Magdalena Mountain

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Robert Michael Pyle. Magdalena Mountain

BEFORE

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AFTER

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

AUTHOR’S NOTE. Creatures, People, and Places

Отрывок из книги

BOOKS BY ROBERT MICHAEL PYLE

Wintergreen: Rambles in a Ravaged Land

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Mary was afraid to venture farther into streets she heard were mean, especially after her one walk around the block got her groped. Once, an activities bus took her up into the Denver Mountain Parks, along with a few other residents. The breath of the ponderosas was heavenly after the smoke and smog below. But then Mary realized that she could see the higher peaks between the trees, and, beyond her control, that slow wail began to swell from her belly like the cold water from the pump in the picnic ground. Nurses had a needle in her arm in seconds and had her back in bed in an hour. After that Mary remained in the home. At most she went out to her vacant lot. That she did often, until the cold came.

Then new snow dropped on Denver like a clean diaper over a dirty one. Mary withdrew even deeper into her pupa of confusion. She sat in her spare little room, barely noticing as the other beds filled or emptied. She thought little, spoke less, failed to understand anything, especially not herself. Why couldn’t she just stand up, say “I’m all right now,” and leave? Why did her head ache so, especially where her hair was still short above her forehead? Why couldn’t she carry an idea through to conclusion? Some mornings she thought she might begin to speak with the floor nurse, and then the pill came, and the blankness.

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