I turned to her and nodded. “Thanks,” I said. “Happy New Year.”
Then I walked down the stairs and out into the street.
It was dark and cold outside, and the streets were deserted. I wished I'd brought something warmer to wear. I hadn't realized I was going to be out here at this time of the morning. I put my bag down and stood on the steps of the clinic, not sure what to do next. I had a throbbing headache, and there was still a cramping pain in my belly. I needed to find a phone box. I needed to phone Rob and tell him what I'd done.
Just then, I heard a sound. I turned my head and noticed a small, brown bird in the hedge beside the steps, only inches away from me. Dawn was a long way off, but for some reason the bird had started to sing already. I watched it hopping about, and then it flew away, still singing.
I put my hand in my pocket and closed my fingers around the milk-teeth box, feeling the sharp stones set in the smooth ebony wood. You can keep it for the next one.
Then I picked up my bag and walked back down the road the way I had come.
acknowledgments
I would like to thank Pete Ayrton and
everyone at Serpent's Tail.
Thanks also go to Helen, Carol, Anna, Tessa,
Jennifer, Ellen, Paul, Simon, and Julie for reading and
commenting on my work from the start.
I would like to acknowledge the award of a
writers’ bursary from the Academi for the purpose
of completing this book.
I would also like to thank Marie Stopes International
for their help in researching it.
Thanks to my family for their support over the years.
And finally, thanks to John Williams, for everything.
Copyright © 2007 by Charlotte Greig
First published in the United Kingdom in 2007 by
Serpent's Tail, an imprint of Profile Books Ltd, London.
Other Press edition 2009
Production Editor: Yvonne E. Cárdenas
Excerpts from Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling, translated by Alastair Hannay (London: Penguin Books, 1985). Excerpts from Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human, translated by Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann (London: Penguin Books, 1994).
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from Other Press LLC, except in the case of brief quotations in reviews for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast. For information write to Other Press LLC, 2 Park Avenue, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10016.
Or visit our Web site: www.otherpress.com
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Greig, Charlotte.
A girl's guide to modern european philosophy / by Charlotte Greig.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-1-59051-332-3
1. Women college students–England–Fiction. 2. Philosophy–Fiction. 3. Philosophers–Fiction. 4. Triangles (Interpersonal relations)–Fiction. 5. Self-realization–Fiction. 6.
Chick lit. I. Title.
PR6107.R45G57 2009
823′.92–dc22 2008050765
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
v3.0
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