Read Isobel and Emile for Free Online Page B

and his cap off. He hangs them on a hook in the wall.
    There is a table in the middle of the apartment. There are four chairs around it.
    Emile sits at the table.
    There are apples and oranges on the table. They are in a bowl.
    Emile takes some of the apples and some of the oranges out of the bowl. He puts them one in front of the other.
    He puts them so that they are in a row pointing away from him.
    He picks up the apple at one end of the row and he moves it forward slightly. He stands up to do it. He picks up the apple behind it and moves it forward slightly. He picks up the orange behind it and moves it forward slightly.
    He moves all of the apples and oranges again. He sits down again. The apples and oranges are further away from him.
    He wants to know what it is like to watch someone leave. He stands up again. He moves the apples and oranges again.
    They are further away from where he was sitting.
    He sits down again. He stands up again. He moves the apples and the oranges further away. He moves faster.
    He keeps moving them until they fall off the end of the table.
    He wants the sound of the fruit hitting the floor to be like the sound of a train. It is not the sound of a train. It is the sound of fruit hitting the floor.
    He sits at the table. He puts his hands on top of the table. He looks where the fruit was.
    It is what it is like to watch someone leave.
    Nicolas comes home.
    Emile is sitting at the table. His hands are on the table in front of him. There are apples and oranges on the floor.
    Nicolas picks one of the apples up off the floor. He looks at it.
    Nicolas shakes his head. He says: ‘Emile, they’re bruised.’
    Emile looks at Nicolas. His hands are still on the table. Nicolas puts the apple he picked up into the bowl on the table.
    Emile says: ‘Oh.’
    Nicolas goes into his bedroom.
    Emile stands up. He walks to where the apples and oranges fell. He bends down. He picks up an apple. He looks to see if it is bruised.
    It is bruised.
    He picks up the apples and the oranges. He puts them back in the bowl on the table.He goes over to Nicolas’s bedroom. The door is closed.
    He says: ‘I’m sorry.’
    Nicolas does not answer. Emile wonders if Nicolas heard him. He wonders if he should say he is sorry again. He does not say he is sorry again.
    He turns out the lights. He goes into his bedroom.

4
    There is a bed here.
    The bed has plain white sheets on it again. Isobel is lying under the sheets. They are tangled around her body. She is asleep.
    It is morning. Last night Isobel got into the bed. She fell asleep. It was late when she fell asleep. She did not want to sleep. She knew she would have nightmares if she fell asleep. She did not want to have nightmares.
    She tried to stop herself from dreaming. She turned her head away. She twisted and kicked with her legs. It did not work. Now it is morning. There is a window above the bed. There is light coming in through the window. There are specks of dust floating in the light.
    There is a truck under the window. It is in the alley behind the store. Isobel hears the truck.
    She is lying twisted in the bed. The sheets are tangled around her body.
    She opens her eyes.
    She has to be awake now. She closes her eyes again. She does not want to be awake. She is tired. Fighting her nightmares makes her tired. She rubs at her face with her hands. It does not change anything.
    She is tired and she has to be awake now.
    She sits up in the bed. She runs her hands through her hair. Her hair is tangled. It is matted against her head. She pulls her hands through her hair until it is less tangled.
    She is in the room over the grocery store. There is a bed in the room. There is a sink. There is a window. There is a door.
    She stands up. She is awake. She does not feel awake. She is standing beside the bed. She goes over to the sink. She looks into the mirror. There is a mirror over the sink.
    She sees herself looking in the mirror. There are dark