Get the full ebook with Bonus Features for a Better Reading Experience on ebookluna.

com

(eBook PDF) Introducing Communication Theory:

Analysis and Application 6th Edition

https://ebookluna.com/product/ebook-pdf-introducing-
communication-theory-analysis-and-application-6th-edition/

OR CLICK HERE

DOWLOAD NOW

Download more ebook instantly today at https://ebookluna.com

 Instant digital products (PDF, ePub, MOBI) ready for you
Download now and discover formats that fit your needs...

Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis and Application

7th International Student edition Edition Richard West -
eBook PDF
https://ebookluna.com/download/introducing-communication-theory-
analysis-and-application-ebook-pdf/

ebookluna.com

(eBook PDF) Motivation: Theory, Research, and Application

6th Edition

https://ebookluna.com/product/ebook-pdf-motivation-theory-research-
and-application-6th-edition/

ebookluna.com

(eBook PDF) Finite Element Analysis: Theory and

Application with ANSYS 4th Edition

https://ebookluna.com/product/ebook-pdf-finite-element-analysis-
theory-and-application-with-ansys-4th-edition/

ebookluna.com

(eBook PDF) Introducing Intercultural Communication:

Global Cultures and Contexts 3rd Edition

https://ebookluna.com/product/ebook-pdf-introducing-intercultural-
communication-global-cultures-and-contexts-3rd-edition/

ebookluna.com
(eBook PDF) Commodity Risk Management: Theory and
Application

https://ebookluna.com/product/ebook-pdf-commodity-risk-management-
theory-and-application/

ebookluna.com

(eBook PDF) Corporate Communication: A Guide to Theory and

Practice 6th Edition

https://ebookluna.com/product/ebook-pdf-corporate-communication-a-
guide-to-theory-and-practice6th-edition/

ebookluna.com

Microbiology: Laboratory Theory and Application 4th

Edition (eBook PDF)

https://ebookluna.com/product/microbiology-laboratory-theory-and-
application-4th-edition-ebook-pdf/

ebookluna.com

(eBook PDF) Microbiology Laboratory Theory and Application

4th Edition

https://ebookluna.com/product/ebook-pdf-microbiology-laboratory-
theory-and-application-4th-edition/

ebookluna.com

(eBook PDF) Measurement and Instrumentation: Theory and

Application 2nd Edition

https://ebookluna.com/product/ebook-pdf-measurement-and-
instrumentation-theory-and-application-2nd-edition/

ebookluna.com
PART TWO Understanding the Dialogue   65
THE SELF AND MESSAGES   

Chapter 4 Symbolic Interaction Theory    68

History of Symbolic Interaction Theory    70
Themes and Assumptions of Symbolic Interaction Theory    71
Key Concepts   76
Mind   76
Self   77
Society   79
Integration, Critique, and Closing    79
Scope   80
Utility   80
Testability   81
Closing   81
Discussion Starters   81

Chapter 5 Coordinated Management of Meaning    83

All the World’s a Stage    84
Assumptions of Coordinated Management of Meaning    85
The Hierarchy of Organized Meaning    88
Content   89
Speech Act   90
Episodes   90
Relationship   91
Life Scripts   91
Cultural Patterns   92
Charmed and Strange Loops    93
The Coordination of Meaning: Making Sense of the Sequence    95
Influences on the Coordination Process    96
Rules and Unwanted Repetitive Patterns    97
Integration, Critique, and Closing    100
Scope   100
Parsimony   101
Utility    101
Heurism    102
Closing   102
Discussion Starters   102

Chapter 6 Cognitive Dissonance Theory    104

Assumptions of Cognitive Dissonance Theory    108
Concepts and Processes of Cognitive Dissonance    109
Magnitude of Dissonance   109

Contents    vii
 Coping with Dissonance   110
Cognitive Dissonance and Perception    111
Minimal Justification   112
Cognitive Dissonance Theory and Persuasion    113
Integration, Critique, and Closing    115
Utility   115
Testability   117
Closing   118
Discussion Starters   118

Chapter 7 Expectancy Violations Theory    119

Space Relations   121
Proxemic Zones   121
Territoriality   123
Assumptions of Expectancy Violations Theory    124
Arousal   127
Threat Threshold   127
Violation Valence   128
Communicator Reward Valence   129
Integration, Critique, and Closing    130
Scope   131
Utility   131
Testability   131
Heurism   131
Closing   132
Discussion Starters   132

RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT   

Chapter 8 Uncertainty Reduction Theory    135

Assumptions of Uncertainty Reduction Theory    138
Key Concepts of URT: The Axiom and Theorem    140
Axioms of Uncertainty Reduction Theory    140
Theorems of Uncertainty Reduction Theory    142
Expansions of Uncertainty Reduction Theory    143
Antecedent Conditions   143
Strategies   144
Developed Relationships   145
Social Media   147
Context   148
Integration, Critique, and Closing    150
Utility   151
Heurism   153
Closing   153
Discussion Starters   153

viii    Contents
Chapter 9 Social Exchange Theory    155
Assumptions of Social Exchange Theory    158
Evaluating a Relationship   161
Exchange Patterns: SET in Action    163
Exchange Structures   165
Integration, Critique, and Closing    166
Scope   167
Utility   167
Testability   168
Heurism   168
Closing   169
Discussion Starters   169

Chapter 10 Social Penetration Theory    170

Assumptions of Social Penetration Theory    172
“Tearing Up” the Relationship: The Onion Analogy    175
A Social Exchange: Relational Costs and Rewards    177
Stages of the Social Penetration Process    179
Orientation: Revealing Bit by Bit    180
Exploratory Affective Exchange: The Self Emerges    181
Affective Exchange: Commitment and Comfortability    182
Stable Exchange: Raw Honesty and Intimacy    183
Integration, Critique, and Closing    184
Scope   184
Heurism   185
Closing   186
Discussion Starters   186

Chapter 11 Relational Dialectics Theory    187

Assumptions of Relational Dialectics Theory    190
Core Concepts of Dialectics    191
Basic Relational Dialectics   192
Autonomy and Connection   192
Openness and Protection   194
Novelty and Predictability   194
Contextual Dialectics   195
Beyond Basic Dialectics   196
Responses to Dialectics   198
Integration, Critique, and Closing    200
Parsimony   201
Utility   201
Heurism   201
Closing   202
Discussion Starters   202

Contents    ix
Chapter 12 Communication Privacy
Management Theory   204
Evolution of Communication Privacy Management Theory    206
Assumptions of CPM   207
Key Terms and Principles of CPM    208
Principle 1: Private Information Ownership    209
Principle 2: Private Information Control    209
Principle 3: Private Information Rules     211
Principle 4: Private Information Co-ownership and Guardianship    212
Principle 5: Private Information Boundary Turbulence     214
Integration, Critique, and Closing    214
Logical Consistency   215
Utility   216
Heurism    216
Closing   216
Discussion Starters   216

Chapter 13 Social Information Processing Theory    218

Theoretical Turbulence: The Cues Filtered Out    221
Assumptions of Social Information Processing Theory    223
Hyperpersonal Perspective: “I Like What I Read
and I Want More”    227
Sender: Selective Self-Presentation   227
Receiver: Idealization of the Sender    228
Channel Management   229
Feedback   229
Warranting: Gaining Confidence Online    230
Integration, Critique, and Closing    231
Scope   232
Utility   232
Testability   233
Closing   234
Discussion Starters   234

GROUPS, TEAMS, AND ORGANIZATIONS   

Chapter 14 Groupthink   237
Assumptions of Groupthink   240
What Comes Before: Antecedent Conditions of Groupthink    243
Group Cohesiveness   243
Structural Factors   244
Group Stress   245
Symptoms of Groupthink   245
Overestimation of the Group    246
Closed-Mindedness   247
Pressures Toward Uniformity   248

x    Contents
 (Group) Think About It: It’s All Around U.S.    249
Think Before You Act: Ways to Prevent
Groupthink   249
Integration, Critique, and Closing    251
Scope   252
Testability   252
Heurism   253
Test of Time   253
Closing   253
Discussion Starters   254

Chapter 15 Structuration Theory   255

Assumptions of Structuration Theory    259
Central Concepts of Structuration Theory    262
Agency and Reflexivity   262
Duality of Structure   263
Social Integration   267
Application of Time and Space    267
Integration, Critique, and Closing    268
Scope   269
Parsimony    269
Closing   270
Discussion Starters   270

