Child Garden Read Online Free PDF Page B

each time, and left without talking to anyone. Milena never went to the opera herself. Though she did not admit it, Milena did not respond deeply to music. She had never seen the Bear who Loves. It was rather like meeting a legend. Milena watched as the GE began to empty the drawers of her desk, shaking out the contents over the floor. The GE found something.
    'Bastard,' the GE murmured.
    Milena was unaccustomed to harsh language. She herself might have committed an error of social judgement, but enough was enough.
    'Are you talking to me?' Milena demanded.
    'Oh, no,' said the GE in blank surprise. 'I was talking to this empty whisky bottle.'
    The GE held up the bottle for Milena to see, and then tossed it aside. It clinked against glass as it shattered. Somewhere in the darkness, there was a mound of broken whisky bottles.
    'Did you know?' said the GE. 'This used to be a distillery warehouse? I've made the most exciting discoveries.'
    She was tugging at a drawer that was stuck. It suddenly came free, sowing its contents about the floor like seed — pens, earrings, more wafers, used handkerchiefs, spools of thread, a shower of loose and rusty needles, and a Georgian silver ear-pick.
    Lodged in one corner of the drawer was a full bottle. The GE held it up. 'God,' she said, 'is a distiller.' She grinned, and her teeth were black and green rotting stumps.
    Where did they dig her up? thought Milena.
    The Bear was covered in dandruff. Silver flakes of it clung to the tips of her fur all over her body, and she was panting like a dog. A long pink tongue hung out of her mouth, curled and quivering, to cool. She took a great swig of alcohol. 'Gaaah!' she exclaimed, as if breathing fire, and wiped her mouth on her arm.
    Milena felt a sudden wrench of amusement. She had a vision of the GE leading a troglodyte existence in this nest of paper and music.
    'Do you live here?' Milena asked.
    'It would be better if I did,' said the GE. Her fur dangled into her eyes, making her blink continually. 'This is where I hide instead.' She hugged the bottle. 'Since you don't like poisoning yourself, perhaps you'd like to look at this.'
    She passed a thick, broad, bound wad of paper from the desk. Milena needed both hands to accept it from her. The paper was beautiful to touch, heavy and creamy, ochre around the edges. On the cover, printed in large Gothic lettering was its title. Das Lied von der Erde. Song of the Earth.
    Milena had never seen a musical score. They were a waste of paper, and cellulose was needed to feed the yeasts and hybridomas that were the cultures of the Party. She flicked through it and found it disappointing. Yes, yes, the notes were all there.
    'I take it,' the Polar Bear said, 'that the reading of music presents you with no difficulties.'
    'No,' said Milena, innocently. Who couldn't read music?
    The Bear smiled wistfully. 'Of course not,' she whispered. She reached forward. It was alarming how far she could reach. Gently she coaxed the score out of Milena's hands. 'But you haven't learned how to read music. If you haven't learned it, it isn't yours.' She took a mouthful of whisky and sloshed it around her teeth like mouthwash. She put the bottle down, and seemed to forget that Milena was there. She turned to the end of the score, all its vast bulk over to one side, threatening to tear the ancient binding in half. The GE spat the whisky onto the floor. Then she began to sing.
    She sang the end. '... ewig blauen licht die Fernen... '
    She's forgotten I'm here, thought Milena.
    'Ewig... Ewig... '
    The GE sang better than the electronic device. Her voice was warm and strong, a fine mezzo, clear but weighty as if pushed from behind by something vast. Milena blinked. The GE was singing very well indeed.
    There were long periods of silence, when unheard music played. Then Ewig again, each time softer than before, the voice throbbing without going harsh. A technique. Ewig. Unlike the recording, it was not too loud. The GE stared in