Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin

Author:Samanta Schweblin [Schweblin, Samanta]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2022-10-18T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

She was breathing again, but the relief was only physical. In the darkness of her closed eyes she understood that she was still alive, when it would have been such a good moment to die. It hadn’t happened this time, either. She had summoned death in many ways, but nothing worked. It was clear that she was missing something vital, and she really couldn’t think of what else to do. She opened her eyes. She was in her room, but in his bed. The National Geographics were right where she had left them. She called to him. There were sounds from the kitchen, his heavy footsteps, and she saw him appear in the bedroom doorway.

“I fainted,” she said.

“But you’re okay.” He came in and sat down on the other bed—hers.

“I’m not in my bed.”

“We thought you’d be better off farther from the window.”

“We?”

“The neighbor caught you when you fell, and she helped me get you home.”

“The boy’s mother?”

She looked at the palm of her hand. There was a small cut.

“You don’t remember anything? You walked here.”

Lola didn’t know what to say. She did remember, but would have liked to hear the story. At least now he wasn’t the one in bed, and things were back to their natural order. She looked at the cut on her hand again, pressing the wound a little to see how much it hurt.

“And the boy? Did she find him?”

“No,” he said.

She thought about the woman, about their interrupted conversation, about the fixed wrench and the chocolate milk, and an inner alarm went off again. She tried to stand up, but didn’t have the strength. He helped her by placing another pillow behind her. She didn’t share her concerns with him, but she let him do it.

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