Read Online Weight of the Heart (Bruna Husky Book 2) by Rosa Montero - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Rosa Montero
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background. It was neither hot nor cold, and it was enough to breathe in the perfumed air to feel fully sated, with no need for food or drink. That was why the panther was placid and played hide-and-seek with the rabbits, and the bear bathed in the river and let the salmon tickle his back with their tails.”
“So where are the giant and the dwarf?” said Gabi.
“I’m getting to that. Don’t be impatient. This perfect, placid world was inhabited by double-beings, each one formed by a giant and a dwarf. They could be male or female, because in those times genders didn’t exist, so there was none of that harshness there tends to be between the sexes, although you might not know anything about that yet.”
“In Dzerzhinsk I often used to fight with the boys. I only lost once,” said the girl with a hint of pride.
“Right. Well, in that very first world there weren’t boys to fight with. Try and imagine it if you can. Those double-beings were pure, innocent creatures who lived happily in a perpetual present. Each dwarf rode on the shoulders of his giant, and they were never separated. The dwarf provided the pair’s intelligence, imagination, and subtlety, while the giant was all serenity, sensuality, and bravery. They complemented each other so well, they were so united, that there was no need for them to speak. In fact words didn’t exist. Each dwarf rode his giant as if he were part of himself. They never felt lonely, they didn’t know sadness. They loved each other so completely, so perfectly, that neither needed any more love. We can’t even begin to imagine that.”
Bruna stopped, amazed at herself. Where were those images, this story, these words coming from? That verbal linking, that fluency, that tinkling cascade flowing out of her mouth. From her, always so curt, so lacking in expression and so reserved. It was as if another person were speaking through her mouth. She didn’t know what she was going to say until she said it.
“And what else?” asked the girl impatiently.
“I’m getting to it. There were many double-beings, many such pairs in that world. No one had bothered to count them, because in a place outside time and space there was no point. In fact the double-beings had little to do with each other, because each pair was self-sufficient. They lived in the simplicity of absolute happiness. Since time didn’t exist, there was no past either, and naturally they had no memories. They remembered nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing,” repeated the rep, shivering. Just like me when I was born, or rather, when I was activated. Just like me if they hadn’t implanted false memories .
“That’s weird,” said Gabi.
The rep sighed. It was time for her appointment with the tactile.
“Yes, it’s weird, and that was the beginning of the catastrophe. But I’ll tell you about that next time. Now I have to go. Keep your promise and eat.”
There was a short silence, and then a small, dirty hand emerged from under the bed and grabbed the sandwich.
“Don’t you want something to drink?” Bruna said, pushing the glass forward a little.
“I have a water bottle,” mumbled the girl with her mouth full.
How cunning , Bruna thought. She’s taken a water supply with her under the bed. She knows you can live for quite a while without eating, but not without drinking. She was a little warrior, a survivor. But she wouldn’t survive the radiation. Three years, ten months, and nine days . The rep stood up.
“When will you be back?” asked Gabi.
There was a knot. When Bruna got up, she discovered that the back of her T-shirt was tied with a knot: a small piece of Gabi’s cord had snared a tiny piece of material. The girl must have done it surreptitiously while she was telling the story. What an incredible skill; what magician’s—or pickpocket’s—hands she must have to successfully tie a knot without arousing the technohuman’s genetically enhanced awareness.
“Hey, when are you
“So where are the giant and the dwarf?” said Gabi.
“I’m getting to that. Don’t be impatient. This perfect, placid world was inhabited by double-beings, each one formed by a giant and a dwarf. They could be male or female, because in those times genders didn’t exist, so there was none of that harshness there tends to be between the sexes, although you might not know anything about that yet.”
“In Dzerzhinsk I often used to fight with the boys. I only lost once,” said the girl with a hint of pride.
“Right. Well, in that very first world there weren’t boys to fight with. Try and imagine it if you can. Those double-beings were pure, innocent creatures who lived happily in a perpetual present. Each dwarf rode on the shoulders of his giant, and they were never separated. The dwarf provided the pair’s intelligence, imagination, and subtlety, while the giant was all serenity, sensuality, and bravery. They complemented each other so well, they were so united, that there was no need for them to speak. In fact words didn’t exist. Each dwarf rode his giant as if he were part of himself. They never felt lonely, they didn’t know sadness. They loved each other so completely, so perfectly, that neither needed any more love. We can’t even begin to imagine that.”
Bruna stopped, amazed at herself. Where were those images, this story, these words coming from? That verbal linking, that fluency, that tinkling cascade flowing out of her mouth. From her, always so curt, so lacking in expression and so reserved. It was as if another person were speaking through her mouth. She didn’t know what she was going to say until she said it.
“And what else?” asked the girl impatiently.
“I’m getting to it. There were many double-beings, many such pairs in that world. No one had bothered to count them, because in a place outside time and space there was no point. In fact the double-beings had little to do with each other, because each pair was self-sufficient. They lived in the simplicity of absolute happiness. Since time didn’t exist, there was no past either, and naturally they had no memories. They remembered nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing,” repeated the rep, shivering. Just like me when I was born, or rather, when I was activated. Just like me if they hadn’t implanted false memories .
“That’s weird,” said Gabi.
The rep sighed. It was time for her appointment with the tactile.
“Yes, it’s weird, and that was the beginning of the catastrophe. But I’ll tell you about that next time. Now I have to go. Keep your promise and eat.”
There was a short silence, and then a small, dirty hand emerged from under the bed and grabbed the sandwich.
“Don’t you want something to drink?” Bruna said, pushing the glass forward a little.
“I have a water bottle,” mumbled the girl with her mouth full.
How cunning , Bruna thought. She’s taken a water supply with her under the bed. She knows you can live for quite a while without eating, but not without drinking. She was a little warrior, a survivor. But she wouldn’t survive the radiation. Three years, ten months, and nine days . The rep stood up.
“When will you be back?” asked Gabi.
There was a knot. When Bruna got up, she discovered that the back of her T-shirt was tied with a knot: a small piece of Gabi’s cord had snared a tiny piece of material. The girl must have done it surreptitiously while she was telling the story. What an incredible skill; what magician’s—or pickpocket’s—hands she must have to successfully tie a knot without arousing the technohuman’s genetically enhanced awareness.
“Hey, when are you
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