Brian W. Aldiss - Outside

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Brian W.Aldiss

OUTSIDE

They never went out of the house. The man whose name was Harley used

to get up first. Sometimes he would take a stroll through the building in

his sleeping suit - the temperature remained always mild, day after day.

Then he would rouse Calvin, the handsome, broad man who looked as if he

could command a dozen talents and never actually used one. He made as much

company as Harley needed.

Dapple, the girl with killing grey eyes and black hair, was a light

sleeper. The sound of the two men talking would wake her. She would get up

and go to rouse May; together they would go down and prepare a meal. While

they were doing that, the other two members of the household, Jagger and

Pief, would be rousing.

That was how every "day" began: not with the inkling of anything like

dawn, but just when the six of them had slept themselves back into

wakefulness. They never exerted themselves during the day, but somehow

when they climbed back into their beds they slept soundly enough.

The only excitement of the day occured when they first opened the

store. The store was a small room between the kitchen and the blue room.

In the far wall was set a wide shelf, and upon this shelf their existence

depended. Here, all the supplies "arrived". They would lock the door of

the bare room last thing, and when they returned in the morning their

needs - food, linen, a new washing machine - would be awaiting them on the

shelf. That was just an accepted feature of their existence: they never

questioned it among themselves.

On this morning, Dapple and May were ready with the meal before the

four men came down. Dapple even had to go to the foot of the wide stairs

and call before Pief appeared; so that the opening of the store had to be

postponed till after they had eaten, for although the opening had in no

way become a ceremony, the women were nervous of going in alone. It was

one of those things...

"I hope to get some tobacco," Harley said as he unlocked the door.

"I'm nearly out of it."

They walked in and looked at the shelf. It was all but empty.

"No food," observed May, hands on her aproned waist. "We shall be on

short rations today."

It was not the first time this had happened. Once - how long ago now?

- they kept little track of time - no food had appeared for three days and

the shelf had remained empty. They had accepted the shortage placidly.

"We shall eat you before we starve, May," Pief said, and they laughed

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Brian W. Aldiss - Outside

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