C4 antho - Chamber Four
C4 antho - Chamber Four C4 antho - Chamber Four
~86~ The Chamber Four Fiction Anthology top, her dark skirt sweeping the floor. Sweat must be trickling all the way down her legs, but she emerges nonchalant. “Excellent,” Tatyana pronounces to those of us who are still in the anguish of waiting. The secretary calls my name. I am ushered into the place of execution. The table is covered with a once white tablecloth, now stained, creased by the racked martyrs’ fingers. Nikolai Vassilievich is placed next to Lubov Gavrilovna but seems to be blissfully away in vibrant April, seeping ale at the Tabard Inn. A withered bunch of carrots is peeking out of his string bag on the floor, for summer solstice makes no exception from his market chore which is to be performed after the examination is over. With a climacteric rustle of fingernails, Lubov Gavrilovna opens my record book. Her toad eyes rise at me without expression. “Semolina. Absent for seven lectures. Covert reading of extraneous sources in class. We look forward to hear what you have learnt about the phonemic system of English.” I take a communal water glass from the table, halfempty, its rim scalloped with lipstick of various shades―scarlet, pink, orange―a token of mercy, a last gulp from the executioner. My hand remains suspended in the air as if in a toast to Lubov Gavrilovna and summer solstice. “The phonemic system of English is very beautiful,” I start. “The sounds are of many colors and shapes. They purr, they moan, they bark, puke, squeak and sometimes spit. They live in people and animals and leave them only with their last ‘h.’” Lubov Gavrilovna parts her lips to pronounce my verdict but then, upon a second thought, tightens them up again to hear what comes next. “For example, /θ/ as in ‘thunder thighs,’” I continue. “It looks like the Wife of Bath’s leg in a red stocking. /ð/ as in
Semolinian Equinox ~87~ ‘tether one’s nag’ is Chanticleer about to love his Pertelote. And here is the /æ/ as in ‘abishag’―it’s made of rough leather, broad and bawdy―like Absalom’s kiss. Then there is O, as in...” Nikolai Vassilievich awakens from his slumber, at the mention of the creatures he knew so well. But Lubov Gavrilovna has had enough of my phonemic system. “Out! Out with her!” she yells. “Expel her from the university!” Nikolai Vassilievich’s string bag tilts on the side and the carrots all tumble down in a fan of “i’s, /i:/” as in “Shit Street.” “Come on, let’s buy the little fool some chocolate,” Andrey says. He is not upset. So much the better. Didn’t he tell me a thousand times that honest studying is not worth the hassle? At last I can do something useful. Now that he has become a market dealer himself, I can take his place at the counter beside Nikolai Vassilievich. There is so much to sell, so many millions to earn. Andrey himself has not needed to come to the State Examination. He sent the rector a hundred pairs of socks, which are enough for a ‘satisfactory,’ and not even Lubov Gavrilovna could do anything about it. * * * * With no haste, already in possession of the intellectually unobliging diploma in English Phililogy with honours, Tanya picks up the receiver. She hears an unfamiliar male voice on the line. “Could I speak to Miss Tatyana Prokopenko, please? There is a matter of some importance that I would like to discuss with her.” The humiliating events of the recent past surge into Tatyana’s head.
