Dust Falls on Eugene Schlumburger/Toddler on the Run [antikvár]

CO Eugene woke in a paper hat and went to the window where it was snowing. Snow was falling on the rabbit hutch and on the thin cat, on the broken saucer and on the abandoned tricycle. A bottle he had brought from the party lay broken, half- filled with snow. Still in pyjamas, he went down to the yard. It was eleven o'clock and the washing was frozen on the line. Eugene shook the line so that the clothes jumped stiffly in a thin shower of snow. 'Christians, Awake!' sang Eugene, and the clothes danced. A face in sunglasses appeared at the kitchen window. 'Merry Christmas, Mrs Mayhew,' called Eugene. The eyes behind the sunglasses suffered and a thin voice said: 'I've got one of my awful migraine headaches,' and in a flurry of dusters the face disappeared. He went back to bed and closed his eyes between the shivering whiteness of the twisted sheets and thought back to the night before. It was the second night of the party. He stood sway- ing in the doorway. In the half-darkened room reclining couples filled the floor. He saw across the room a girl lying prone beside a man. In the bad smoky light all he could see clearly was her feet because she had kicked her shoes off. They lay white and mournful on the carpet. Eugene stood with tears jumping to his eyes as he looked at her worn and vulnerable white feet. He walked towards her through a group discussing