Дэймон Найт: Orbit 13

I thinked my head would buzz to bits with happy. When the commune-mommy comed to the door, she started to sharp, but I doedn’t give her no juice. I just showed her the late pass from the rapid-daddy, and goed up to bed. But even though I were super-tired from the headhi day, I keeped clicking back to Jonsy, and I couldn’t drowsy, the whole night through.

The next day, I were drowsing at smart-time, and missed most of the cable-prog on how Eskimos lived in the oldy days. The smarts-mommy said if I doedn’t quit, she’d send me to the nurse-mommy for a shot. That maked me hyster, unhappily. Folks mostly doesn’t get sick now, like they doed in the oldy days, cause of all the vitas and trancs and antibods whats in the food-a. But sometimes the nurse-mommy gots to take care of folks grunchies, and also to give them a shot if they won’t behave. So I tried harder to stay wakesy.

Anyhow, the next few weeks was mostly usual. Smart-time bruncheon, play-time, supper, game-time and pooching and chittering with my queeny-pals. The only thing that weren’t usual were me, cause of all the time clicking into Jonsy. And fun-night, the best night of the week, and the only time I could see his lovey-face.

But it were hard how to give juice to the singalong, or the folksy, or the movie-prog, or the cake-a and punch-a, and all the other fun-night-do. Mostly we was busy trying to sit in a sneaky way, to hold hands without the aud-mommy seeing, or pretending to bump into each other, so he could give me a hug, or even a little kissy on the curlies, or to chitter together for a couple of minutes.

My queeny-pals noticed, and pooched me a lot, but I knowed they wouldn’t tell. Not even Mimi, whats so brainsy they is letting her take the test to be a commune-mommy. Nor even Judy, what were going to the Mother Mary lovelies a lot lately. And were ail the time telling us to leave off smoking grass, and watching movie-progs and thinking of tommies, and learn to get upper from loving Jesus.

Judy were even thinking to put her name on the waity-list to live at the Mother Mary commune, what would be weirdy for us, cause we’d have someone new in our room. Maybe a youngling, fresh from her parents room, what would be all sobby, or, worse yet, a freaky from the street, what would be all smelly and dumdum and steal our pretties.

But anyhow, me and Jonsy was wishing and wishing how we could just be by ourselves, to chitter and touch and hug and kiss and, well, you know, queeny and tommy things, like in the movie-progs. And I were wondering if Jonsy were wishing the same thing. And I were meaning and chrising alot about how we never gets to do what we wants, and my queeny-pals was saying how freakies gets to do whatever they wants, with no mommies watching them, and I should be proper grateful. But I knowed they was just jealous.

Also, I were getting lots of demerits, from not giving enough attention, and I knowed I wouldn’t have enough points for no new pretties this year, what maked me glumph even more.

Then, one Friday night, the most sugarsweet thing in the whole world happened. Jonsy corned for fun-night, like regular. But I could tell, right away, he were headhi about something. First I thinked he maybe haved too much grass, or tickets for a outing. But it were even upper than that.

Minute he could, he whispered in my ear, “I passed the test for the army!”

“Oh, Jonsy,” I hystered. The aud-mommy sharped me with her eyes. “You’ll be able to get more tickets for outings,” I said.

“Yeah, but there moren that,” he said, “soonly, I’ll go to the army school, and learn how to clean the streets real good. Then I’ll be ducted. And then, I can get me on the waity-list for a semipriv room at the army commune, or, Silvy, I can get me on the waity-list for a room at the army family-commune. We could get married, and jingle together every night, and dhitter and hug and . . . and all kinds of jolly-fine things, just like the movie-progs. We could have a wedding in the aud, and maybe even a honey-trip, and stay headhi all the time!”

“Oh, Jonsy,” I said, and I hystered so hard I couldn’t stop, even when the singalong played “Old Man Moses,” so I getted five demerits, but who cared, cause I were the upperest queeny in the aud.

The next week, at fun-night, the aud-mommy readed us a newsy-bill about how they isn’t so much babies, nomore, cause of stricter controls, and so they will be less freakies sleeping in the streets in twenty years or so. And also how the white folks army were almost to Shanghai. And while all was gleaming and cheering, Jonsy whispered to me how there would maybe be a room in the army family commune in maybe seven or eight months. And how we could get tickets for a two-day honey-trip in Yosemite Park, what are further away than any of us never been. And how a armytom can have punch-a and cake-a at they wedding, and they parents and pals can come and see. And lucky, all was cheering so loud from the newsy-bill, they doedn’t hear me hyster.

Seven or eight months! It feeled like seven or eight years. I thinked I were dying from waiting for that sugarsweet day when me and Jonsy would be married folks and could do whatever we wanted.

In the meantime, every were usual. Smart-time, bruncheon, play-time, supper, game-time, lights-out. Just like always;

Only a couple differy things happened in that time. Like Mimi failed the test to be a commune-mommy, and were very sobby for awhile.

Another thing what happened, were one time, all the food-a in this whole part of the city doedn’t get sent to they communes. And we sitted two whole days, in the aud, without nothing to eat. And they keeped telling us how it were OK, and the food-a would be here soonly, and they keeped the singalong and movie-progs on real loud. But we getted real starvy, and started to hyster, and finally we was all hystering so loud, you couldn’t hardly hear “Old Man Moses” going. Finally the mommies telled us they didn’t know howcome and we was all to do linies, cause we was going outside , to the depot where the freakies gets they food-a.

And we walked a long way. Longer than I never walked before. And we seed lots of broken-up buildings, and lots of other communes. And they folks was also marching out to the depot. And soonly they was a super-big crowd of folks, all over the street, and they was pushing and shoving, what aren’t usual allowed, and I wondered howcome folks wasn’t getting demerits. But then I seed how the mommies and daddies was also pushing and shoving cause they was starvy, too.

And soonly, they was so much folks on the street, that you couldn’t keep no more linies, and I couldn’t find my own queenies nomore, and I were in a super crowd of strange folks, all pushing real hard to try and get to depot, but none knowed where it was, and so some was pushing one way, and some was pushing another.

And then one old mommy getted pushed down, and no folks would let her get up and she were yelling and screaming, and other folks was being pushed on top of her. And pretty soon, she were getting all grunchy and mangly. And this were happening to other folks, too. And all was hystering super-loud, cause of being starvy and scaredy, and not knowing the way to the depot.

And then some big privautos was coming along the streets with singalong speakers, and super-daddies was yelling ,“Go back to your communes. Food-a will be sent to your communes. Go back to your communes. Food-a will be sent to your communes. Go back to your communes. Food-a will be sent to your communes.”

So then, folks started trying to find the way back to they communes. But I doedn’t know the way back and were hystering, super-loud. And then, a smelly freaky queen grabbed my arm, and said if I were loosed she would help me find my commune, but I haved to give her something. So I gived her my ear julies. She taken them, and runned away into the crowd. And I hystered even louder.