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"I can see it I have a good memory

"It's not thesame, you fool," said Hitchcock suddenly There was a touch of anger in his voice "I mean see it I've always been that way When I'm in Boston, New York is dead When I'm in New York, Boston is dead When I don't see adown the street, lad to see him I used to, anyway I don't dance any ain"

Clehed "It's simply that your s You've got no iot to learn to hold on"

"Why should I hold onto things I can't use?" said Hitchcock, his eyes wide, still staring into space "I'm practical If Earth isn't here for me to walk on, you want me to walk on a memory? Thathurts Memories, as my father once said, are porcupines To hell with them! Stay away from them They make you unhappy They ruin your work They make you cry"

"I' to hi smoke

"You're kicking porcupines Later in the day you won't be able to eat lunch, and you'll wonder why," said Hitchcock in a dead voice "And it'll be because you've got a footful of quills aching in you To hell with it! If I can't drink it, pinch it, punch it, or lie on it, then I say drop it in the sun I'm dead to Earth It's dead to ht Shove New York There isn't any season here; winter and su, and autu; it's space and space The only thing right now is you andI'm positive of isme That's all of it"

Cleht now," he said, pantoirl in Evanston Hello, Barbara!"

The rocket sailed on through space

The lunch bell rang at 1305 hours The men ran by on soft rubber sneakers and sat at the cushioned tables

Clery

"See, what did I tell you!" said Hitchcock "You and your damned porcupines! L

eave the away food" He said this with a mechanical, slow, and unhu piece of pie in his ue He looked at the pie on his plate as if to see the texture He moved it with his fork He felt the fork handle Heand watched it jet up between the tines Then he touched a bottle of lass, listening to it He looked at the milk as if to make it whiter He drank the milk so swiftly that he couldn't have tasted it He had eaten his entire lunch in a fewit in feverishly, and now he looked around for azed out theof the rocket, blankly "Those aren't real, either," he said

"What?" asked Clemens

"The stars Who's ever touched one? I can see the that's athat far off isn't worth bothering with"

"Why did you come on this trip?" asked Clemens suddenly