The House on the Planet by Tanith Lee

Author:Tanith Lee [Jackie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“Up there.”

They both gazed upward.

On top of the Hedge a large bird had perched, balancing on the joined-up molecules that felt like solid twigs and leaves, fanning its feathers in blissful ignorance.

“Wow,” said Annie.

“It’s been there fifteen minutes. Why ‘wow’?”

“Well, when did we last see a bird that close?”

“It’s forty feet up!”

“Yes.”

“You’re not scared it’ll pounce and peck Jass’s eyes out?”

“Oh no, honey,” said Annie. “I recall these birds from years back when your pop-when I lived more outside the town.

They’re called-what are they called?”

The bird pecked at the Hedge, and though nothing came off it into the bird’s beak, it seemed convinced and pecked a bit more. Another bird just like it flew down and settled by the first bird. They began to make a noise. What a noise.

“Like rusty nails on a glass,” exclaimed Harrington.

“No, it’s more like-like tuning a guitar-”

Twindle-twindle, went the birds, tweety trrr.

“Auxicaps!” cried Annie.

“Gesundheit!” Harrington laughed.

Annie laughed, too. They stood laughing, looking up at the birds singing their twindle song on the Hedge above the sleeping baby.

Mr. Oplough stood the other side of the right-hand boundary, looming over the low fence. Demonstrating without meaning to how excellent it was when the Hedge was there and they didn’t have to see him.

“I’d like a word with you, Annie.”

“Yes, Mr. Oplough.”

“I have a vegetable patch just along here.”

“Yes, Mr. Oplough? That’s great.”

“No, it ain’t. Your damned Hedge is cutting off my sun.”

“Only for two hours a-”

“And my planet tomatoes are going blue.”

“But-they do, don’t they, Mr. Oplough?”

“Nah. I bred it outta the darn things, till you started with that Hedge.” Mr. Oplough glowered. “And besides, it ain’t hardly two hours now, is it?”

Annie all innocence, Harrington all astonished.

“No, I been countin’ them hours, Annie. Three hours yesterday. And two this morning.”

“It’s because of the birds, Mr. Oplough,” said Annie, beaming at him.

“What birds? What’re you talking about? And who wants birds anyhow, dropping their dirt all over my yard-”

“Oh, they hardly ever do, Mr. Oplough-only every six days. No need for you to get all tense.”

Annie pointed.

Twelve meters up, two birds flew over and over where the Hedge had been, circling like moving paintings of birds on a green plate of sky.

“You’re nuts!” declared Mr. Oplough. “You’re a darn nui-sance. Why don’t you get back to Earth where you belong, causin’ all this trouble for proper folks, litterin’ this clean new world with fatherless kids-”

Speechless, they watched him tramp away, and the door slammed loud as thunder.

“I guess the gloves are off,” said Annie thoughtfully. “Mrs. Riveras told me yesterday-after we had the Hedge on too long-she’s going to L-mail* the Town Authority. She says she plans for us to be thrown out of the house. It seems we’ve ruined the neighborhood.”

“She can’t!”

“Maybe she can.”

They too went back-into what was still their house.

Annie set the stove to fix tea and the Ice-it to ice it.

They sat on the living room floor while Jasselly played quietly with her fur bear. Annie and Harrington drank their tea and watched the birds circle over the lawn, through the wide window.

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