Chapter 2 Part II Ross, Dr. Mobley, The Importance of Details

Oddly, David recalled feeling almost relaxed shortly after his mother died.There were no other words to describe the feeling, and it made David feel bad about himself.Mom died and never came back.The pastor's admonition didn't help, that Mama now lived in a better, happier place, and her suffering was over.The pastor also told David that although he could not see his mother, his mother would always be with him.It's no use saying that.It is impossible for an invisible and intangible mother to walk with you on a summer evening and pull out the names of trees and flowers from her seemingly endless natural knowledge; it is impossible to help you with your homework when she leans over When you correct a typo or ponder an unread poem, her familiar smell enters your nostrils; it is impossible to read with you on a cold Sunday afternoon, with the fire shining and the rain beating on the windows and roof , the room is filled with the smell of charcoal and biscuits.

But now, David remembered, Mom hadn't done those things in the last few months.The medicines the doctor gave her made her so weak and sick that she couldn't concentrate on even the simplest things, let alone go for a walk.During those last days, there were times when David wasn't sure if she knew him or not.She began to have a strange smell, not bad, but strange, like clothes that hadn't been worn for a long time.In the middle of the night, she would cry out in pain, and Dad would hold her and try to comfort her.If she was very unwell, she would call the doctor.By the time she got too sick to stay at home, an ambulance came and took her to a hospital, which wasn't really a hospital because no one ever recovered from there, and no one ever went back to their own home from there. Home, instead, they just grew quieter and quieter until, at the end, there was only complete silence and the empty hospital bed where they had been lying.

The hospital that wasn't a hospital was far away from David's house, but every other evening, Dad would go there after he got home from get off work and had dinner with David.David went with them in their old Ford 8 at least twice a week, although the commute took up a lot of his time because he had to finish his homework and eat dinner first.Dad is also very tired. David doesn’t understand where Dad gets so much energy. He wakes up early every morning, makes breakfast for him, watches him go to school, then goes to work by himself, goes home, makes tea, tutors David to solve all problems, visits his mother, and then goes to work. Go home, kiss him good-bye, and finally read the newspaper for an hour before bed.

Once David woke up in the middle of the night with a dry throat and went downstairs to get a glass of water to drink.He heard snoring in the living room, and saw that it was his father, who fell asleep on the recliner, with newspapers scattered on the floor, and his head slumped on the edge of the chair.It was three in the morning and David wasn't quite sure what to do, but he finally woke up Dad because he remembered a time when he fell asleep on a long train and ended up with a long neck pain afterwards.Dad looked a little startled and a little annoyed at being woken up, but he got up from the couch anyway and went upstairs to bed.David was also sure that it wasn't the first time Dad had fallen asleep naked.

So, the death of David's mother means no more pain, but it also means no more long journeys to and from that big yellow building where people disappear without a trace, no more in chairs Fall asleep, no longer fight for meals.All that's left is a dead silence, like when someone takes an alarm clock away and fixes it, and after a while, because its soft, repeating "tick" disappears, and you miss that sound, you start to realize the lack it. And the relaxed feeling wears off after a few days, followed by guilt because he's glad he doesn't have to do all the things his mother's illness demands of them.The guilt persisted for months and only got stronger, and David began to wish his mother was still in the hospital.If she was still there, he would visit her every day, even if he got up early every day to catch up with homework, because now he couldn't bear to imagine life without his mother.

Going to school was difficult for him.He was estranged from his friends, and before summer came, the warm breeze blew them away like dandelion seeds.There were rumors that all the boys would be evacuated from London to the country when school started in September, but Davy's father had promised him that he would not be sent away like the others.Dad said, don't forget, it's just the two of them now, and they have to stay together. Papa hired a Mrs. Howard to clean the house, cook, and iron.Mrs. Howard was there every day when David came home, but she was too busy to talk to him.She was training with the Air Raid Prevention Team and taking care of her husband and children, so she didn't have time to chat with David and ask him how his day was going.

Mrs. Howard left after four, and Davy's father worked at the university and didn't come home until six at first, and sometimes later.That is, David is alone in his empty home, with only the wires and his books for company.Sometimes he would sit in his parents' former bedroom, and his mother's clothes were still in one of the kitchens. The trousers and skirts were lined up elegantly, and if you squinted, they looked human.Davey fingered them, making swishing noises, and in doing so he noticed that the clothes swayed the way his mother walked in them.Then he lay back and lay his head on the left pillow, which was the side his mother used to sleep on. He tried his best to lie on the position where his mother used to sleep on.

