Gossamer by Lois Lowry Page A

sir, if you don't mind our going back to the problem of Littlest One, that she actually did the boy a great good. After she did the touching of the dog—and the dog didn't stir at all; he slept right through it—she immediately went across the hall, gathered herself and the new fragments, and fluttered up and bestowed them on the boy."

    "Was there a reaction?"
    "Immediately, sir. He had been restless, tossing, whimpering, and occasionally we heard him cry out in his sleep. The woman had hurried in to comfort him. She's had to do that night after night, and it's taking a toll on her, too. She's quite tired."
    "So, let me see if I'm following this correctly. The boy had a nightmare—" Most Ancient sighed. "How I hate that word! But he had a nightmare, and cried out, and the woman comforted him. Where were you and Littlest then?"
    "Huddled. Lately we've had to huddle a great deal. We have a special place in the hall, deep in the shadows by the attic stairs. Sometimes we dissolve."
    "So the boy went back to his restless sleep. Do I have that right?"
    "Yes. Tossing and turning."
    "And the woman went back to her bed and to sleep. The dog?"
    "Never woke. He sleeps right through every night."
    "You waited, the two of you?"
    "Yes. To give the woman time to get back to sleep. I was eager, actually, because I had a particularly wonderful dream to give her. I discovered some fragments in an afghan—"

    "You're digressing," Most Ancient said, in a kindly way.
    "Sorry. You're right." Thin Elderly chuckled, wondering if he was becoming as bad as Most Ancient. Old age did that to you.
    "When did she touch the dog? Did you know she was going to? Did she have your permission?"
    "Yes, she had asked permission and I had thought it over carefully and told her that she could. I knew it was against the rules. But this seemed a special situation. So we waited until the woman was asleep again, and the dog, of course, had never stirred at all. Then I went to bestow on the woman, and Littlest fluttered over and touched the dog. I finished my bestowal quickly. You probably remember, Most Ancient, how smoothly those good bestowals go, how quickly?"
    Most Ancient nodded. "Yes. Very pleasurable."
    "So I was able to watch while she touched the dog. It was truly exquisite, Most Ancient. She was smiling. You know how tiny she is. And still close to transparent, though she's starting to fill out. She fluttered here and there above the dog, reaching down; she seemed to concentrate on the neck area—"

    "Why there, I wonder?"
    "She explained later. It's where the boy most often strokes and scratches the dog. So there were many fragments there of affection and companionship. Those were the fragments she wanted."
    "She has a keen sense for it, doesn't she?"
    Thin Elderly nodded. "She does indeed. And to think: touching a living creature! I'd never seen it done before! She went about it as if it came naturally to her, and her touch was so—"
    " Gossamer. "
    Thin Elderly smiled. "Exactly."
    "I believe we'll not make a fuss about the rule. It seems clear that she broke it for good reason, and of course with permission from you.
    "The bestowal went well? Calmed the boy?"
    "Oh, yes, immediately. She gave him a dream of the dog and he actually smiled in his sleep."
    "Well, then," Most Ancient said, "we'll sleep now, too, Thin Elderly, you and I. It's been a long night's work, and we're both getting old." He added his usual little joke. "Sweet dreams."

20
    The young woman glanced at the clock on the wall of the school office. Ten more minutes till she could take a break. Then she'd have to walk all the way out to her car and sit there to have a cigarette.

    Last job she had, they could smoke out behind the kitchen. The waitresses all gathered there on breaks. Schools were different, though. She knew that. Of course they wouldn't want young kids seeing people indulging in bad habits. She hated that she'd smoked so much in front of John. Not as bad as what Duane