The Scent of Pine by Lara Vapnyar

Author:Lara Vapnyar
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

TWELVE

“The third week of July brought three new experiences to the camp: the heat wave, the lambada, and the landing of the UFOs. There was no doubt in my mind that all three were connected.

“The heat wave came stealthily, pretending to be something pleasant at first. One Friday morning Inka and I went out on the porch and noticed that our breathing didn’t produce white clouds as usual. ‘Huh,’ Inka said, ‘nice!’ and took off her sweater. Small kids were allowed to go outside in shorts and tank tops, we counselors wore the teeniest tops, mosquitoes seemed to have dropped dead overnight, and the air filled with the smell of heated pine needles, smothered grass, and overripe wild strawberries.

“ ‘Are they going to open the pool?’ Sveta asked.

“ ‘They’d have to fill it with water first,’ Inka said.

“And then Sasha Simonov said they couldn’t open the pool, because it served as a landing pad for the aliens, and they were expecting aliens soon.

“ ‘What are you talking about?’ Inka asked. To me it just sounded like the usual Sasha nonsense, but Inka seemed genuinely interested.

“Other kids joined in the conversation, providing us with necessary alien-related info. Last year the aliens came twice. One looked like a big garden hose. They didn’t do much. They landed. They stayed for an hour or two and took off. When aliens try to take you, always scream, because they can’t stand high sounds. Or you can spray them with water. Just splashing water on them won’t help. You have to spray them.

“Inka laughed and shook her head and said, ‘Bullshit.’

“After lunch we took the kids to wade in the pond. On the map the pond appeared to be a tiny smudge of black paint. But in reality it was large, shallow, and green, overgrown with weeds and water lilies, with some irises and forget-me-nots by the banks. The kids dropped their things to the ground, kicked off their shoes, and rushed right into the water, squealing and pushing each other.

“ ‘Paradise on earth,’ Inka said, and lay down right on the grass, not bothering to spread out the blanket. I lay down too. The grass was cool and slightly damp, and the sun on our faces felt just perfect.

“ ‘Listen, listen,’ Inka said. She rose onto her elbow.

“ ‘The sun’s warm and nice,

Like the sweet sticky buns

That the kids have with milk

For their afternoon snack.’ ”

“I was so overcome with the sensation of perfect physical comfort that I actually liked the poem.

“ ‘Inka, you are a poet!’ I said.

“ ‘Thank you,’ she answered, and turned onto her stomach.

“After Inka had broken up with Andrey, we were on the same page again. We would go to the store together, we would walk to the spring, we even resumed our private book club. But we still didn’t feel completely comfortable around each other. There was something that annoyed me about Inka, something that bothered me like an itch, and I couldn’t understand what it was, and the fact that I couldn’t understand bothered me too.

“Inka stretched and took out a book from her backpack.

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