It was just too painful to navigate this new world.He works so hard.He kept those programs.He counted so carefully.He endured all kinds of rules, but life deceived him.This world was not like the stories he had read, in which good was rewarded with good and evil was rewarded with evil.As long as you persist along the road and get out of the forest, you will be rescued.If someone is sick, like the old king in a certain story, then his sons will be sent to the outside world to find life-saving medicine, water of life, as long as one of the sons is brave and loyal enough, the king's life will be saved. There is help.David had been brave, and Mom was braver, but in the end, it wasn't enough.This is a world without retribution for good and evil.The more David thought about it, the less he wanted to be part of the world.

He still sticks to his procedures, though not as rigorously as before.He is only willing to touch the doorknob and the faucet twice, first with his left hand and then with his right hand, just to keep an even number.When getting out of bed or going up the stairs in the morning, try to put your left foot first, but this is not difficult.He wasn't sure what would happen if he didn't follow certain procedures now, and he thought it might have an effect on Dad.Perhaps, insisting on following these procedures could have saved Dad's life, even though he hadn't been able to save Mom.Now that it's just the two of them, it's important not to miss the opportunity.

Just then, Rose entered his life.Sudden fainting spells had also begun. The first time was at Pigeon Square.It was Sunday noon, and he and Dad had gone into the plaza to feed the pigeons after lunch at the Public in Picardy.Daddy tells him that The Mass will be closing soon, which makes David sad because he thinks it's a very fancy restaurant. It had been five months, three weeks and four days since David's mother had died.There was also a lady who had lunch at the "Volkswagen" that day.Dad introduced her as Rose.Rose is thin, with long black hair and red lips.She wore clothes that looked expensive, and gold and diamond jewelry sparkled on her ears and neck.She ordered very little, but still ate most of her plate of chicken, leaving room for the pudding to follow.David found her familiar, and later realized that she was the director of the not-so-hospital hospital where his mother had died.Dad told David that Ross took very, very good care of Mom, but not, David thought, not well enough to bring Mom back to life.

