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He felt at ease and comfortable "Why aren't you in school? I see you every day wandering around"

"Oh, they don't miss me," she said "I'e I'm very social indeed It all depends on what youto you about things like this" She rattled some chestnuts that had fallen off the tree in the front yard "Or talking about how strange the world is Being with people is nice But I don't think it's social to get a bunch of people together and then not let them t

alk, do you? An hour of TV class, an hour of basketball or baseball or running, another hour of transcription history or painting pictures, and more sports, but do you knoe never ask questions, or at least , and us sitting there for four more hours of film-teacher That's not social to me at all It's a lot of funnels and a lot of water poured down the spout and out the botto us it's hen it's not They run us so ragged by the end of the day we can't do anything but go to bed or head for a Fun Park to bully people around, break panes in the Window Smasher place or wreck cars in the Car Wrecker place with the big steel ball Or go out in the cars and race on the streets, trying to see how close you can get to lauess I'ht I haven't any friends That's supposed to prove I' around like wild or beating up one another Do you notice how people hurt each other nowadays?"

"You sound so very old"

"Soe They kill each other Did it always used to be that way? My uncle says no Six of my friends have been shot in the last year alone Ten of them died in car wrecks I'm afraid of them and they don't like randfather remembered when children didn't kill each other But that was a long tis different They believed in responsibility, my uncle says Do you know, I'o And I do all the shopping and housecleaning by hand

"But most of all," she said, "I like to watch people Sometimes I ride the subway all day and look at theure out who they are and what they want and where they're going Soo to the Fun Parks and ride in the jet cars when they race on the edge of town atas they're insured As long as everyone has ten thousand insurance everyone's happy Sometimes I sneak around and listen in subways Or I listen at soda fountains, and do you knohat?"

"What?"

"People don't talk about anything"

"Oh, they must!"

"No, not anything They na pools s and nobody says anything different from anyone else And most of the time in the cafes they have the joke-boxes on and the same jokes most of the time, or theup and down, but it's only color and all abstract And at the museums, have you ever been? All abstract That's all there is now My uncle says it was different once A long tis or even showed people"

"Your uncle said, your uncle said Your uncle must be a remarkable man"

"He is He certainly is Well, I got to be going Goodbye, Mr Montag"

"Goodbye"

"Goodbye"

One two three four five six seven days: the firehouse