Chapter 16 Organizational Culture Theory    272

The Cultural Metaphor: Of Spider Webs
and Organizations   275
Assumptions of Organizational Cultural Theory    276
Ethnographic Understanding: Laying It On Thick    279
The Communicative Performance   281
Ritual Performances   282
Passion Performances   282
Social Performances   283
Political Performances   283
Enculturation Performances   283
Integration, Critique, and Closing    284
Logical Consistency   285
Utility   285
Heurism   285
Closing   286
Discussion Starters   286

Chapter 17 Organizational Information Theory    287

The Only Constant Is Change (in Organizations)    290
General Systems Theory   290
Darwin’s Theory of Sociocultural Evolution    291

Contents    xi
 Assumptions of Organizational Information Theory    292
Key Concepts and Conceptualizing Information    294
Information Environment: The Sum Total    294
Rules: Guidelines to Analyze    295
Cycles: Act, Respond, Adjust    297
The Principles of Equivocality    298
Reducing Equivocality: Trying to Use the Information    299
Enactment: Assigning Message Importance    299
Selection: Interpreting the Inputs    300
Retention: Remember the Small Stuff    300
Integration, Critique, and Closing    301
Logical Consistency   302
Utility   303
Heurism   303
Closing   303
Discussion Starters   303
THE PUBLIC   
Chapter 18 The Rhetoric   306
The Rhetorical Tradition   308
Assumptions of the Rhetoric   309
The Syllogism: A Three-Tiered Argument    311
Canons of Rhetoric   312
Invention   312
Arrangement   314
Style   315
Memory   316
Delivery   316
Types of Rhetoric   317
Integration, Critique, and Closing    320
Logical Consistency   320
Heurism   321
Test of Time   322
Closing   322
Discussion Starters   323

Chapter 19 Dramatism   324
Assumptions of Dramatism   326
Dramatism as New Rhetoric    328
Identification and Substance   328
The Process of Guilt and Redemption    329
The Pentad   331
Integration, Critique, and Closing    333
Scope   333
Parsimony   334
Utility   334
Heurism   336

xii    Contents
 Closing   336
Discussion Starters   337

Chapter 20 The Narrative Paradigm    338

Assumptions of the Narrative Paradigm    341
Key Concepts in the Narrative Approach    344
Narration   344
Narrative Rationality   345
The Logic of Good Reasons    347
Integration, Critique, and Closing    348
Scope    349
Logical Consistency   349
Utility   350
Heurism   351
Closing   351
Discussion Starters   351

THE MEDIA   
Chapter 21 Agenda Setting Theory    355
History of Agenda Setting Research    356
Pretheoretical Conceptualizing   357
Establishing the Theory of Agenda Setting    358
Assumptions of Agenda Setting Theory    359
Two Levels of Agenda Setting    360
Three-Part Process of Agenda Setting    361
Expansions and Refinements to Agenda Setting Theory    364
Integration, Critique, and Closing    365
Scope   366
Utility   366
Heurism   367
Closing   368
Discussion Starters   368

Chapter 22 Spiral of Silence Theory    369

The Court of Public Opinion    372
Assumptions of Spiral of Silence Theory    374
The Media’s Influence   377
The Train Test   379
The Hard Core   380
The Spiral of Silence and Social Media    382
Integration, Critique, and Closing    383
Logical Consistency   384
Heurism   385
Closing   386
Discussion Starters   386

Contents    xiii
Chapter 23 Uses and Gratifications Theory    387
Assumptions of Uses and Gratifications Theory    389
Stages of Uses and Gratifications Research    392
Media Effects   393
Key Concepts: The Audience as Active    396
Uses and Gratifications and the Internet, Social Media,
and Cell Phones   397
Integration, Critique, and Closing    399
Logical Consistency   400
Utility   401
Heurism   401
Closing   401
Discussion Starters   402

Chapter 24 Cultivation Theory   403

Developing Cultivation Theory   406
Assumptions of Cultivation Theory    407
Processes and Products of Cultivation
Theory   409
The Four-Step Process   409
Mainstreaming and Resonance   410
The Mean World Index    412
Cultivation Theory as Critical Theory    413
Integration, Critique, and Closing    416
Logical Consistency   416
Utility   417
Heurism   417
Test of Time   417
Closing   419
Discussion Starters   419