Rose thoughtfully talked to David, asking him about school and his friends, what he usually liked to do in the evenings after school, but David rarely answered.He didn't like the way Rose looked at his father, didn't like her calling his name directly, didn't like being touched by her hand when he said something smart and funny, and didn't even like Dad trying to look smart and funny in front of her.Anyway something is wrong. Rose was on Dad's arm as they strolled out of the restaurant, David walking a little ahead of them, and they seemed happy for him to go alone.He didn't know what was going on, or he told himself he didn't know what was going on.When he arrived at Pigeon Square, he took a bag of pigeon food from his father without saying a word, and attracted the pigeons to him.Pigeons, their feathers blackened by the city's litter and soot, their eyes hollow and stupid, obediently headed toward the new dispensers of food.Dad and Rose stood nearby chatting quietly, and David saw them kiss each other quickly when they thought he wasn't paying attention. That's when it happened.Suddenly Davy spread his arms, and the pigeon food was thrown into the air in a line. Two heavy pigeons came to peck at his sleeves, and the next thing he was lying on the ground, his father's coat was under his head, and Curious onlookers -- and frightened pigeons -- stared at him, thick clouds silhouetted behind their heads like shallow balloons.Dad said he passed out, and Davy would think he was right if he hadn't heard noises and whispers in his head he hadn't heard before, and vague memories of a forest and howling wolves.He heard Rose ask if he needed her help, and Dad said no, he would take David home and put him to sleep.Dad called a taxi and took them to his car.Before driving, he told Rose that he would call her later. As David lay in his room that night, the whispers in his head were joined by the sound of books.He had to cover his ears with a pillow to shut out the constant chatter—the oldest stories awoke from their slumber, and they were looking for a place to grow. Dr. Moberly's office was in a house with a large terrace, in a very quiet, tree-lined street in central London.There were expensive carpets on the floor and pictures of great sailing ships on the walls.An elderly white-haired secretary sits behind a desk in the waiting room sorting through papers, typing and answering the phone.David was sitting next to him on a large sofa, with Dad beside him.A grandfather clock "ticks" in the corner.David and Dad didn't speak, mostly because the room was too quiet, and the lady behind the desk would listen to everything they said, but David still felt that Dad was angry with him. After that at Pigeon Square, David had two more sudden faints, each of which lasted longer than the last, and each time left more strange impressions in his mind: a castle with flags flying on the wall; , overgrown with a tree whose bark would bleed; and a vaguely hunched figure, filthy and pathetic, wandering about in the shadows of that monstrous world, waiting for something.David's father took him to see Mr. Benson, a family doctor, but Mr. Benson didn't find anything wrong with David, so he sent David to a big hospital to see a specialist.The specialist shone light on his eyes, did a brain exam, asked him some questions, and asked Dad more questions, some about David's mother and her death.The doctor made David wait outside while the doctor talked to Dad, and Dad came out with a scowling look on his face.That's how they ended up in Dr. Mobley's office. Mr Moberly was a psychiatrist. A pager sounded from the secretary's desk, and she nodded to Dad and David. "He can go in," she said. "Go ahead," Dad said. "Aren't you coming with me?" David asked. Dad shook his head, and David realized he'd already spoken to Dr. Mobery, probably on the phone. "He wants to see you alone. Don't worry, I'll wait for you to finish." David followed the secretary into another room.This one was bigger than the waiting room, and more luxurious, with soft armchairs and stools.Books lined the walls, but nothing like the ones David was reading.David thought he could hear books talking to each other as soon as he came.He couldn't understand most of what they said, but they spoke very--slow--very-slowly, as if what they had to say was very important, or that the people listening to them were stupid.Some books sound like they're arguing, in that uh-huh-uh-huh tone that's the way pundits talk on the radio: they're speaking in turn, surrounded by other pundits, and the speaker is desperate Show off your ingenuity. David was disturbed by books. A short man with gray hair and beard sat behind an antique desk that was a little too big for him.He wore a pair of rectangular glasses with a gold chain to keep them from slipping off.A red and black bow tie is loosely tied around his neck, and his dark clothes are loose and loose. "Welcome," he said, "I am Dr. Mobley, and you are Davy." David nodded.Dr. Moberly seated David, and began leafing through a notebook on the table, tugging at his beard wherever he saw it.After reading it, he raised his head and asked David how it was.David said he was fine.Dr. Moberly asked if he was sure he was all right?David said he was sure.Dr. Moberly told David that his father was worried about him, and asked him if he missed his mother.David didn't answer.Dr. Moberly said he was concerned about David's sudden fainting, and that together they had to try to find out the cause. Dr. Moberly gave David a box of pencils and asked him to draw a house.With a pen in hand, David carefully painted the walls and the chimney, then added the windows and a door, and then he began to concentrate on adding little waves of slate tiles to the roof.At this time, when Dr. Moberly told him to stop, he still devoted himself to adding tiles.Dr. Moberly looked at David, then at the drawing, and asked David, had he ever thought about drawing with colored pencils?Davey said the painting wasn't finished, and when the tiles were added to the roof, he planned to paint them red.Dr. Moberly asked David -- very slowly, as his books spoke -- why the slate was so important. David wondered if Mr. Mobley was really a doctor after all.Doctors are supposed to be smart, but Mr. Mobery doesn't look very bright.Very-slowly-very slowly, David explained, if there were no roof tiles, the rain would get in, so they were just as important as the walls.Dr. Moberly asked him if he was afraid of the rain coming into the house.David replied that he didn't like getting wet and that it was fine if it was raining outside, especially if you were wearing rain-proof clothing, but most people don't wear raincoats at home. Dr. Mobley was a little confused. Then he asked David to draw a tree.David picked up his pen again, painstakingly drew the branches, and began methodically adding leaves to each branch.At the third branch Dr. Mobley told him to stop again.And then Dr. Mobley had the look on his face that Davy's dad sometimes had when he was trying to complete the crossword puzzle in the Sunday paper: standing up suddenly, saying "Aha," pointing his finger at the Pointing in the air, he looked dissatisfied with himself at all, like a mad scientist in a cartoon. Then Dr. Moberly asked David a lot of questions about his family, his mother, his father.He asked again about David's fainting.Can you remember something?What was it like before you passed out?Did you smell anything before you lost consciousness?Did your head hurt afterward?Have you ever hurt your head before?Do you have a headache now? From David's point of view, however, Dr. Mobley hadn't asked the most important question because he was so convinced that the syncope had completely knocked David out of consciousness and that he could remember nothing until he regained consciousness.But that's not right.David wanted to tell Dr. Mobley the strange things he saw every time he passed out, but the doctor had started asking questions about his mother again, and David didn't want to talk about her anymore, let alone with a stranger.Mr. Mobery had also asked about Rose, and how David felt about her, and David didn't know how to answer.He didn't like Rose, and didn't like Papa with her, but he couldn't tell Mr. Mobery, in case he did tell Papa. Before the meeting was over, David burst into tears, and he didn't know what was going on.The truth is that he cried so much that his nose started to bleed, and he was terrified at the sight of blood.He screamed and cried.He fell to the ground and began to shake, a white light glowing in his head.He pounded his fist on the carpet, heard the books tsk-tsk their disapproval, and then Dr. Mobley called for help, Davy's dad rushed in, and then everything went dark, and what seemed to happen in an instant was actually A long time has passed. David heard a woman's voice in the dark, and thought it sounded like his mother.A shadow approaches, but not a woman.It was a man, a long, twisted face, emerging at last from the shadows of his world. he smiles.