Falconer+-+John+Cheever

Falconer 139
Wall, or the Amana Prison,” said the voice, “is that negotiations
are still proceeding between the administration and the committee
of inmates. Forces to secure the institution are available, but
reports of impatience among the troops have been denied. Five of
the hostages have testified on radio and TV that they have been
receiving food, medical supplies and adequate protection under
the leadership of the Black Muslim faction. The governor has
made it clear for the third time that he does not have the power to
grant amnesty. A final petition for the release of the hostages has
been presented and the inmates will give their answer at daybreak
tomorrow. Daybreak is officially slated for six twenty-eight, but
the weather predictions are for cloudy skies and more rain. In the
local news, an octogenarian bicyclist named Ralph Waldo won the
Golden Age Bicycle Race in the town of Burnt Valley on his eightysecond
birthday. His time was one hour and eighteen minutes.
Congratulations, Ralph! Mrs. Charles Roundtree of Hunters
Bridge in the northeast corner of the state claims to have seen an
unidentified flying object at such a close range that the draft raised
her skirts while she was hanging out the wash. Stay tuned for
details of the five-alarm fire in Tappansville.” Then another voice
sang:
Garroway toothpaste cleans your teeth,
Both the dirt above and the dirt beneath,
Garroway toothpaste cavities hate,
Garroway toothpaste is for you and your mate.
Farragut slapped down cards for another ten minutes and then
began to shout, “I got a toothache. I want to quit. I got a
toothache.”
“Go home, go home,” said Walton. “I got to study.”
Farragut picked up his chair, and stopping by Ransome’s cell, he
said, “I got this terrible toothache. It’s a wisdom tooth. I’m forty-