Jack and I are sitting in my car, waiting for Jenny, who is late. Girls and shopping - tell me about it! Jack taps his fingers on his knees, watching the people passing by on the sidewalk. He checks his watch hundredth time.
"She's late" he says.
I sigh, and reach to the back seat, pulling out my e-reader from my suitcase. I hand it to him and say:
"Here. Read something."
He shrugs, flips the cover open and switches the device on. He is silent for a while, browsing the titles, and I enjoy Vivaldi's Four Seasons playing from the CD.
"Hm... Zelda" says Jack. "Interesting name. What is this one about?"
I glance over, and see the cover of Zelda Pryce: The Demon Hunt written by Joss Llevelyn.
"Are you familiar with arcana?" I ask.
"Arcana? I have heard the word, but not sure what it is."
"It means deep, secret wisdom, known only by few selected."
"Kind of mysticism."
"Not exactly, but kinda."
"Like magic?"
"No. Arcana is more like science, but you won't read about it on the Popular Science's website."
"Because it's secret?"
"Known only by few." I nod.
He is clicking through the first pages to the beginning of the story.
"Is it a good one?" he asks.
"You bet. Zelda is a young arcanist, who builds arcane objects to help people. Prosthetic legs and arms, these kind of things."
"There is nothing mystic in a prosthesis." I can see the doubt on his face.
"There is, if it glues itself to the human body using arcane forces, and gives you the speed of a puma or the strong grip of a robot arm."
"Oh, cool."
"There are many exciting objects in the book. My favorite is the Certainty Engine, which predicts the future."
"That sounds interesting" says Jack and his expression changes, he is curious now. "Any action in the story?"
"A ton of action. Zelda and her friends go around the world to find this Certainty Engine. Exotic places. But I enjoyed more the cool ideas packed in the book. For example the one about the responsibility of humankind concerning the extinction of animal species."
"That's deep stuff, uncle."
"Yeah, it is."
"I will read this" says Jack and does as he says: starts reading immediately.
He doesn't get far, the back door opens, packages and shopping bags arrive at the back seat, followed by the smiling Jenny.
"Uncle, Jack, what's up?" she asks while arranging the packages next to her.
"You're late" says Jack.
"I'm sorry, but you know how it is when you do shopping. Time flies."
"My longest shopping was ten minutes" says Jack.
"Because all of your clothes looks the same."
"Hey, guys, just relax." I say, then start the engine. I pull out of the parking into the traffic.
"What are you reading?" asks Jenny.
"Zelda Pryce, the third book" says Jack.
In the mirror I see Jenny's wide smile.
"I love those books, especially the fantastic gadgets."she says. "I want Hypatian wings."
"What wings?" Jack turns towards Jenny with puzzled face.
"The ones made of copper. You put them on your back and you fly."
Smile appears on Jack's face, and he says:
"That's an excellent idea! Then you can go shopping with your little wings, and we don't need to spend the half of the day waiting for you."
I shake my head, but actually I can imagine her with those copper wings, flying around, laughing. It would be so Jenny.
No comments:
Post a Comment