This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2009 Mariam Petrosyan
Translation copyright © 2017 Yuri Machkasov
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Previously published as Дом, в котором . . . by Гаятри/Livebook in Russia in 2009. Translated from Russian by Yuri Machkasov. First published in English by AmazonCrossing in 2017.
Published by AmazonCrossing, Seattle
www.apub.com
Amazon, the Amazon logo, and AmazonCrossing are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.
ISBN-13: 9781503942813
ISBN-10: 1503942813
Cover design by David Drummond
CONTENTS
BOOK ONE SMOKER
THE HOUSE MALE STUDENTS
AS OF BOOK ONE
The House sits . . .
SMOKER ON CERTAIN ADVANTAGES OF TRAINING FOOTWEAR
THE HOUSE INTERLUDE
THE HOUSE
SMOKER OF CONCRETE AND THE INEFFABLE PROPERTIES OF MIRRORS
THE HOUSE INTERLUDE
THE BACKYARD INTERLUDE
SMOKER OF BATS, DRAGONS, AND BASILISK EGGSHELLS
THE HOUSE INTERLUDE
THE FOREST
SMOKER VISITING THE CAGE
THE HOUSE INTERLUDE
SPHINX VISITING THE SEPULCHER
THE HOUSE INTERLUDE
SMOKER ON MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN BLACK SHEEP
THE HOUSE INTERLUDE
SMOKER POMPEY’S LAST STAND
BOOK TWO EIGHT DAYS IN THE LIFE OF JACKAL
THE HOUSE MALE STUDENTS
AS OF BOOK TWO
RALPH A SIDEWAYS GLANCE AT GRAFFITI
TABAQUI DAY THE FIRST
SMOKER ON APHIDS AND UNTAMED BULL TERRIERS
THE HOUSE INTERLUDE
TABAQUI DAY THE SECOND
THE CONFESSION OF THE SCARLET DRAGON
TABAQUI DAY THE THIRD
TABAQUI DAY THE FOURTH
THE SOOT OF THE STREETS SHARDS
THE HOUSE INTERLUDE
TABAQUI DAY THE FIFTH
TABAQUI DAY THE SIXTH
THE HOUSE INTERLUDE
A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CORRIDOR
WALKING WITH THE BIRD
TABAQUI DAY THE SEVENTH
SORCERY
BASILISKS
GHOST
TABAQUI DAY THE EIGHTH
THE LONGEST NIGHT
SPHINX THE LONGEST NIGHT
BOOK THREE THE ABANDONED NESTS
THE HOUSE MALE STUDENTS
AS OF THE END OF BOOK THREE
SPHINX
SPHINX
RED
RALPH
SMOKER
BLIND
TABAQUI
SPHINX
SMOKER
NOBLE’S TALE
GINGER’S TALE
SMOKER (CONTINUED)
RED’S TALE
TABAQUI’S TALE
SMOKER (CONTINUED)
EPILOGUE TALES FROM THE OTHER SIDE
BETWEEN THE WORLDS
VOICES FROM THE OUTSIDES
THE HAPPY BOY
THE ENCOUNTER
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
BOOK ONE
SMOKER
THE HOUSE MALE STUDENTS
FOURTH
—
BLIND
SPHINX
(TABAQUI)
BLACK
HUMPBACK
(NOBLE)
LARY*
ALEXANDER
(TUBBY)
(SMOKER)
THIRD
BIRDS
—
VULTURE
(LIZARD)
(ANGEL)
DODO
HORSE*
(BUTTERFLY)
(DEAREST)
GUPPY
BUBBLE*
BEAUTY
ELEPHANT
(FICUS)
(SHRUB)
SECOND
RATS
—
RED
SOLOMON
SQUIB
DON
VIKING
CORPSE
ZEBRA
HYBRID*
MONKEY*
MICROBE*
TERMITE*
PORCUPINE
SUMAC
CARRION
RINGER*
TINY
WHITEBELLY
GREENERY
DAWDLER
AS OF BOOK ONE
SIXTH
HOUNDS
—
POMPEY
CROOK
(OWL)
GNOME
SHUFFLE
LAURUS
WOOLLY
RABBIT
ZIT*
TRITON
(SLEEPY)
GENEPOOL*
DEALWITHIT*
SPLUTTER*
(HEADLIGHT)
(HASTEWASTE)
EARS
NUTTER
RICKSHAW
BAGMAN
CRAB
(FLIPPER)
FIRST
PHEASANTS
—
(GIN)
(PROFESSOR)
(BITER)
(GHOUL)
(STRAW)
(STICKS)
(BRICKS)
(CRYBABY)
(GYPS)
(HAMSTER)
KIT
(BOOGER)
(CUPCAKE)
(SNIFFLE)
(PIDDLER)
LEGEND
—
(PARENTHESES):
WHEELERS
UNDERLINED:
INSENSIBLE
BOLD:
UNDER 17
STARRED*:
BANDAR-LOGS
PHEASANT CRYBABY IS NOT THE SAME PERSON AS CRYBABY OF THE “PAST” EPISODES, WHO BECAME HORSE
The House sits on the outskirts of town. The neighborhood is called the Comb. The long buildings of the projects here are arranged in jagged rows, with empty cement squares between them—the intended playgrounds for the young Combers. The teeth of the comb are white. They stare with many eyes and they all look just the same. In places where they haven’t sprouted yet, there are the fenced vacant lots. The piles of debris from the houses already knocked down, nesting grounds for rats and stray dogs, are much more appealing to the young Combers than the empty spaces between the teeth.