- Page 35 and 36: Eupcaccia ~35~ “This here video c
- Page 37 and 38: Eupcaccia ~37~ tantalizing view up
- Page 39 and 40: Watchers ________ by Scott Cheshire
- Page 41 and 42: Watchers ~41~ and told my mother ab
- Page 43 and 44: Watchers ~43~ husband and teenage c
- Page 45 and 46: Watchers ~45~ Lorraine waits, she s
- Page 47 and 48: Watchers ~47~ students for who know
- Page 49 and 50: Watchers ~49~ toy-men crouching sma
- Page 51 and 52: How to Assemble a Portal to Another
- Page 53 and 54: How to Assemble a Portal to Another
- Page 55 and 56: Seven Little Stories About Sex ____
- Page 57 and 58: Seven Little Stories About Sex ~57~
- Page 59 and 60: Seven Little Stories About Sex ~59~
- Page 61 and 62: Seven Little Stories About Sex ~61~
- Page 63 and 64: Seven Little Stories About Sex ~63~
- Page 65 and 66: Seven Little Stories About Sex ~65~
- Page 67 and 68: Seven Little Stories About Sex ~67~
- Page 69 and 70: Men Alone _________ by Steve Almond
- Page 71 and 72: For the Sake of the Children ~71~ y
- Page 73 and 74: For the Sake of the Children ~73~ P
- Page 75 and 76: For the Sake of the Children ~75~ *
- Page 77 and 78: Semolinian Equinox ________________
- Page 79 and 80: Semolinian Equinox ~79~ with matter
- Page 81 and 82: Semolinian Equinox ~81~ she is esca
- Page 83 and 84: Semolinian Equinox ~83~ “A Bag of
- Page 85: Semolinian Equinox ~85~ “I didn
- Page 89 and 90: Semolinian Equinox ~89~ in five day
- Page 91 and 92: The Girl In The Glass ~91~ changed
- Page 93 and 94: Peacocks ~93~ of what, growing up,
- Page 95 and 96: Peacocks ~95~ “Instant friends,
- Page 97 and 98: Peacocks ~97~ Rebecca stood up. “
- Page 99 and 100: Peacocks ~99~ then I saw Eric kneel
- Page 101 and 102: Peacocks ~101~ I had little sympath
- Page 103 and 104: Peacocks ~103~ in my discussion of
- Page 105 and 106: Peacocks ~105~ no matter what she s
- Page 107 and 108: Peacocks ~107~ “Is it really poss
- Page 109 and 110: Peacocks ~109~ rent circumstances,
- Page 111 and 112: Peacocks ~111~ “Let’s move this
- Page 113 and 114: Peacocks ~113~ not-knowing would ne
- Page 115 and 116: The Naturalists _____________ by B.
- Page 117 and 118: The Naturalists ~117~ sights were n
- Page 119 and 120: The Naturalists ~119~ With each pie
- Page 121 and 122: The Naturalists ~121~ “Aww, come
- Page 123 and 124: The Naturalists ~123~ Nature’s Bo
- Page 125 and 126: The Naturalists ~125~ cranny. And I
- Page 127 and 128: The Naturalists ~127~ “Pardon?”
- Page 129 and 130: The Naturalists ~129~ She turned to
- Page 131 and 132: The Naturalists ~131~ As dusk appro
- Page 133 and 134: The Affliction ___________ by C. Da
- Page 135 and 136: The Affliction ~135~ the Los Angele
Semolinian Equinox ~87~<br />
‘tether one’s nag’ is Chanticleer about to love his Pertelote.<br />
And here is the /æ/ as in ‘abishag’―it’s made of rough<br />
leather, broad and bawdy―like Absalom’s kiss. Then there is<br />
O, as in...”<br />
Nikolai Vassilievich awakens from his slumber, at the<br />
mention of the creatures he knew so well. But Lubov<br />
Gavrilovna has had enough of my phonemic system.<br />
“Out! Out with her!” she yells. “Expel her from the university!”<br />
Nikolai Vassilievich’s string bag tilts on the side and the<br />
carrots all tumble down in a fan of “i’s, /i:/” as in “Shit Street.”<br />
“Come on, let’s buy the little fool some chocolate,” Andrey<br />
says. He is not upset. So much the better. Didn’t he tell<br />
me a thousand times that honest studying is not worth the<br />
hassle? At last I can do something useful. Now that he has<br />
become a market dealer himself, I can take his place at the<br />
counter beside Nikolai Vassilievich. There is so much to sell,<br />
so many millions to earn. Andrey himself has not needed to<br />
come to the State Examination. He sent the rector a hundred<br />
pairs of socks, which are enough for a ‘satisfactory,’ and not<br />
even Lubov Gavrilovna could do anything about it.<br />
* * * *<br />
With no haste, already in possession of the intellectually<br />
unobliging diploma in English Phililogy with honours, Tanya<br />
picks up the receiver. She hears an unfamiliar male voice on<br />
the line. “Could I speak to Miss Tatyana Prokopenko, please?<br />
There is a matter of some importance that I would like to discuss<br />
with her.”<br />
The humiliating events of the recent past surge into<br />
Tatyana’s head.
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