|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 21
"We have to try and get rid of it", said Gregor's sister,
now speaking only to her father, as her mother was too
occupied with coughing to listen, "it'll be the death of
both of you, I can see it coming. We can't all work as hard
as we have to and then come home to be tortured like this,
we can't endure it. I can't endure it any more." And she
broke out so heavily in tears that they flowed down the face
of her mother, and she wiped them away with mechanical hand
movements. "My child", said her father with sympathy and
obvious understanding, "what are we to do?" His sister just
shrugged her shoulders as a sign of the helplessness that
had taken hold of her, displacing her earlier certainly when
she had broken into tears.
"If he could just understand us", said his father almost as
a question; his sister shook her hand vigorously through her
tears as a sign that of that there was no question.
"If he could just understand us", repeated Gregor's father,
closing his eyes in acceptance of his sister's certainty
that that was quite impossible, "then perhaps we could come
to some kind of arrangement with him. But as it is ..."
"It's got to go", shouted his sister, "that's the only way,
Father. You've got to get rid of the idea that that's
Gregor. We've only harmed ourselves by believing it for so
long. How can that be Gregor? If it were Gregor he would
have seen long ago that it's not possible for human beings
to live with an animal like that and he would have gone of
his own free will. We wouldn't have a brother any more,
then, but we could carry on with our lives and remember him
with respect. As it is this animal is persecuting us, it's
driven out our tenants, it obviously wants to take over the
whole flat and force us to sleep on the streets. Father,
look, just look", she suddenly screamed, "he's starting
again!" In her alarm, which was totally beyond Gregor's
comprehension, his sister even abandoned his mother as she
pushed herself vigorously out of her chair as if more
willing to sacrifice her own mother than stay anywhere near
Gregor. She rushed over to behind her father, who had
become excited merely because she was and stood up half
raising his hands in front of Gregor's sister as if to
protect her.
But Gregor had had no intention of frightening anyone, least
of all his sister. All he had done was begin to turn round
so that he could go back into his room, although that was in
itself quite startling as his pain-wracked condition meant
that turning round required a great deal of effort and he
was using his head to help himself do it, repeatedly raising
it and striking it against the floor. He stopped and looked
round. They seemed to have realised his good intention and
had only been alarmed briefly. Now they all looked at him
in unhappy silence. His mother lay in her chair with her
legs stretched out and pressed against each other, her eyes
nearly closed with exhaustion; his sister sat next to his
father with her arms around his neck.
"Maybe now they'll let me turn round", thought Gregor and
went back to work. He could not help panting loudly with
the effort and had sometimes to stop and take a rest. No-
one was making him rush any more, everything was left up to
him. As soon as he had finally finished turning round he
began to move straight ahead. He was amazed at the great
distance that separated him from his room, and could not
understand how he had covered that distance in his weak
state a little while before and almost without noticing it.
He concentrated on crawling as fast as he could and hardly
noticed that there was not a word, not any cry, from his
family to distract him.
He did not turn his head until he had reached the doorway.
He did not turn it all the way round as he felt his neck
becoming stiff, but it was nonetheless enough to see that
nothing behind him had changed, only his sister had stood
up. With his last glance he saw that his mother had now
fallen completely asleep.
He was hardly inside his room before the door was hurriedly
shut, bolted and locked. The sudden noise behind Gregor so
startled him that his little legs collapsed under him. It
was his sister who had been in so much of a rush. She had
been standing there waiting and sprung forward lightly,
Gregor had not heard her coming at all, and as she turned
the key in the lock she said loudly to her parents "At
last!".
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|