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114: Missives
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World of Tomorrow 115: Hunt
The Great Depression had been one of the defining moments for anyone old enough to remember what it had been like before the stock market crash of October 1929. With both his father and brother and many family friends in banking and finance, Andrew had known that the problems that led to the Crash for industrialized world economies had been brewing on the horizon several years before that. During the early 1930s, the devastating effects became widespread in the United States as banking institutions fell and manufacturing and business suffered in every industry. Cities were particularly hard hit, and New York City had been especially susceptible. Professionals, skilled workers and others used to enjoying good income found their salaries disastrously cut. Those who depended on savings, pensions or investment income for a living fared far worse. In the world of banking and finance, interest from bonds or savings deposits soon depreciated to where they had no real value. Stocks paid meag
World of Tomorrow 116: Halloween
“Sarah,” Evelyn said, in as firm of tone as she could muster, “while I’m exceedingly happy you’re pleased with your costume, it’ll be far too cold later this evening at the Fair. You must wear a jacket.” “Mother, please. Please don’t make me. No one will be able to see it! Please!” Evelyn watched the tears gathering in the girl’s eyes and knew she wouldn’t be able to stay firm if they began to fall. “No one will see it if you’re too cold to leave the car either, Sarah. I’ll hold it for you while—.” “Darling? Sarah?” Andrew stopped stock still in the doorway of the great room, quickly taking in the situation and recognizing his wife’s waffling. “What’s the difficulty here?” Rising, Evelyn let her breath out slowly. “It’s too cold to wear the costume without a jacket—.” “No it’s not!” Sarah shouted. “She’s just saying that because she’s mean!” Immediately, Andrew sprang into action. Releasing the startled Peter’s hand, he strode past Eve
World of Tomorrow 117: Encounters
“What are you thinking about, darling?” With her eyes following a young family with three children, the eldest about Peter’s age and the rest younger, she smiled as she answered, “All the people here in costume. The children I expected, but so many adults are costumed too. It adds a great deal to the carnival atmosphere on the last day.” Among the children, the cowboys and cops, princesses and angels were always popular. But many children had drawn inspiration from events of the year and Elecktro-style robots giggled with Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. Frank Buck-style jungle explorers jitterbugged with giant jungle cats, and clowns with comic book heroes. Her silvery-blue eyes lingered on an obviously well-to-do couple dressed in bright and wildly colored, sequined and feathered Venetian style costumes with oddly grotesque and appealing masks—his a black and gold, curly-horned, laughing skull, and hers a magnificently plumed, long
World of Tomorrow 118: Night and Day
“What makes you think it has my name on it?” Andrew asked, staring down his straight narrow nose at his wife, but her attention was diverted down the midway towards the crowds and noise. “Seems a familiar style,” Evelyn replied grimly. With an annoyed huff, she started towards the bench and the envelope that had been left by the colorful and mysterious harlequin. The entire circumstance had lost its glamor for her. There was nothing loving or romantic about lies. Nothing proud or noble about secrets. Not even ones purportedly to protect somebody you love. Miranda Stiles was her aunt, for pity’s sake. Her aunt who had looked her in the face countless times at the Trust and never uttered a single kind word. Who’d been willing to let her plummet to her death with Russell James. The more she dwelled on it, the more it infuriated her. All of them infuriated her. She’d have gladly signed away her right to every penny of the money in Glorietta Moreno’s California bank account for the s
World of Tomorrow 119: All Saint's Day
The autumn chill awakened Evelyn even before Andrew’s alarm. Lifting herself up so she could see over him, she glanced at the faintly illuminated face of his clock and groaned. Another hour, perhaps more before the apartment would start to warm up. While his residence was far less drafty than hers had been, she missed her small fireplaces. It had been nice to supplement the building’s giant Octopus coal furnace’s heat for her apartment, and in particular, for her bedroom, and to any extent she desired, as long as she had the firewood. The extra blanket she’d pulled over the footboard from the bench to heap on top of her during the night wasn’t enough to ward off the uncomfortable cold this morning, and sadly, it was only going to get worse. Andrew generated a delightful amount of heat with his masculine metabolism, but in general, she slept too warm for him, and during the night he’d retreat to his side of the bed, often with only the sheet to cover him. Assuming he
World of Tomorrow 120: Preparations
The final preparations in advance of the movers clearing Evelyn’s small cold-water flat seemed to spark a renewed awareness and an intensified enthusiasm for packing and planning. Not merely in Evelyn and, by default, Andrew, but also in the children, Mary and Tank, and even Justin and Lily. Which was fortunate, as Evelyn discovered upon arriving at her apartment after she’d spoken to Mickey on Wednesday morning. With only an urgent need and no real design in mind for how to clear her own apartment, Lily with Justin’s help had simply moved anything she didn’t intend to throw away into Evelyn’s apartment across the hall. While they had done a marginal amount of packing—including emptying shelves and cupboards into boxes still standing opened and scattered absolutely everywhere—they’d added exponentially to the chaos by cramming the entirety of Lily’s meager belongings haphazardly into Evelyn’s. It followed then that instead of spending her mornings and early afternoon
World of Tomorrow 121: Harrowing Incidents
With an exasperated huff and a muttered curse, Andrew jerked his head down the stairs and towards the older apartment's lobby. “Let’s go then, Officer Morgan, if you’re going.”At his urging, Evelyn took the remaining steps to the ground level while he pulled on his coat and then followed. She didn’t resist when he cupped her elbow, steering her past the wall of tenant mailboxes near the lobby door and the short flight of external stairs that would take them to the street level. While she was disappointed to be denied even this brief bit of normality and time alone with Andrew, she could hardly fault Will Morgan for his staunch dedication to the duties assigned him.Perhaps he was a bit over-zealous. After all, since Edward Montero's death over the summer, there'd been little else of any threat. Sure, strange people and stories had surfaced, but even the contact from Miranda Stiles hadn't been dangerous. And she had to admit, the poor fell
World of Tomorrow 122: Fears
“Oh! There you are!” Mary exclaimed as Will shoved his way around the door to Evelyn’s fourth floor apartment, each arm laden with a brown paper sack of groceries. “We were beginning to—what on earth happened!?”With Andrew supporting her, Evelyn limped her way into the tiny kitchen of her apartment. Before she could even pull out a chair to sit down, the rest of her ‘guests’ came flooding in to see what the hullaballoo was about. Besides Mickey and Tank, she was fairly certain she saw every other tenant residing in the building standing on tiptoe and bobbing left and right, trying to get a look at her.“Ladies,” Andrew pushed further into the room, arms wide and herding them backwards into what had formerly been her living room, “if you please. We just need a few minutes to get settled, then if you’ve all haggled to your heart’s content, we’ll get started moving furniture.”
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