“No. No way,” said Ari. “That’s my thing. Don’t take my thing.”
“I assumed you were a fire ifrit,” said Saul. “’Cause of the red hair.”
“No, I think I’m still Irish.”
Or, as they both knew, the duplicate of someone Irish. At some point, she was going to commit a terrible crime. It had to happen. And Saul would have to bring her down. Lock her up in the brick house till she was forgotten.
For now, he nodded for Jon to bring hot water and said, “Have some more chai.” Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing. Each of them had a secret — heck, everybody does. They could hide each other.
Maybe there were more reasons for things than the ones they knew. Or maybe not. Maybe they could be friends for a while, anyway.
The whole city had a thousand and one possibilities that night, and the moon was the best seat in the house. Jon came by with another teapot, and Saul rubbed the side of it, just to make sure.
“Hey,” he said, nodding at the digital clock radio in the corner. “It’s eleven eleven. Make a wish.”
Mack laughed ’cause it was a little sad. And maybe worth a try. She looked up. It was eleven twelve.
If you enjoyed this novella by Daniel Nayeri, you may also enjoy his other novellas published in e-book format:
Read all four novellas — including Wood House,
available only in the printed book —
in Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow
www.candlewick.com
DANIEL NAYERI was born in Iran and spent a couple of years as a refugee before immigrating to the United States at age eight with his family. He is the co-author of a popular young adult series set in Manhattan that began with Another Faust. He has worked as a stuntman and a pastry chef and is now a writer and editor in New York City.
Of this collection, he says: “For me, stories can be about anything. In any medium. But they have to be in a world at least half as interesting as this one. The characters have to be a little tweaked, a little obsessed. I like people who are wildly broken or wildly uncomfortable or wildly hard to deal with. Everyone a little wild. That’s one reason why writing this whole thing on an iPhone makes a weird kind of sense. Each form of media out there is completely different, sure, but all my favorite books, games, movies, comics share the trait of great storytelling. And, hey, I’m into that. I’m pretty sure we’re all into that.”
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2011 by Daniel Nayeri
Cover illustration copyright © 2011 by Lauren Vajda
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
First electronic edition in this format 2011
This novella is also available as part of Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow: Four Novellas by Daniel Nayeri
The Library of Congress has cataloged the complete hardcover edition as follows:
Nayeri, Daniel.
Straw house, Wood house, Brick house, Blow / Daniel Nayeri. —1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: A collection of four novellas in different genres, including a western about a farmer who grows living toys and a rancher who grows half-living people; a science fiction story of the near-future in which the world is as easy to manipulate as the Internet; a crime story in which every wish comes true and only the Imaginary Crimes Unit can stop them; and a comedic love story in which Death describes himself as a charismatic hero.
ISBN 978-0-7636-5526-6 (hardcover)
[1. West (U.S.) — Fiction. 2. Science fiction. 3. Mystery and detective stories — Fiction.
4. Love — Fiction. 5. Short stories.] I. Title.
PZ7.N225Str 2011
[Fic] — dc22 2011013675
ISBN 978-0-7636-6035-2 (electronic)
Candlewick Press
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visit us at www.candlewick.com
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