The Part Time People Read Online Free PDF

only a matter of practice, learning, and remembering.
     
    He stayed inside his room and passed the days. His books were surprising, and he didn't get too lonely. His solitude was only briefly interrupted by the occupants of the room next door. That was better than he'd expected. Usually there were people and machines everywhere making noise all the time. Wherever he was staying, wherever he went, whatever he did. Total silence was essential, David thought, at least for several hours a day. He avoided any activity and every place where noise was likely to occur. It was Thursday almost all too soon. He had gotten very comfortable in the room, and he didn't want to leave. But he knew that he could only pay for it by going to work, and so he had no choice.
     
    He put it off as long as possible, it wasn't until three forty five that he left the room and went outside. He was confronted immediately with the world in all its motion, all its sound. The last few days of contentment were erased. David tensed up quickly, and had to shout his thoughts to make them heard.
     
    “It's okay,” he told himself, “It’s going to be all right. It only takes a little time to readjust. As soon as I get to the store I know that I'll be ready.” He tried to walk as calmly as he could, breathing deeply as he did, reciting his litany to himself.
     
    “Ugghh, ugghh” A little old man was vomiting into the sewer across the street from David. He was wearing a thick overcoat even though it was ninety two degrees outside. The man looked up, and stared right at David. He seemed to be scowling too.
     
    It could be him, David thought, but he shook his head. No, not today, he told himself, it's just too soon, too soon. Why doesn't he leave me alone for just a little while. It probably isn't him, he thought, of course it's not. I've never seen that man before. He's just a wino, that's all he is, he isn't really one of them. But even though the man walked off the other way and was soon out of sight, David held onto the image of the man in his thick trench coat. He started to compare him to all the others he had seen. It can't be him, he thought, he's not the one. David lost himself in his thoughts. He forgot to say hello when he walked into work, and Gwen thought that was strange, because although he never said too much, he always said hello. It was the only word he seemed to know.
     
    David blinked and seemed to realize where he was. He knew that he should just relax, breathe, and go to work. He stood by the counter and stared through the glass at the expensive pens. Mike came up behind him and said,
     
    “Howdy Dave, how's it going.”
     
    That was enough to break the spell.
     
    David turned around and even smiled. “Hi Mike, never better.” And then he was almost okay.
     
    The old man was forgotten, the job was still there after all. A few times in his room alone, he thought the job had been a dream. The store, the room he was in, his own fabrication. He was just making it up as he went along. To avoid him. But the job was real all right, and just the thing he needed most.
     
    He took over for Gwen on the register and worked as well as he had ever done. He didn't make any mistakes, and he wasn't nervous. He was courteous and pleasant to everyone who came up to him. He didn't mind their questions, and if he didn't know the answer, he didn't hesitate to call for Mike or Gwen. It was like a brand new day he thought. Usually when he got to feeling exuberant like that he checked himself, told himself to take it easy, and not get carried away, but this time he couldn't help himself, because it felt so good. I don't see why it can't go on like this, he thought. This is just the way it ought to be. Maybe it's all over and I didn't even know it.
     
    Even Joe noticed, when he came out from the office, preparing to go home, that something had changed in David. He said to Gwen later that night that didn't it seem like David was going to be all right,