Isobel on the Way to the Corner Shop Read Online Free PDF

George and Anna.
    ‘Everybody isn’t up to thinking in symbols.’
    ‘But a symbol can be a very simple thing. Everybody isn’t an expert with words, either.’
    ‘There’s a lot to be said for body talk,’ said a young man who had come to listen and was standing behind the armchair. ‘But we have that sorted out back home. There’s one creek called Today Creek, and another called Tomorrow Creek. So you ask a girl to go for a walk, a mile to Today Creek, and if you’re looking for a wife, you stop at Today Creek and ask her if she wants to go any further. “How far?” she asks you. “As far as Tomorrow Creek?” If she says yes, you’re engaged. Simple.’
    ‘But suppose her feet are killing her?’ asked Sybil.
    ‘That’s the beauty of it,’ said the young man. ‘Girls need stamina, where I come from.’
    ‘Would you call that ritual, or symbol?’
    ‘I call it a test of a girl’s devotion, not to mention her stamina. How far is it to Tomorrow Creek?’
    ‘If she asks that, she’s not worth having.’
    Judith said, leaning back to look up at him, ‘It’s very much the man’s way, I think.’
    ‘Well, we’re the ones with the problem.’
    Stephen Hines spoke to Isobel, taking his responsibility seriously.
    ‘I do believe that there’s always a little bit of theatre involved, whether it’s ritual or symbolic act. If that is helpful. But as for the words, otherwise, I don’t think there’s anything special about them. They are the same words your mother used when you were a small child.’
    And if you didn’t hear them then, you’ll never learn them.
    All of them, young or old, short or tall, fat or thin—they talked about love as if they owned it, as if it was for everybody. How could they know?
    She stared into her empty glass and felt her heart muscle straining in misery like a rudimentary animal shut in a casket, straining after air and circumstance.
    ‘Good enough for Shakespeare,’ said Sybil.
    ‘Always a guarantee,’ she agreed, thinking of getting away and finding something to eat. ‘I’ll work on those lines.’
    She looked back from the dining-room door and saw them laughing together. Probably the young man from Tomorrow Creek was entertaining the group. She was sorry to be missing the conversation, but her need was urgent.
    There was little food left. She took the last two biscuits and scraped the last of the dip from the bowl.
    The kitchen door was open. She heard Liza saying, ‘What about me?’
    Were they still involved in that row? Wasn’t it time they snapped out of it and set about getting the supper? What could they be thinking of?
    Liza spoke again.
    ‘What about me? What about me?’
    She was repeating the phrase, tonelessly and without emotion, as if she had forgotten what the words meant.
    ‘What about me?’
    Duncan spoke, urgently.
    ‘All right. All right. But pull yourself together, please. Don’t make a scene.’
    ‘Get rid of them. Tell them to go away.’
    ‘Yes, but you stay here. Just try to relax. Keep calm.’
    Isobel moved quickly, not wishing to meet Duncan.
    Her fear of rejection was now superseded by her fear of going hungry.
    They couldn’t do this. They couldn’t.
    But Duncan had come in and was talking to the Gilberts, his particular friends; they began to move among the groups, explaining. People looking startled, nodding, women picking up handbags, knots of people moving towards the door.
    Duncan spoke to the young couple. They looked at each other, nodded and got up, unaffected by the general unease. They walked out, the last to move except for the Gilberts, who must be intending to stay, Isobel, who did not know what to do, and Robbie, who was standing by the door and must be waiting for her.
    Gratefully, she went to join him and they went out together.
    ‘Liza’s been taken ill. A few of us are going to Stephen’s place. We’ll get some food and drink and have supper there. It’s rotten luck about Liza. Did you like