Many Happy Returns

story one · figures 1–3

The story →

MANY HAPPY RETURNS · THE BALCONY FILLS AS THE TABLE EMPTIES — one afternoon, one lifetime · every round of the game moves one chair out, and nobody carries one back MANY HAPPY RETURNS · THE BALCONY FILLS AS THE TABLE EMPTIES one afternoon, one lifetime · every round of the game moves one chair out, and nobody carries one back 11 9 6 5 4 3 2 1 chairs at the table 0 2 5 6 8 9 11 14 chairs on the balcony the seventh birthday the year of the watch "three chairs now, then five" the year of the hip against his hip the printed cake the friend licensed back the father’s chair goes out the last party chairs THE CHAIRS COME UP FROM THE CAFÉ — ELEVEN FOR TEN GUESTS. THE BIRTHDAY BOY COUNTS THEM TWICE. At the last party there is one chair at the table, his, and the room is full anyway.
1 · Many Happy Returns
MANY HAPPY RETURNS · WHO IS IN THE ROOM — ten figures across one afternoon · filled = present in the body · open = absent · square = licensed back MANY HAPPY RETURNS · WHO IS IN THE ROOM ten figures across one afternoon · filled = present in the body · open = absent · square = licensed back the boy, then the man present at every party; wins the game for years the best friend licensed back · the laugh half a second late the whistle he never blew is still on a sill the mother bakes by hand until her wrists give out the father his chair goes out in a round of the game the neighbor’s husband the first chair carried to the balcony the neighbor "comes alone these days, and no one says anything" the twins old men now, matching shirts, denying nothing the girl with the braid eats the sugar flowers a girl with a braid a different braid · the same appetite the magician the coin goes to next year the seventh birthday the middle years the last party THE ROOM NEVER EMPTIES. WHAT CHANGES IS WHAT THE PEOPLE IN IT ARE.
2 · Many Happy Returns
MANY HAPPY RETURNS · THE DOORBELL, SIX TIMES — the story’s only clock · what arrives each time, and what the bell has become MANY HAPPY RETURNS · THE DOORBELL, SIX TIMES the story’s only clock · what arrives each time, and what the bell has become I Two notes, the second slightly ashamed of the first. the guests come up the hundred and twelve steps a bell II The doorbell rings. the best friend, back from another country, beard nobody agreed to a bell III the bell becomes a voice it says each guest’s name half a second before they can ring a voice IV the door says his name again no ring · the bell has already become a voice a voice V What comes in has his walk. licensed back · the walk right, the toast right, the laugh late a voice VI The doorbell rings. The doorbell rings. The doorbell rings. three in one line · the years going by in a sentence a voice VII The doorbell rings. the last line of the story · nobody answers it a voice THE BELL IS THE ONLY THING IN THE STORY THAT KEEPS TIME — AND IT IS REPLACED HALFWAY THROUGH. For a year his hand keeps arriving anyway, closing on nothing.
3 · Many Happy Returns

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