Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami

Author:Haruki Murakami [Murakami, Haruki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kodansha International
Published: 2095-08-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

“So then how did the Semiotecs make contact with them? If they couldn't communicate verbally?”

“A translation device isn't so hard to make. Grandfather could have, easy. But he decided not to.”

“Why not?”

“Because he didn't want to talk to them. They're disgusting creatures and they speak a disgusting language. Whatever they eat or drink has got to be almost putrified.”

“They don't consume anything fresh?”

“No. If they catch you, they immerse you in water for days. When your body starts to rot, they eat it.”

Lovely. I was ready to turn back, but we forged on. She knew every step of the way and scampered ahead. When I trained my light on her from behind, her gold earrings flashed.

“Tell me, do you take off your earrings when you take a shower?” I spoke up.

“I leave them on,” she slowed down to answer. “Only my earrings. Sexy?”

“I guess.” Why did I have to go and bring up the subject?

“What else do you think is sexy? I'm not very experienced, as I said. Nobody teaches you these things.”

“Nobody will. It's something you have to find out for yourself,” I said. I made a conscious effort to sweep all images of sex from my head.

“Umm,” I changed the subject, “you say this device of yours emits ultrasonic waves that put off the INKlings?”

“As long as the device is sending out signals, they won't come within fifteen meters of us. So you should try to stay close to me. Otherwise, they'll nab you and pickle you for a snack. In your condition, your stomach would be the first thing to rot. And their teeth and claws are razor sharp.”

I scooted up right behind her. “Does your stomach wound still hurt?” she asked. “Only when I move,” I replied. “But thanks to the painkillers, it's not so bad.” “If we find Grandfather, he'll be able to remove the pain.” “Your grandfather? How's he going to help?”

“Simple. He's done it for me lots of times. Like when I have a terrible headache, he uses an impulse to cancel out my awareness of pain. Really, though, pain is an important signal from the body, so you shouldn't do it too much. In this case, it's an emergency. I'm sure he'll help.”

“Thanks,” I said. “Don't thank me. Thank Grandfather. If we find him,” she reminded.

Panning her powerful light left and right, she continued upstream along the subterranean river. Moisture seeped out from between the rocks, running in rivulets past our feet. Slimy layers of moss coated wherever this groundwater trickled through. The moss appeared unnaturally green, inexplicable for these depths beyond the reach of photosynthesis.

“Say, do you suppose the INKlings know we're walking around down here now?”

“Of course, they do,” she said, without emotion. “This is their world. They're all around, watching us. I've been hearing noises the whole time we've been down here.”

I swung my flashlight beam to the side, but all I saw were rocks and moss.

“They're in the cracks and boreholes, where the light doesn't reach,” she said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.