and bacon aren't exactly what the doctor ordered. 2001." "You didn't use to like to use real beds. If I were in your shoes.

their own parking spot and hard?bought place in the sun
their own parking spot and hard?bought place in the sun. Ever since I can remember you've had a little glass next to you in the kitchen or wherever. disappointingly ordinary. beside the abstract cement fountains. and give Roy the living?room sofa. as if she is too dumb to get the point. sure. you can't feel it in the lee of the hotel here. from which you can see a patch." Nelson says in a soft voice. painting the hospital world with rosy tints of benevolence and amusement." He gestures; smoke loops around his face.

He embraces her and this time it is he who clings." "That had nothing to do with it. But she was a girl and girls are less ornery than boys. half to Pru. and races off toward Harry and Janice's bedroom. but I'm her husband. Janice and Pru glance toward one another and then Pru volunteers. servicing the millions and billions in money people bring down here along with their decrepit bodies. plainly teasing now. just let go of the sail and we'll come out for you in the launch. standing in the center of the carpet. they let us have all their crooks and crackpots.

" "Even at eighty?two you'll still be my son. the speckled busyness. He really knows how to live. Gregg. He throws his big body across the bed diagonally and lets the nubbles ofits bedspread rub his face. but whose lawyers kept talking her out of it. "You push toward the sail." "We have a computer system here. though his mouth is open. not sure where to take this. Life moves through us family after family. that torpid hive.

And those cunning little grandchildren I've heard about. one wop. to discuss with Him. He has a flubby sort of mouth that Rabbit associates with the Lubells; neither the Angstroms nor the Springers have bunched?up fat lips like that. and I said he should bring in his books and disks tomorrow or a policeman would be out to get them. The lawn needed a mowing badly when they arrived and the bulb beds should have been uncovered in March. He puts himself on the line. That's what I'm learning. And zilch acceleration: pull into a fast?moving highway you'll get rear?ended. and what she got out of them was another mystery) and various colorcoded numbers of sunscreen. This is sorry to say and I do apologize. I'm beginning to think this company is being ripped off.

objects to dust around but never to rearrange. had been their waitress. Too big on the outside. rich men's islands. Charlie's just an old friend. "It's tough." "We have a computer system here. Marcia. Nelson isn't in. Harry after an internal struggle asks what kinds of beer they have. past the performance board and the Parts window and the crash?barred door that leads into the garage." His smile now shows his small inturned teeth.

but now they've let Ford and GM right back into the market. The hunchbacked little Jewish guy in such a hurry has already met his loved one. Charlie suggests. Do you real-ly think Nelson was jumpy because of you?" "Why else?" She knows something. "Oh I can last. Coors Light. he hears Gregg ask Pru. a head taller than her parents." "There's a lot I bet you seem to remember. and Mrs. Where the dye is being pumped through." This cycle of complaint is stale and hateful yet something familiar he can snuggle into.

Two ailing old friends. stubbornly. Poor beauty. It pumps with a kind of twisting motion. It smells of all the insurance policies Ron sold to buy its furnishings. "Why not go over and help Nelson run the lot? Something's going flooey over there." "Discuss it. The pillar on two of its broad sides bears giant muddy ceramic murals about the Vikings: broadswords and horned helmets and dragon?headed ships protrude from the enamelled mass in its numerous blotchy colors. Their feet and heads are so quick they appear mechanical. and there won't be any sunset to see from the lozenge?pane windows of his den. Jesus. On the right and left of the horizon are islands where the millionaires used to come by private railroad car for the tarpon fishing in April.

Nelson. like these other American grandmothers who can afford to be here in this land of constant sunshine and eternal youth." Lyle says." "Too bad. She is back into her tennis dress. "There's a lot we could still say." "How is Ronnie. The blocks were built solid. and she was alone with Nelson. he would lie on this bed. and furthermore he doesn't look so great even so. Judy.

" His little sister has become so dogmatic. as if acknowledging her own contribution to Harry's beating Ronnie. squarish flowers in blue and pink. Things just came too easy to him. Charlie does seem older. Sometimes. just as everybody over a certain age has some emphysema. overemphasizing. the balmy blue air above the Gulf of Mexico changed for him. There's a whole new younger crowd out at the Eagle now that dominates everything. And she is looking for a job." "Even to him.

unable to concentrate. he wants to save it for when they both can focus. Ten years ago. he realizes. but then it fits and turns and clicks and the door swings open and he is home. they can do four. who does live forever? We all take a beating. and the sidewalks so hot a dog couldn't walk on them. as if Harry's burden of exasperation with their only living child has passed to her. and was lucky to land in West Virginia." "You didn't tell me what really interests me. between a husband and wife.

as if he's prematurely senile." "He was just in love with life. His face yellowed like a dried apricot at the end. The government exaggerates. Since nearly dying. into distance and estrange-ment. You're just toying with your life otherwise. Another small problem is fog: a football game he has been looking forward to seeing. and the sounds of birds and golf have gone away." "See who?" "Him. a professional accountant in Brewer. Or once when he was fourteen and she mentioned the stains on his bedsheets.

" She takes this in. a kind of jonquil?yellow gabardine with a broad belt and wide shoulders. and reads aloud. At least they went to Florida together. actually. vasodilator. that Charlie as usual is right great boobs. their four eyes shiningly reflecting the electronic jiggle and their two mouths both open to make identical slots of darkness. Trichosanthin. Chief Sales Representative for over ten years. were league champions for two out of their three years in senior high..

At some point in his sleep his chest began to ache. being gentiles: they're considered cute. I'm just trying to act interested. I want them here tomorrow. his one daughter died and his other is not his. So it costs a few pennies." she sort of sings. at his inability to share with Janice the druginduced peace inside his rib cage. My lover nearly dies and never tells me. "You push toward the sail. Charlie. like the Arab terrorists.

you were in Florida. "The whole metals boom was a fad. You her age." "Well. and a lemon tinge of sky in the west beyond the craggy chimneys of the big clinker?brick house deepens to an incendiary orange and then the crimson of last embers. "Nelson has to have good suits to make a good presentation of himself at the lot. stabs at renewal mostly occupied by banks and government agencies. "I'm Elvira Ollenbach. Nuts and bacon aren't exactly what the doctor ordered. 2001." "You didn't use to like to use real beds. If I were in your shoes.