The Astronaut's Wife by Robert Tine

Author:Robert Tine
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Crime & mystery, Adventure, Multiple pregnancy, Movie, Thriller, Astronauts, Fiction, Movie-TV Tie-In - Novelizations, Tv Tie-Ins, Suspense, Media Tie-In, Fiction - Espionage, Thrillers, Crime & Thriller, General, Space flight, Intrigue, Espionage, Teachers
ISBN: 9780312970185
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 1999-08-15T07:00:00+00:00

10

Spencer had left for work by the time Jillian awoke. She was pleased to realize that she had no hangover, no effects from the evening before except for a slight soreness between her legs. That, she knew, would go away.

Bright sunlight flooded into the apartment and it raised Jillian’s sprits just enough to get her out of bed, into the shower, dressed, and ready for work.

As she was about to leave for her job, she noticed the radio, still sitting on the table as it had been the night before. Jillian walked over to it, stopped, and looked at it for a moment, then took a deep breath and reached out and turned it on. From the speaker came some tinny-sounding pop music. Just pop music...

“So much for that,” she said aloud in the empty apartment. She turned the radio off and left.

The second graders sat at their desks hanging on Jillian’s every word. It was the best time of the day—it was story time. Jillian read beautifully, putting real emotion behind the story. And today’s story was a favorite, a real crowd pleaser because it called for a considerable amount of audience participation.

”...Then she began to guess the little man’s name.“ she read, making her voice sound sad and far away. “‘Is it Conrad Pepper Mill?’ she said. And the little man said...” Jillian glanced expectantly at her students.

“No!” they shouted in unison.

“‘I know, I know!’ “Jillian read aloud. ” ‘Is it Sir William Doorknob?’ And the little man said...”

“No!” the class yelled again.

“‘I have it,’” Jillian said, clapping her hands. “‘Your name must be Little Ribs of Beef.’ And

the little man said.. .“

“No!” they all shouted.

“‘It couldn’t be Rumpelstilskin could it?’ “Jillian said. “ ‘What did you say?’ cried the little

man. ‘I said, it couldn’t be—’ “

And the whole class shouted. “Rumpelstilskin!”

“And the little man screamed,” Jillian said.

The entire class screamed with glee.

“And he stamped his little foot,” Jillian concluded.

Pandemonium erupted in the classroom as two dozen second graders screamed and stamped

their feet. Jillian did not do either. She sat on her little chair, the book closed in her lap, her mind far away, thinking of other things.

School was over by two o’clock and Jillian was faced with returning to her empty apartment. In order to delay the inevitable, she lingered in the teachers’ lounge, working through the few papers that been placed in her cubbyhole.

As she absentmindedly scanned a school calendar, something changed in her mind. The words vanished and all she could see was a street, a street unknown to her. It looked like New York City, but she couldn’t be sure. And she had no idea why the image had sprung, unbidden into her mind.

Jillian had no idea how long she had stood like that, transfixed by this image. She heard someone speaking to her.

“Jillian? Jillian?”

It did not break the spell.

“Jillian? Jillian? Earth to Jillian.” Then she slid out of it. Another teacher was peering at her curiously.

Jillian shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she said, feeling foolish.

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