said, "It's not only that. I love him because he's so sensible and so pragmatic. I don't think I want him to start believing in miracles."
"All right, then. If that's what you think is best. Far be it from a wrinkly old mother-in-law like me to interfere in my beautiful young daughter-in-law's affairs."
Molly wrapped her arms around her and kissed her noisily on her right ear. "You're not wrinkly and you're not as old as you think you are, and I always appreciate your opinion. So there."
With that, they started to sing "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" together, in higher and higher harmony, until they were almost shrieking.
"-and it's a hard-it's a hard-it's a hard-!"
Trevor opened the bedroom door. "For Christ's sake, you two! You sound like two polecats being strangled!"
Sissy dreamed that she was very young, maybe only six or seven years old, and that she was sitting in the back seat of a large sedan with brown leather seats. She was kneeling up and watching the landscape slide past. The landscape was brown, too, and very flat-miles and miles of cornfields, all the way to the horizon. The clouds were strangely stretched out, as if they were being pulled across the sky like dark brown toffee.
She couldn't see who was driving the sedan. He was wearing a pale Panama hat with a wide brown band around it. There was a signet ring on his right hand, which occasionally flashed at her, and in the center of the steering wheel there was a diamond-shaped emblem, which flashed at her, too. She recognized the emblem, and now she realized which car she was in and who was driving it. It was her Uncle Henry's 1954 Hudson Hornet.
The car radio sounded as if it were playing backward-lumpy, intermittent rhythms with garbled words.
"You only saw me through a half-open door… I don't know what you thought that you were looking for…"
"Uncle Henry," she said, although her voice sounded fudgy and blurred.
Uncle Henry didn't turn around, but he said, "Not far now, Sissy. Seventy miles, no more than that."
"Where are we?" asked Sissy.
"West of the east and east of the west."
At almost the same time, they passed a sign saying
ENTERING BORROWSVILLE, POP. 789.
"Was it for answers? Was it for love? Was it for forgiveness from the angels up above?"
They drove on and on, and the brown fields continued to slide past them, mile after mile. The clouds were stretched out into long fantastical shapes, before they slowly broke apart and drifted away.
I don't like this dream, thought Sissy. Something bad is going to happen in this dream.
They passed another sign. LEAVING BORROWSVILLE . And it was only a few minutes later that Sissy saw a tall figure standing by the highway up ahead. At first she thought it was a water tower. But as they came closer and she frowned at it more intently, she began to realize that it was the figure of a man. But how could it be a man? He must be a giant, over thirty feet tall.
"Uncle Henry."
"What is it, Sissy?"
"There's a giant."
Uncle Henry didn't answer.
"Uncle Henry, I'm frightened of giants."
Still Uncle Henry didn't answer.
Sissy tugged at the shoulder of his sport coat and said, much more desperately, "I'm frightened of giants! I don't want to go past that giant! Please, Uncle Henry! Can't we go back?"
Uncle Henry slowly turned his head around. He seemed to be able to do it without moving the rest of his body. Sissy stared at him in shock. He wasn't Uncle Henry at all-not the Uncle Henry she remembered, with the circular gold-rimmed eyeglasses and the Teddy Roosevelt mustache.
This "Uncle Henry" had a bright-red face, like an enameled papier-mâché mask, with thin black slits for eyes and a wider black slit for a mouth. He had angular cheekbones and a huge chin with a deep cleft in the middle of it, as if he had been struck with an ax.
"Can't go back now, Sissy," he said, in the same backward-sounding voice as the songs on the radio. "Too late now for one and all."
Sissy started to hyperventilate.
"All right, then. If that's what you think is best. Far be it from a wrinkly old mother-in-law like me to interfere in my beautiful young daughter-in-law's affairs."
Molly wrapped her arms around her and kissed her noisily on her right ear. "You're not wrinkly and you're not as old as you think you are, and I always appreciate your opinion. So there."
With that, they started to sing "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" together, in higher and higher harmony, until they were almost shrieking.
"-and it's a hard-it's a hard-it's a hard-!"
Trevor opened the bedroom door. "For Christ's sake, you two! You sound like two polecats being strangled!"
Sissy dreamed that she was very young, maybe only six or seven years old, and that she was sitting in the back seat of a large sedan with brown leather seats. She was kneeling up and watching the landscape slide past. The landscape was brown, too, and very flat-miles and miles of cornfields, all the way to the horizon. The clouds were strangely stretched out, as if they were being pulled across the sky like dark brown toffee.
She couldn't see who was driving the sedan. He was wearing a pale Panama hat with a wide brown band around it. There was a signet ring on his right hand, which occasionally flashed at her, and in the center of the steering wheel there was a diamond-shaped emblem, which flashed at her, too. She recognized the emblem, and now she realized which car she was in and who was driving it. It was her Uncle Henry's 1954 Hudson Hornet.
The car radio sounded as if it were playing backward-lumpy, intermittent rhythms with garbled words.
"You only saw me through a half-open door… I don't know what you thought that you were looking for…"
"Uncle Henry," she said, although her voice sounded fudgy and blurred.
Uncle Henry didn't turn around, but he said, "Not far now, Sissy. Seventy miles, no more than that."
"Where are we?" asked Sissy.
"West of the east and east of the west."
At almost the same time, they passed a sign saying
ENTERING BORROWSVILLE, POP. 789.
"Was it for answers? Was it for love? Was it for forgiveness from the angels up above?"
They drove on and on, and the brown fields continued to slide past them, mile after mile. The clouds were stretched out into long fantastical shapes, before they slowly broke apart and drifted away.
I don't like this dream, thought Sissy. Something bad is going to happen in this dream.
They passed another sign. LEAVING BORROWSVILLE . And it was only a few minutes later that Sissy saw a tall figure standing by the highway up ahead. At first she thought it was a water tower. But as they came closer and she frowned at it more intently, she began to realize that it was the figure of a man. But how could it be a man? He must be a giant, over thirty feet tall.
"Uncle Henry."
"What is it, Sissy?"
"There's a giant."
Uncle Henry didn't answer.
"Uncle Henry, I'm frightened of giants."
Still Uncle Henry didn't answer.
Sissy tugged at the shoulder of his sport coat and said, much more desperately, "I'm frightened of giants! I don't want to go past that giant! Please, Uncle Henry! Can't we go back?"
Uncle Henry slowly turned his head around. He seemed to be able to do it without moving the rest of his body. Sissy stared at him in shock. He wasn't Uncle Henry at all-not the Uncle Henry she remembered, with the circular gold-rimmed eyeglasses and the Teddy Roosevelt mustache.
This "Uncle Henry" had a bright-red face, like an enameled papier-mâché mask, with thin black slits for eyes and a wider black slit for a mouth. He had angular cheekbones and a huge chin with a deep cleft in the middle of it, as if he had been struck with an ax.
"Can't go back now, Sissy," he said, in the same backward-sounding voice as the songs on the radio. "Too late now for one and all."
Sissy started to hyperventilate.
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