【时间旅行者的妻子】04

I find myself in crowds, audiences, mobs. Just as often I am alone, in a field, house, car, on a beach, in a grammar school in the middle of the night. I fear finding myself in a prison cell, an elevator full of people, the middle of a highway. I app

【时间旅行者的妻子】91

My mom wears lipstick, eye liner, mascara, blush, and eyebrow pencil to go to the dry cleaners. Dad is much as he always is, tall, spare, a quiet dresser, a wearer of hats. The difference is his face. He is deeply content. They touch each other often

【时间旅行者的妻子】22

I had spent my childhood thus far being carted around the capital cities of Europe, so the Field Museum satisfied my idea of Museum, but its domed stone facade was nothing exceptional. Because it was Sunday, we had a little trouble finding parking, b

【时间旅行者的妻子】16

Clare counts. I race around picking underwear and socks from the floor, collecting spoons and coffee cups from various horizontal surfaces and chucking them into the kitchen sink. As she says Nine hundred and sixty-seven, I remove the tie from her ey

【时间旅行者的妻子】21

I sat on the landing and hatched the light come up. A family of ducks came swimming by, and a raccoon appeared on the landing across the river and looked at me curiously before washing its breakfast and eating it. I may have fallen asleep. I heard Mo

【时间旅行者的妻子】27

It makes it more multi-sensory. I offer him the package of Oreos. He hesitates, unsure if its all right, hungry but unsure how many he can take without being rude. Take as many as you want. Ive already eaten ten, so you have some catching up to do. H

【时间旅行者的妻子】38

So after dinner I asked Etta if I could go outside and she said did I have homework and I said Spelling and bring leaves for art class, and she said Okay as long as you come in by dark. So I went and got my blue sweater with the zebras and I got the

【时间旅行者的妻子】39

Thanks, Clare, you did a great job I call softly. I am surprised when she appears at the entrance to the clearing. Its getting dark quickly and Clare looks tiny and scared in the half light. Hi. Hi, Clare. Thanks for the clothes. Theyre perfect, and

【时间旅行者的妻子】46

we sport exact replicas of each others ears. Im taller and more muscular and shave. Hes slender and ungainly and is all knees and elbows. I reach up and pull my hair back from my face, show him the scar from the accident. Unconsciously, he mimics my

【时间旅行者的妻子】67

I guess. And what do you vote for? Clare is silent. Her pragmatism and her romantic feelings about Jesus and Mary are, at thirteen, almost equally balanced. A year ago she would have said God without hesitation. In ten years she will vote for determi

【时间旅行者的妻子】59

I move Queens Bishop to KB4. Its not fair that you know everything about me but you never tell me anything about you. True. Its not fair. I try to look regretful, and obliging. I mean, Ruth and Helen and Megan and Laura tell me everything and I tell

【时间旅行者的妻子】60

It makes me kind of wonder about fairy tales. I mean, if youre real, then why shouldnt fairy tales be real, too? Clare stands up, still pondering the board, and does a little dance, hopping around like her pants are on fire. I think the ground is get

【时间旅行者的妻子】63

Sunday, September 23, 1984 (Henry is 35, Clare is 13) HENRY: I am in the clearing, in the Meadow. Its very early in the morning, just before dawn. Its late summer, all the flowers and grasses are up to my chest. Its chilly. I am alone. Ive never seen

【时间旅行者的妻子】64

Pretty please? Okay, Ill try. She stands up, slowly. This is the year Clare got tall, quickly. In the past year she has grown five inches, and she has not yet become accustomed to her new body. Breasts and legs and hips, all newly minted. I try not t

【时间旅行者的妻子】66

I help myself to a doughnut. Its a Bismarck, my favorite. The frosting is melting in the sun a little, and it sticks to my fingers. Clare finishes her doughnut, rolls up the cuffs of her jeans and sits cross-legged. She scratches her neck and looks a

【时间旅行者的妻子】73

Ruths parents are in San Francisco for a week, so at least she will have some time to repair, clean, and explain, but Im glad its not my house all the same. Ruths older brother, Jake, has also invited his friends, and altogether there are about a hun

【时间旅行者的妻子】74

HENRY: A long time has passed, maybe an hour or so. I eat half the potato chips and drink the warm Coke Clare has brought along. I nap a bit. Shes gone for so long that Im starting to consider going for a walk. Also I need to take a leak. I hear heel

【时间旅行者的妻子】75

Clare is going to kill me for this. Im a friend of Clares parents. They were worried about her taking the car to a party where there might be alcohol, so they asked me to go along and play chauffeur in case she got too pickled to drive. Helen pouts.

【时间旅行者的妻子】80

Spanked? Clare looks at me, smiling, her eyebrows halfway to her hairline. Never mind. So you went to a movie, and...? Oh. Well, then he wanted to go to Travers. What is Travers? Its a farm on the north side. Clares voice drops, I can hardly hear her

【时间旅行者的妻子】12

Nell and Etta always got mad when I did anything in their kitchen beyond getting myself a Coke, and since Ive moved to Chicago I dont have anybody to cook for, so I havent been motivated to work on it. Mostly Im too busy with school and all, sol just