FELISBERTO HERNANDEZ
389
" But, Mary.. ."
"And I don 't just mean the wine you spilled gaping at her. Wha t
about in the yard afterwards, when she said: 'Horace, stop it'?"
" But, darlin g, all she said was: 'A boring topic.'"
T hey made u p in bed and she fell asleep with her cheek next to his.
But, after a whil e, he turned away
to
think about her illness. And the
next morning, when he to uched her arm, it was cold. He lay still ,
gazing a t the ceiling for several gr ueling minutes before he managed to
shout : "Alex!" At tha t moment the door o pened and Mary came in; and
he rea lized it was Daisy he' d touched and tha t Mary had put her there
next to him, whil e he slept.
After much refl ecti on , he decided to send for his fr iend Frank, the
doll manufacturer, and as k him
to
find a way to give Daisy some
human wa rmth .
Frank sa id:
''I'm afraid it's not so easy, old boy. T he warmth would last about
as long as a ho t wa ter bottle."
"All right-fine. Do wha t you want, just don 't tell me. I'd also like
her
to
be softer, ni ce to touch , no t so stiff... "
" I don 't know about tha t either. T hink of the dent you 'd make
every time you laid a finger on her. "
"Well , anyway, she could be more fl exibl e. And, as for the dent, I
don 't think tha t would be such a drawback."
T he day Frank took Daisy away, Horace and Mary were sad.
"God knows wha t they' ll do to her," Mary kept saying .
" Now then , darling, one mustn 't lose one's sense of reality. After
all , she was just a doll. "
"Was! You sound as if she were dead . And you 're a fin e one to talk
about sense of rea lity!"
" I was just trying to comfort you ... "
"And you think tha t's the way to do it ! She was more mine than
yours. I dressed her and told her things I've never told anyone, do you
realize tha t? And she united us more than you can imagi ne."
He was heading for hi s study; and she went on , raising her voice:
"Think of all the surprises we prepared for you . Wasn 't tha t
enough , without as king for 'human warmth '?"
By then he' d reached the study and slammed the door behind him.
T he way she'd p rono unced " human warmth " no t onl y made him feel
ridicul ous but soured ,all the pl easures he was looking forward to wh en
Daisy returned. He decided to go for a walk.
When he go t back, Mary was out; and when she returned, they
spent a whil e hiding the fact tha t they were unexpectedl y glad to see
each other.
