are members of: poetry Writing workshop. Iti my te read. He takes 2 few seconds to find E his cane, 0b ic. As he stands, his © postures huncted and aoward. The surface of his eruhed left eye has clouded to marble, There i a pale pink sear under ‘is pale yellow hair. “The woman who leads che workshop, on a volunteer basis, ‘abe herforchead at she listens and fingers one of er elephant 79 shaped cavrings. Alden’ voice i a hoarse soar, only recent * “Perhaps you skould send her toa psychiati” Mrs, Tomp- reoneraaed Nios gga She a good vache, ete han mot of er Set a God he read mad abel ant wk @a cola. “This cul ont serious problem” she i Gre “Yl oni ig” Vanwered, bt Tw ling. dat ave the money. And besides, I know psychiatry; it takes things ssray. I don't thnk I could bear to sce what would be lef of [Nina once she'd been purged ofthis fantasy. ‘Today Nina st inthe corner of the recreation room. She i gies, but 1 know her eyes aze taking accoune of everything. "The woman with the elephantshaped earings stalking to one ofthe patents about poetry gua poe. “You know,” I say to her afterward, “its amazing that a “mun like Alden con write poems. He wat computer program- "mee All cur married life he never read 2 book.” “Fis work has real power,” the teacher sys. “Ie reminds me of Michelangelo's Bound Staves. Its artsy is heightened by is She hands mea shet of mimeographed paper—some exam ples of the group's work. “We all need a vehicle for self | expression” she says. © Later, sting on the sun porch arith Alden, [read through the poems. They are fll of expletives and Slchy semarks-the dod of semarke my brother ured to make when he was hot some gil at school. Iam embarassed. Ning curled in an wheelchair, reading “The Chronicles of Narnia” for the sevenceeah time. We should go home son, but Tm wary of pew ext dont tas its brakes. When I bought i, Tested the satbeltsoter and over again “Dinner?” Alden asks. Each simple word, I remember, is bor for isn. We mas be patient Seon," I say. “Dinner. I's a" He struggles t Rnd the words his brow 20d, andthe ane seeing eye starsat che opposite wall cis rng and my ounget il my eleven yeaa, Na, as convinced bere that she san ale. ‘Mo mpl her tached mei yesterday mrtg totelline "Nina's connote a whol history” he whips femoving her gles and ling toward tae azo et da, if smcone might be Lining em above “She never aE reno ly jst sts a0 da, Senge Indes, re he neon of peewhipa T fally aed some of te ets hen what wis gong on hey tad me hat Nia 98 Shes wating tobe taken aay by he eal pens. She ae Shee surveyor, implaned ber, bata soon a sip’ ng te cone and vere he” ike soon the casoom; the wal were paper wih crayon sawing of cae and abi he word een by ik Gen, Nils are remote, Bae lndapes de wih Magi Marka. No purple sir with fen No abr, sinter le gore In che ous of a year Nina sft a vielen and {gunk pry sorted reas larger thn ming, grew ef of EXP onde her ams The Ide gle who wese bar tide Shwe bx Mos eraoos nom se mands in the come ‘be paygound, er hi eld back by bane, ber fread leaning. Rees, Mr. Temple ts me, afew ge with aes and lrg vocabularies Bae ken to ering arund ‘ina ec They si inthe broken ark beneath the side {nd steno Ninna one might ent a prope. Her eal ‘eyes, exaggerated by her own glasses, must seem to thém presive of mated bea autees 8s (My hospital. What can you say sbout a place to which you become addicted? That you hate it, yet at the same time, ‘hat you need it. For wecks after my release I begged to be seadmined. I would wake crying, helplesy, in the night, con- vinced tha the world had stepped, and I had beer left behind, the only surviver. "U call dhe ward { had lived on. "Youll be all sight, des" che nurs told me. “You don’ have to come tack, and besides, we've Kicked you oot” I wanted cups of Jel-0. 1 wanted thers to bea light isthe hala ight T wanted tobe told chat six months hadn't gone by, that it had all ben, sit eemed, 2 single endless moment ‘To compensate, I sated to spend as much time as I could at Aldca’s hospital The head nurse suggested tha if Iwas going to be there all day, I might as well do something productive. ‘They badly needed volonters onthe seth for, the Boor ofthe severely retarded, the unrecoverable ones agreed t goin the “afternoons, imazining tory corner with exe theeeyearelds and seventy year-olds. The woman T worked with most clotly “had been pregasnt chr smes in the couse of 2 year. Her _artner was a paleskinned young man who droeled constandy Sand could nos keep his head up. Of course che had abortions 4 [None of the administrators were wiling to soliit fonds for ‘ich control beste that would have meant admitiog there seas a need for birth contol. We couldn't keep the couple fom ‘They hid in the bushes and in the broom closet. . rat onsite abn tr lveoing, and went pt Crap” he says: He keep looking atthe wall