Aliena Read Online Free PDF Page A

want me embedded in a good place so that I seem ordinary. So that I will be accepted.”
    “You should have no problem.”
    “Brom, please tell me: what is it you do, whe there is no storm?”
    “That’s tricky to explain. Do you know what movies are? Television?”
    “No.”
    “That’s what I thought. A movie is a projection, usually on a big screen, that shows a story, like the one we were reading. Television, or TV as it is abbreviated, is a small screen people watch in their houses, showing similar things.”
    “I would like to see this.”
    “When the power returns, I will show you. I’m surprised that your friends did not turn on your TV.”
    “They said there is so much to learn, I could not take time for entertainment.”
    “But entertainment is part of life! We need to play as well as to work.”
    “Play?”
    “Oh, Aliena, there is a whole world of things I want to show you when I can! Play is something you do for fun, just because you want to.”
    “Like holding hands?” she asked, taking his hand in hers.
    He laughed. “That, too. But it’s more like the reading. You may be doing it to learn the words, but ideally it should be because you enjoy it.”
    “I enjoy it with you.”
    He let that pass. “At any rate, I work in the entertainment industry. A significant part of it is cartoons, which are funny caricatures of people and animals who do funny things to make people laugh.”
    “Why?”
    “Because laughing is generally fun. It makes people feel good.”
    “I want to laugh.”
    Brom realized that he had never heard her laugh. “That happens when a person is pleasantly surprised, or amused, or relieved. I laughed when you translated ‘Honey I shrank the kids,’ because it was funny.”
    “I remember.”
    “This is like an emotion. You are not yet tracked into it. But maybe by chance we’ll find something that makes you laugh. It has to come naturally.”
    “Naturally,” she agreed.
    “Anyway, although cartoons are not intended to be taken seriously, it helps if they are realistic enough to help a viewer forget that, to get into their mood. So I take existing cartoons and modify them slightly, not enough for the average viewer to notice, to make them more realistic. To subtly encourage belief. It’s one of those generally unknown specialties; I work under the radar.” Then, before she could ask, he clarified it. “Radar is a form of radio wave that detects airplanes in flight. To be under it is to be beneath notice. That’s important, for me: to have the viewer not realize that that he’s being managed, so he doesn’t react against it. I’m good at it, and have regular work. But I can’t work while the power is off. I do get an incidental benefit from my work: reading people. I pick up on nuances, on whether folk are happy or sad, excited or bored, telling the truth or lying. You intrigue me because your reactions are not normal.” Again he forestalled her question. “That is not bad. It’s just that you don’t react the way I would expect. As if, if I tickled you, you would not laugh.”
    “Tickle?”
    “That’s a very light touch in a sensitive spot that incites a reaction that is not pain, not unpleasant. Some folk love tickling; some don’t.”
    “Tickle me.”
    “Okay. Stand before me.”
    She did. He reached out and touched her ribs on either side, stroking to evoke ticklishness. She suddenly stepped forward and kissed him. Surprised, he put his arms around her, savoring it.
    “Is that normal?” she asked after a moment.
    “No. That was your reaction to being tickled?”
    “Yes. I had an urge to kiss.”
    “You said your connections are imperfect. That must be an example. Unless the clothing somehow changed it.”
    Aliena pulled off her heavy shirt and stood in her bra. “Do it again.”
    He tickled her bare ribs. She virtually leaped into him with another kiss.
    “I love this,” he said. “But it’s definitely a misconnection. Tickling make you