imo was looking out the window.
there was nothing much out there.
sometimes it rained, and imo enjoyed looking at the rain outside, and at the raindrops rolling down the window.
and sometimes at night, she enjoyed looking into the shadows, and wondering what was hidden in them.
but it was not night, and it was not raining.
i am bored, imo said to gen, her mom, who was sitting in a chair with a book , the man in the brown suit, by agatha christie, open in her hands. she was reading it a little bit, but mostly she was staring into space.
why are you bored? gen asked imo.
because i have nothing to do.
why don’t you go out and milk the cow? gen asked.
milk the cow? what cow? imo asked. there are no cows anywhere. what are you talking about?
this used to be a farm, said gen. there were cows all over the place,
yes but it is not a farm now, it is just a boring old house in the middle of nowhere.
there might still be some cows out there. how do you know?
it does not seem very likely.
likely or not , you will not know for sure until you go out and look, will you?
i guess not, imo admitted. but i do not know how to milk a cow. i have never done it before.
you can figure it out. i have confidence in you. and with that, gen turned her attention back to the man in the brown suit, by agatha christie.
oh, all right, imo muttered. she went and took her blue coat off the hook beside the front door, and went outside.
it was kind of cold outside. imo was glad she had decided to wear her jacket.
but there were no cows outside, and nothing else either. imo started to walk down the road , just so she could tell gen she had.
there were a few houses along the side of the road. but no signs of life in any of them. they were deserted, and always had been, as long as imo could remember,
suddenly she saw a man. he did not look like a farmer who would have cows or chickens or even horses or dogs. in fact he did not look like anything much at all.
the man was carrying a small suitcase. he glanced at imo as he approached her, and started to walk past her when imo spoke to him.
are there any cows around here? imo asked him.
the man stopped. excuse me?
are there any cows around here? imo repeated.
you shouldn’t talk to strangers, the man said. you don’t seem to have been brought up very well.
what is in the suitcase? imo asked.
that is no concern of your eyes, the man said, and turned his back on imo and walked away very fast, almost running.
how are you supposed to find out anything, imo wondered, if you can’t talk to people and ask questions.
she wandered around a bit more before returning home, but did not see any cows, or chickens, or dragons, or elephants, or much of anything.
not even a dog or a cat.
and she never found out what was in the suitcase.
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