Man-woman relationships -- Fiction; Marriage -- Fiction; Outlaws -- Fiction; Science fiction; Short stories
"The first," he went on, "is the newlywed Quickie. The red folder, Mr.
Grover. She has just completed her honeymoon, is not pregnant, and has
been married for no more than six months."
Simon examined the folder. On the cover was pictured a young man
carrying his bride, complete with bashful smile, across the threshold
of their home. There were suggestive dining room, patio and bedroom
scenes inside, with appropriate captions.
"The second type," explained the Counselor, "is the new mother." The
folder showed a charming young woman breast-feeding an infant. The
Counselor went on to the other types: the middle mother, a woman of
about thirty with two children, one of pre-school age and one in
the first three grades; the teener, with from two to five children
in their teens or early twenties; the pre-gram, with any number of
married children living away from home, but no grandchildren; and the
grandmother.
"You understand," the Counselor said, "we have all types in between as
well. These are merely the basics." He surveyed Simon's registration
papers again. "You're thirty-five, Mr. Grover. A fine age, I might say.
You'd be suited to any type, with the exception of the grandmother."
"I don't want the grandmother, anyway," Simon told him. "You know, I
think I'll take the newlywed this time."
The Counselor winked knowingly. "Still a lot of get-up-and-go in the
old copter, eh?"
"It's spring," Simon said.
"Yes. We find it most interesting, that certain types are favored in
the various seasons. Newlyweds in the spring, pre-grams in the summer,
middle mothers in the fall, new mothers and grandmothers in the winter.
Confidentially, Mr. Grover, I've always longed to be a Transient
myself. But you have to be a Quickie to hold this job, since you're in
one place for such a long period of time. Well, what type of newlywed
did you have in mind?"
Simon licked his lips eagerly. In Philadelphia the last time he had
come close to learning the parting ritual. But it tripped him up, as
usual, and he reached New York one step ahead of the police. "She must
be very impressionable," Simon said, "and very talkative. She must be
eager to discuss the theories of multiple marriage--"
"Most newlyweds are," the Counselor pointed out.
"Well, particularly so. And, of course, she must not be carrying a
torch for her honeymoon husband."
"That's rare these days, Mr. Grover."
"It happened to me once, in St. Louis. Had an awful time."
"Then she probably was a misfit. After all, the institution of multiple
marriages is almost eighty years old, and the _only_ form of marriage
in the United States today. If we were still in the early pioneering
days you might have cause to worry. Ideas of propinquity still seemed
important then, and people were concerned with such things as lasting
relationships, though for the life of me I can't see why."
"They thought it was more secure," suggested Simon.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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