His eyes are expressionless Once again, he breathes. "Neaiby, someone’ screaming, bur we're used to that eae ASE ES Sairegatint ober ee ape eer Fabel nd pee ue senses CoE uo ae oad eee eee eee a eee eee eeyaaaeeel ee Bale de eit apal a oie a et fed wk ron ee leat are i ee le a A eae mae coe See ere aa oaeiecasss the six months, three weeks, and five days I spent there, eight ee re arte ae eee ce ee ain bel wand fen ty hy te eae moe aber er haere peters ccuredin rod and gaze at me, until a hand pulled them back and a ee ee cas ae ebay hed Ser ree ae nic a nrmet ot i Tyee sears il Se aes ee eee undowiog enahone wh y akbe we ee 1 to find each ther. When we locked them in separate cams, they pawed the dacrs and seamed ‘The fisal pregnancy was the worst because the woman ined that he wanted to keep the baby, and legally she had right. Nora, my supervsor—a erat, ancient nuse—had eympathy, insisted thatthe woman did't even know what dng pregnant micant. In the third month, sie enovgh, the i ‘what she's seen this lt pear We go topic up Charles, who is sme-n and spends ma of his ime in the Olde Computer = Shuppe—a sar, plumshaped building which serves as are- minder of what the fires thought the forare would look Hike. Charles isa computer prodigy, 2 certified genius, nothing spe- Gal in our ciroicfed community. He has some sort of dest going with the owner of the Computer Shoppe which he oan ike to calk about, Ie involves that magizal suff called software. He uses the Shoppe’s terminal and in exchange gives the owner a cat of his profit, which are bounteous. Checkt aie for him every day—from Puero Rico, from Texas from [New Yerk. He puts the money is private bank account. He ays that in a year he will have enough saved co put himself through college—a fact I cans help bat appreciate "The osher day T asked him to please explain i itis chat he docs, He was scing in ms Beckman, a fat boy withthe kind of wispy musache that ind- cates 2 willful refusal to begin shaving. Soeart is the dungeon ‘maser inthe clborste medieval wargames Charles's conduct on Tuesday nights, Charles is Galadrin, a lowly | dfin-warroe with minimal experience points. “Well” Charles Seid “lets just say its sep toward the great computer age when we won't need dungeon masters. A machine will create world into be zaneported. Well reir, 028 vehole Bves— ine erates for ws. We're 4 TB the forefront of 2 major breakthrough~artifcial imagina- tien. The possilis, needles to 9, are endless” “You've invented that?” 1 arked, suddenly swelling with er Gods pre. "The project is embryonic, of cours,” Charles sid. “But ie gett.ng there: Give it ify yeas. Who knows?” ‘ esis angry a8 we drive home. He sis furiously through venir tnl sam nd ws ae Stig ee raiders Torte ma wah wee HT Dore eet ore en ooo | SCNT tame eee ea aso je MRgeaneemer pote Te ee Se eas al ny "Tinh leas meet eke Oe a Tae ee eee 7 A tren igi apie ie Mihan eae panier aereie ee ee eee aseeee wen nah cole Hse ea lating hours end. take Alden in from the parking lot ise him goodbye. He shares a room these days wat 2 fy for os 2 wh young man named Jo, a Vietnam veteran prone to motorjde Teeidents Because of skin-grafting, Jo's face is six or seven diferent colors—beiges and taupes, masty-—but he can speak, Gnd has iely regasned the abity 0 smile. “Hey, een Tad” he says a6 we walk in, “It's good to see a prety lady around here” 4 ‘Nina is sitting inthe chair by the window, reading. She is sulky a3 we say goodbye to Alden, slky a8 we walk out 1 the ‘ar T suppose I should expect moodines-—some respoue © “can I get youanyching?™ ‘an enormots roll of green printovt paper. As it unravels de She sill doesnot lok at me, "No," she sys, "Nothing." paper flies in Nina’ haz, but she is oblivion to it. Her fee Eipreied agaist the mindow ap hard that her nose and ip have datened out. 1 conser starting up a conversation, but as we pul nto the Auiveway I, 00, fel the need for silence. Our house is dark and ‘unweleoming tonight, asf is euspicious of us. As soon = we tar in the door Charles disappears into his rom, andthe weld ‘Of his mind. Nina sv at the kitchen able with me und be has fashed her book, Te is the last in the Narnia series, and 33 she closes i her fae taker onthe disappointed lok of someone Soho war hoping something would never end. Last month she Catered the loal Hrar’s Reada-Thon. Neighbors agreed © five several dollars 9 UNICEF for every book she read no ‘ealizing tha she would read fiftyaine Tes hard for me to look at her. Shei sullen, and she i ot prey. My iether wsed to sy is one thing to look ugly am (ther to at it. Sil i ur be dificult be berayed by your town body. The cells divide, the hormones explodes Nins bad tno contol over the timing, mach less the effets. The first ime the menscruated she ered not out of fear but because she wat Sortied she had contracted that