A Book of Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page A

came here and took movies about the cloudbuster for a newsreel. They were interested at first because we spoke about weather control and rainmaking and then, mysteriously, the film was ruined. There are many mysterious things happening….’
    ‘But the grass isn’t mysterious,’ I said, looking out the window at the desert on the road going in to Tucson. ‘They’ll see when they really see the grass.’
    ‘Ja,’ said Daddy, ‘today I drove nearly sixty miles out into the country around Tucson, talking to farmers and cowboys. They all say that they have never seen such nice rich grass growing in a long time. Yes, they won’t laugh when it rains in the desert and makes grass grow.’
    The Green Lantern had a big organ sitting on a platform near the mirror-backed wooden bar, and red, yellow and green lights went around in circles over the organist, making his face change colours. The spotlight shone through coloured disks and its light reflected in the bar mirror across the dining room as if it were shining on me and Daddy, sitting in our favouritebooth. Daddy was smiling at me as he sipped his favourite drink, a Manhattan.
    ‘Do you want the cherry?’ He stirred his drink with it, holding it by the stem. It blurred as it went around and around. Daddy always remembered to give me the cherry from his Manhattan.
    ‘Yes.’ He handed it to me and it was sweet and strong, and made my breath feel heavy. Daddy motioned to the waitress who usually served us and she came over to take our orders. She was pretty and had bright eyes and she always made a fuss over me. She leaned over and tousled my hair, laughing. ‘Hi there, how are you tonight?’
    My face got hot. I looked away ‘Oh, all right, I guess.’ She smiled and looked at Daddy.
    ‘He is so cute,’ she said.
    Daddy laughed and nodded, and then he said, ‘I’ll have shrimp and Pete will have swordfish.’
    She took it down and went away, in a wind of perfume and organ music.
    Daddy finished his drink and looked at me.
    ‘Do you have a girl friend?’ he asked.
    He always wanted to know if I had a girl friend and if we kissed or touched each other. He always said, ‘Don’t be afraid to talk to me.’ So we talked a lot about why I wasn’t circumcised and what other kids were like. There was a girl at school who was very pretty and we looked at each other in a secret way sometimes, but we hadn’t kissed.
    ‘Well,’ I said, ‘there is a girl I like but we don’t go out or anything.’ It made me embarrassed to talk about it, and actually, I had a lot of fun on road patrol and playing yo-yo.
    ‘Daddy, I was talking to my friend Ray today and I told him a little bit about the cloudbuster. That’s okay, isn’t it?’
    ‘Yes, but you must be careful not to say too much.’
    ‘Oh, I didn’t tell him about the flying saucers or anything. We just talked about making rain and stuff. His dad works on farms and since it doesn’t rain here, he has to go far away to get work.’
    ‘Ja. That is interesting, because I think we shall be able to bring rain to Tucson, finally, and break the drought. Then your friend’s father wouldn’t have to go away.’
    ‘And maybe Ray could come and be a cosmic engineer with us.’
    Daddy smiled and leaned back while the waitress came with our plates and served the food. She leaned very close to me and winked at me. I smiled and looked away.
    ‘Will there be anything else?’ She smiled at us.
    Daddy said no, and she said, ‘Well, if you need anything, just let me know. I’ll be keeping an eye on you.’ She winked at me again and was gone.
    The swirling lights went around and around in the mirror over the organ.
    ‘Daddy, why is there a desert in the first place?’ I squeezed the lemon over my swordfish, and began eating.
    ‘At first I wasn’t sure,’ he said. ‘Driving out here I saw vegetation dying everywhere. It was clear that something was attacking the atmosphere. At first I just thought it was a natural