@@@@@ I knew where they had come fromThey had
@@@@@
I knew where they had come fromThey had crawled
out of the shells
They started up the stairs toward me, hand in hand
Thunder exploded a mile overheadI thought, I am not seeing
this
"I can do this," one of the girls saidShe spoke
in the voice of the shells
518
"It was red," the other girl saidShe spoke in
the voice of the shellsThey were halfway up now
Their heads were little more than skulls with wet
hair draggling down the sides
"Sit in the char," they said together, like girls
chanting a skip-rope rhymebut they spoke in
the voice of the shells
They reached up for me with terrible fishbelly
fingers
I fainted at the head of the stairs
xx
The telephone was ringingThat was my Telephone
Winter
I opened my eyes and groped for the bedside lamp,
wanting light right away because I'd just had the
worst nightmare of my lifeInstead of finding the
lamp, my fingers struck a wallAt the moment they
did, I became aware that my head was cocked at a
strange, painful angle against that same wall
Thunder rumbled - but faint and sullen; it was
going-away thunder now - and that was enough to
bring everything back with painful, frightening
519
clarityI
had fainted because -
My eyes flew openMy ass was on the landing, my
legs trailing down the stairsI thought of the
two drowned girls - no, it was more, it was an
instant of total, brilliant recall - and shot to
my feet without feeling my bad hip at allMy
concentration was fixed entirely on the three
light-switches at the head of the stairs, but even
as my fingers found them I thought: Won't work,
the storm will have knocked out the pow