He glimpsed at his watch and said "How long is there, left?"
"Almost there, over the hill", said the real state agent.
She said almost loudly in the back seat "It seems we are going to a picnic".
The man turned in her direction and looked at her. She grinned. The agent pointed out unfinished tenants, and said "Last year, it was all fields and hills".
She said: "It will be a town, sooner or later".
The man whispered "hmm!".

They pulled into a long path. The man turned up the windshield; "It is lonely".
She said "It's nice and has a good view".

The man turned and looked at her. She gazed through the windshields. The car circled the hill, "Almost there! Here it is", she said.
The man didn't look up. He said, "I think, it is beautiful to move on and off every day".
The agent said, "There are shuttle services".
"You go in the morn and come at night".
She said, "What am I supposed to do?"
The agent look in rear mirror, "Still, no children".
The woman looked the line of pines.

They stopped in a driveway of tenants. They got out. The agent went to keep out the keys. She sat on the steps. She looked at the flowerless geranium in the flowerpots.

The man said, "It is all your fault". She said, "What's wrong with me? How should I know it would be destroyed for the sake of the city projects?"
The agent came back with the keys. "The lift is not in order, yet. We will go some flights of steps".
The man said, "hmm!"

On the flight of steps, the woman said, "It seems tidy"; she was ahead of them.
The door flung open. She said, "I think, it is wonderful".
The agent said, "It is sun ward. Take a good look at the window panes. At clear nights, the moon lit, the room is like the day time!"

He looked at the woman. The sun was shining on large window panes.
"Concrete armed", said the agent, beating the wall with a fist. The man clenched his fist, but he didn't move. "It's already late. Let's return. I must be at my job."
The woman asked, "May I take a look at bathroom and kitchen?" She followed the agent.

The man stood at the windows gazing to the porch across the street. Geraniums were on the railing. A girl with washed cloths basket came on the porch. He lit a cigarette. The girl picked a red dress and flattered it to drain. The man smoked.

There came the voice of the man, "it's pretty nice".
The man said, "Really".
The agent said, "Colorful".

The girl smoothed the wrinkles of the dress pinned it down. She took basket and went in

The woman patted him on the shoulder, "Good looking view".
The man said, "Look at the Geranium".
She reflected in silence. The agent said, "We can go, if you wish".
The man said nothing.
She said, "Let's go".
She was on the doorway, ahead of the agent. The man was looking at the opposite balcony.

Short Stories