"Came back for more of the stuff, did you?"
He laid down the newspaper. (That subheadline couldn't really be making so nasty a suggestion to a noted4 general, could it?)
"Yes," I laughed, not very true.
"I know what a craving5 can be. I shouldn't smoke, but I do. I've tried to stop but I lie there thinking about cigarettes half the night. Long ones, short ones, smoked ones, ones unlit. I feel like I could smoke one in each hand. It like that with you?"
"Not that bad. To me it's just—"
"Don't tell me reading isn't a craving with some of you fellows. I've seen guys come in here, hardly two threads stuck together on them, and grab up them horror magazines and read and read, until sweat starts rolling off the end of their nose. I've hardly got the heart to throw 'em out."
Horror magazines. Ones with lovely girls about to have their flesh shredded6 by toothy vampires7. Yes, they were a part of it. Not a big part, but a part.
"That's not what I want to see. I want—"
The old man snickered. "I know what you want. Indeed I do. This way."
I followed his spidering hand and sure enough, there they were. Stacks upon stacks of air-war pulp8 magazines.
"Fifteen cents for ones in good condition," the old man pronounced the ritual, "a dime9 for ones with incomplete covers, three for a quarter, check 'em at the desk when you go."
I ran my hand down a stack. Wings, Daredevil Aces10, G-8 and his Battle Aces, The Lone11 Eagle, all of them.
The old man was watching me. He skittered back across the floor and snatched up a magazine. It was a copy of Sky Fighters with a girl in a painted-on flying suit hanging from the struts12 of a Tiger Moth13.
"This one, this one," he said. "This must be a good one. I bet she gets shoved right into that propeller14 there. I bet she gets chopped to pieces. Pieces."
"I'll take it."
Reluctantly he handed over the magazine, waited a moment, then left me.
I stared at the stacks of flying story magazines and I felt the slow run of the drop of sweat down my nose.
My sickness was terrible. It is as bad to be nostalgic for things you have never known as for an orphan15 who has never had a home to be homesick.
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1
fortress
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n.堡垒,防御工事 | |
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2
treacherously
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背信弃义地; 背叛地; 靠不住地; 危险地 | |
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3
hunched
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(常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦)耸肩弓身的,伏首前倾的 | |
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4
noted
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adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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5
craving
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n.渴望,热望 | |
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6
shredded
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shred的过去式和过去分词 | |
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7
vampires
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n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 );吸血蝠;高利贷者;(舞台上的)活板门 | |
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8
pulp
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n.果肉,纸浆;v.化成纸浆,除去...果肉,制成纸浆 | |
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9
dime
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n.(指美国、加拿大的钱币)一角 | |
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10
aces
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abbr.adjustable convertible-rate equity security (units) 可调节的股本证券兑换率;aircraft ejection seat 飞机弹射座椅;automatic control evaluation simulator 自动控制评估模拟器n.擅长…的人( ace的名词复数 );精于…的人;( 网球 )(对手接不到发球的)发球得分;爱司球 | |
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11
lone
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adj.孤寂的,单独的;唯一的 | |
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12
struts
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(框架的)支杆( strut的名词复数 ); 支柱; 趾高气扬的步态; (尤指跳舞或表演时)卖弄 | |
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13
moth
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n.蛾,蛀虫 | |
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14
propeller
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n.螺旋桨,推进器 | |
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15
orphan
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n.孤儿;adj.无父母的 | |
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