【时间旅行者的妻子】25

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The great elephants loom¹ menacingly over me in the moonlight and I wave to them on my way to the little gift shop to the right of the main entrance. I circle the wares² and find a few promising³ items: an ornamental⁴ letter opener, a metal bookmark with the Field’s insignia, and two T-shirts that feature dinosaurs⁶. The locks on the cases are a joke; I pop them with a bobby pin I find next to the cash register, and help myself. Okay. Back up the stairs, to the third floor. This is the Field’s “attic,” where the labs are; the staff have their offices up here. I scan the names on the doors, but none of them suggests anything to me; finally I select at random⁷ and slide my bookmark along the lock until the catch pushes back and I’m in.

　The occupant of this office is one V. M. Williamson, and he’s a very untidy guy. The room is dense⁸ with papers, and coffee cups and cigarettes overflow⁹ from ashtrays¹⁰; there’s a partially¹¹ articulated snake skeleton on his desk. I quickly case the joint¹² for clothes and come up with nothing. The next office belongs to a woman, J. F. Bettley. On the third try I get lucky. D. W. Fitch has an entire suit hung neatly¹³ on his coat rack, and it pretty much fits me, though it’s a bit short in the arms and legs and wide in the lapels. I wear one of the dinosaur⁵ T-shirts under the jacket. No shoes, but I’m decent. D. W. also keeps an unopened package of Oreo cookies in his desk, bless him. I appropriate them and leave, closing the door carefully behind me.

　Where was I, when I saw me? I close my eyes and fatigue¹⁴ takes me bodily, caressing¹⁵ me with her sleepy fingers. I am almost out on my feet, but I catch myself and it comes to me: a man in silhouette¹⁶ walking toward me backlit by the museum’s front doors. I need to get back to the Great Hall.

　When I get there all is quiet and still. I walk across the middle of the floor, trying to replicate¹⁷ the view of the doors, and then I seat myself near the coat room, so as to enter stage left. I can hear blood rushing in my head, the air conditioning system humming, cars whooshing¹⁸ by on Lake Shore Drive. I eat ten Oreos, slowly, gently prying¹⁹ each one apart, scraping the filling out with my front teeth, nibbling²⁰ the chocolate halves to make them last. I have no idea what time it is, or how long I have to wait.

 

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