ring a quiet life and the chance to do more books for children.
The girls remained healthy, grew tall, and Rebecca began selectively
dating boys, all of whom Suzie Lori found wanting in one way or another.
Sometimes John and Ann felt they lived too much in a fantasy, and they
made an effort to keep up with current events, watching for signs and
portents that they didn’t even like to discuss with each other. But the
world was endlessly troubled and tedious. Too few people seemed able to
imagine life without the crushing hand of one government or another, one
war or another, one form of hatred or another, so the Gaults always lost
interest in the news and returned to the world they imagined for
themselves.
One day a paperback novel arrived in the mail. The plain brown envelope
bore no return address, and no note of any kind was included with the
book. It was a science-fiction novel set in the far future, when
humankind had conquered the stars but not all of its problems.
The title was The Clone Rebellion. John and Ann read it.
They found it to be admirably well-imagined, and they regretted that
they would never have the opportunity to express their admiration.
the end.