éseae which causes children to age prematurely. Weld seen pictures of them-wiencd, boar four year-olds heir skin lcse and wrinkled, their eet already rotten. I assed her that she had no such dizer, that she was merely being precocious, as usual In afew years [told has, er frends would catch wp. She stands awkwardly nov, a5 if she wants to maintain a inance even from berelé, Uplness really i a betrayal. Sud deniy she can trust nothing on cath; her body is no locger a part of her, bur her enemy. “Daddy was glad tose you today, Nina Ty. eae lee jn the evening, my mother calls to tell me about her new ‘cordless elecie telephone. “I can walk all around the howe with it” she says. "Now, for insance, P'm in the [Kichen, bt I'm on my way to the bathroom.” Mother be in Christmas newsletters, and the forces of fate. Tonight she is telling me about Mc. Garey, 2 local peltcin and neighboe ‘who was recently arreed. No one knows the deals of the pandal; Mother heed somewhere thatthe boys involved were ‘young, younger than Charles. "His wife just goes on, dos her gardening 28 iE nothing happenes" she tells me. “OF course ‘we dont ay anything, What covld we sy? She knows we {vid mentioning it: Her house is as lean as ever T even sa ‘ime the ocher day. He was wearing 2 sable sweater just ike tour father’s He told me he wat relaxing forthe frst is life, playing golf, gardening. She looks il, if you ask When Iwas your age | wold have wondered how a woman ‘auld survive something ike thas, fae to see her make do. Sil its shocking. He always seemed ike sucha family mat "She must have Know © ween them for year” “t do't eal secrets any bass for a marriage,” Mother sys “Nota her eat, Not in yours, ether.” Lately she's been convinced chat there's some awful secret ecween Alden and ane [tld her chat we'd had a fight the ight ofthe accident, but I dn’ ell her why. Not beeasse the qth was too monumental tele. The subject of our was tivil, Embsrestingly trivial. We were going out to inne. I wanted to go to a Chinese place. Alden wanted t ay. "te probably been a secret Be tay an talian heath food ressauant that a friend of bis at work fd told ita abou. Oue family has always fought a temen- ous amount about restaurant. Several times, when te four of us were piled in the car, Alden would pul ofthe rod. “I ‘pill aoe drive with thie chaos” be'd say. The debates over ‘here fo eat usually ended in teas, and abrupe rexuros home. ‘The children ran sreaming to thelr rooms, We ended up xt ig tunafsh “Mother is convinced Im having an aff. “Alden's sill a man,” she sys te me. “With a man’s needs.” "We have beca talking so long that che earpiece of che phone is sdcking to mi ea. "Mather," sy, “please don't worry. sadly in shape fori” ‘She Goesn' laugh. “I Teak at Mes. Garvey, and Ym moved” she says “Such strength of character. You should eke it at Iesson, Before [ hang up, I want to tell you sbout someding Trea, if you don’ rind.” “My mother loves to ofe information, and has raised me ia the Gadition, We constantly repeat movie plo, offer auchoc- tative satis fom television news specials, “What did you ead, Mother?” ask. “There isa man who is studying the Holous,” she aps “He makes a graph. One axi i fllllment/despair, and the other is sucess/faiure. That raeans chat there are four groups (F people-those who ae Cullled by sucess, whom we an understand, and thote who are despairing even though they scesfel, lke 40 many people we know, and those who are esparing because they'e fslures. Then there’s the fourth (graupthe people who aze Fuld by failure, whe don't ned hope wo live De you know who those people are?” Who?" f ask. “Those people” ay mather say, “are the ones who survived” “There is along, intentional sence. 4 “L thought you should know,” she says, “that T am sow "sanding outie, onthe back porch. [can go as far 25 seven Ihandzed feet from the house” Peary ining fan et oman re Tid when I ea cild—semething which nether T go: Mother has ever relly goten over 1 did it when Iwas sx Sars old. One cay at schol my alder snes, Macy Elis aiked Tae to tell Mosher tat she wae gong t 2 finds house for theaternoon eo play with some new Barbie dol 1 wat mad St Modher that day, and jealous of Mary Else. When | got ome, Mother was feeding the er and witht even sing fello (che was mad at me for some reson, too) she ordered fete take ot the gubage Iva filed with cage both at her = and my sister, whom I was convinced she favored. And chen vane up with an avfl ide. "Mote," [ i, “L have some- thing to ell you" She sumed around. Ter diac fae sud- Aesly focused on me.I realized Thad no ecze butt fini "pint Tete “Mary Elie did today” Tsai “Sh fof the fungle gym and spit her head open.” “Ae fresh js looked at ee, ber mouth open. Then ber jot remember this dtinly—wen in tw different dre

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