He broke off abruptly and watched with Lucilla as the office door
edged open. The small girl who inched her way around it wore blue
jeans and a pony tail rather than an organdy frock and curls, but her
pixie smile matched that of the girl in the photograph Lucilla had
glanced at again and again.
"You wanted me, Daddy?" she asked, but she looked toward Lucilla.
"I thought you'd like to meet someone with the same nickname as
yours," Dr. Andrews said, rising to greet her. "Lucky, meet Lucky."
"Hello," the child said, then her smile widened. "Hello!" (But I don't
have to say it, do I? I can talk to you just the way I talk to Daddy
and Uncle Whitney and Big Bill).
"Hello yourself," said Lucilla. This time when the corners of her
mouth began to tick upward, she made no attempt to stop them. (Of
course you can, darling. And I can answer you the same way, and you'll
hear me.)
Dr. Andrews reached for the open pack of cigarettes on his deck. (Is
this strictly a private conversation, girls, or can I get in on it,
too?)
(It's unpolite to interrupt, Daddy.)
(He's not exactly interrupting--it was his conversation to begin
with!)
Dr. Andrews' receptionist paused briefly beside the still-open office
door. None of them heard either her gentle rap or the soft click of
the latch slipping into place when she pushed the door shut.
Nor did she hear them.
* * * * *
End of Project Gutenberg's The Sound of Silence, by Barbara Constant
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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