Ten Days in the Hills by Jane Smiley

Author:Jane Smiley [Smiley, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, Performing Arts, Hollywood (Los Angeles; Calif.), Contemporary, General, Literary, Interpersonal Relations, Fiction, Individual Director
ISBN: 9781400040612
Google: JxVh4I6RXn0C
Amazon: B000OI0G8O
Publisher: Knopf
Published: 2007-02-13T08:00:00+00:00

He was standing with someone on a narrow parapet. He knew the guy’s name but couldn’t remember it. He looked like one of the stockers at Whole Foods. He was wearing a uniform, but it wasn’t a Whole Foods uniform, it was a military uniform of some kind. He knew that he had to look over the parapet, because the guy kept saying, “Look over the parapet,” but he could hardly get his eyes open enough to do so. The guy said, “Look at them. They’re getting out.”

He asked who was getting out.

“The prisoners!” Finally, he was able to look over the parapet. The yard in front of him was in black and white. It looked like a prison yard in a movie. It was empty. The guy said, “They must have forgotten.” Paul remembered that his name was Bit, though part of him, even in the dream, knew that wasn’t a name.

“Who?”

“The guards forgot to leave the doors open. They have to be reminded every day.”

“To do what?” He was not only sleepy, he thought, he was stupid.

“To leave the doors open! To leave the doors open!”

“Why do they want to leave the doors open? This is a prison.”

“Of course it is, but the prisoners have to escape! Didn’t you know that?”

Now the prison began to look a bit like the monastery. A beautiful green hillside fell away from the wall, and the sun was shining. Paul, in his dream, felt himself breathe deeply and have a sudden sense of joy. They were going to let the prisoners escape! Things were better than he had thought they would be!

“They have to escape so we can shoot them! We can’t afford to try them! We can’t afford to feed them! Where is your weapon? Have you lost your weapon? Here they come!”

Bit lifted his weapon and rested the barrel on the parapet. A few people came out into the yard. Paul in his dream didn’t recognize them. They looked around and smiled. They thought they were escaping. Bit shot them, one, two, three, four. Then another one came out. It was a man who turned into a dog as soon as it saw the corpses. Bit shot it anyway. He said, “Where’s your weapon? We have to shoot them all! They are escaping! They are guilty! It’s the best we can do for them. I am cruel only to be kind! Shoot them!”

In the dream, he was stupid, but he did recognize the logic. He also realized he would shoot them. But he cried out and woke himself up. He heard himself say, “We shot them on the film.”

“What?” said Zoe.

Paul took a deep breath and twisted his head one way on the pillow and then the other way.

“Were you dreaming of making a movie? You distinctly said, ‘We shot the film.’”

“Did I? I thought I said, ‘We shot them on the film.’”

“That’s not what it sounded like.”

“I dreamt I was on a parapet outside a prison in some country

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