Farewell Summer ~ Ray Bradbury - Marimarister
Farewell Summer ~ Ray Bradbury - Marimarister
Farewell Summer ~ Ray Bradbury - Marimarister
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CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE<br />
A huge question mark, painted on a ply wood shingle, hung over the tent entryway. The<br />
tent had been erected on one side of the lakefront grounds, and the entrance gave way into the<br />
darkness of a haphazardly constructed plywood lean-to museum. Inside was a series of platforms<br />
on which were no freaks, no beasts, no magicians, no people. Somehow, overnight, this mystery<br />
tent had appeared, as if it had pitched itself.<br />
Across town, Quartermain smiled.<br />
That morning, in school, Doug had found an un signed handwritten note in his desk. Its<br />
message was simple, written with black ink in large block letters:<br />
―the mystery of life explained. ??? at the lake-front. limited time only.‖ Doug passed the<br />
note among his friends, and as soon as school let out for the day, the boys had rushed down here,<br />
as fast as their feet could carry them. Now, entering the question mark tent with his friends,<br />
Doug was incredibly disappointed. Migawd, no bones, no dinosaurs, no mad generals at war, he<br />
thought. Nothing but night-dark canvas and flat platforms and . . . Douglas peered. Charlie<br />
squinted. Will, Bo, and Tom came last into the smell of old wood and tar-paper. There wasn‘t<br />
even a curator with a tall hat and baton to guide them along. There was only—<br />
On top of a series of small tables were a number of large one- and two-gallon jars filled<br />
to the brim with a thick, clear liquid. Each jar was topped by a glass lid, and each lid had a red<br />
number on it—twelve in all— each number, painted in a shaky hand. And inside each of the jars<br />
. . . maybe that was it, at last, the things implied by the huge question mark outside.<br />
―Heck,‖ muttered Bo. ―There‘s nothing here.<br />
What a gyp. So long, you guys. ‖<br />
And Bo turned, pushed the tent flap aside, and left.<br />
―Wait,‖ said Douglas, but Bo was already gone. ―Tom, Charlie, Will, you won‘t leave,<br />
will you? You‘ll miss out if you go.‖<br />
―But there‘s nothing here, just some old jars.‖<br />
―Wait,‖ said Doug. ―It‘s more than just jars. What‘s in the jars? C‘mon. Let‘s look<br />
closer.‖<br />
They edged up to the platform and crept along, staring into the jars, one after another.<br />
There were no labels to tell them what they were looking at, just glass and liquid and a soft light<br />
that seemed to pulse within the liquid and shone on their eager, sweaty faces.