Chapter 25 Cultural Studies   420

The Marxist Legacy: Power to the People    423
Assumptions of Cultural Studies    424
Hegemony: The Influence on the Masses    426
Counter-Hegemony: The Masses Start to Influence
the Dominant Forces   429
Audience Decoding   431
Integration, Critique, and Closing    433
Logical Consistency   433
Utility   434
Heurism   434
Closing   435
Discussion Starters   435

xiv    Contents
Chapter 26 Media Ecology Theory    436
Assumptions of Media Ecology Theory    439
Making Media History and Making “Sense”    442
The Tribal Era   442
The Literate Era   443
The Print Era   443
The Electronic Era   443
The Medium Is the Message    444
Gauging the Temperature: Hot and Cool Media    445
The Circle Is Complete: The Tetrad    447
Enhancement   448
Obsolescence   448
Retrieval   448
Reversal   449
Carrying the McLuhan Banner: Postman and Meyrowitz    450
Integration, Critique, and Closing    452
Testability   453
Heurism   453
Closing   454
Discussion Starters   454

CULTURE AND DIVERSITY   

Chapter 27 Face-Negotiation Theory   459

About Face   461
Face and Politeness Theory    462
Facework   463
Assumptions of Face-Negotiation Theory    464
Individualistic and Collectivistic Cultures    466
Face Management and Culture    469
Managing Conflict Across Cultures    470
Integration, Critique, and Closing    472
Logical Consistency   472
Heurism   473
Closing   474
Discussion Starters   474

Chapter 28 Communication Accommodation Theory    476

Social Psychology and Social Identity    478
Assumptions of Communication Accommodation Theory    480
Ways to Adapt   483
Convergence: Merging Thoughts Ahead    483
Divergence: Vive la Différence   487
Overaccommodation: Miscommunicating with a Purpose    488

Contents    xv
 Integration, Critique, and Closing    490
Scope   490
Logical Consistency   491
Heurism   492
Closing   492
Discussion Starters   492

Chapter 29 Muted Group Theory    494

Origins of Muted Group Theory    496
Makeup of Muted Groups    498
Differentiating Between Sex and Gender    499
Assumptions of Muted Group Theory    499
The Process of Silencing    503
Ridicule   504
Ritual   504
Control    505
Harassment   505
Strategies of Resistance   506
Integration, Critique, and Closing    506
Utility   507
Test of Time   508
Closing   508
Discussion Starters   508

Chapter 30 Feminist Standpoint Theory    510

Historical Foundations of Feminist Standpoint Theory    512
The Critique of Theory and Research by Feminist Theorists    513
Assumptions of Feminist Standpoint Theory    514
Feminist Standpoint Theory and the Communication Field    518
Key Concepts of Standpoint Theory    519
Voice   519
Standpoint   519
Situated Knowledges   520
Sexual Division of Labor    521
Integration, Critique, and Closing    521
Utility   522
Closing   524
Discussion Starters   524
Afterward ConnectingQuests   527
Glossary   G-1
References   R-1
Name Index   I-1
Subject Index   I-11

xvi    Contents
Preface

As we present the sixth edition of Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis

and Application, we remain excited by its enormous success. The previous five
editions demonstrate that communication theory courses are vibrant, that teachers
of communication understand the importance of theoretical thinking, and that both
instructors and students appreciate the consistent and organized template we employ
throughout. This text explores the practical, engaging, and r­ elevant ways in which the-
ory operates in our lives. It is written primarily for students who have little or no back-
ground in communication theory. We originally wrote the book because we thought
that students need to know how theorizing helps us understand ourselves, as well as
our experiences, ­relationships, media, environment, and culture. We also wrote this
book because we believe that students should have a text that relates theory directly
to their lives. We felt that some books insulted the student and trivialized theory while
other books were written at a level that was far too advanced for an undergraduate. In
this book, we take great care to achieve the following additional objectives:
∙∙ Familiarize students with the principles and central ideas of important theories
they are likely to encounter in the communication discipline.
∙∙ Demystify the notion of theory by discussing it in concrete and ­unequivocal
ways.
∙∙ Provide students with an understanding of the interplay among theory, commu-
nication, and application.
∙∙ Introduce students to the research process and the role of theory within this
process.
∙∙ Assist students in becoming more systematic and thoughtful critical thinkers.
The sixth edition of this book maintains its original focus of introducing com-
munication theory to students in an accessible, appealing, and consistent way. We
believe that students understand material best when it is explained in a clear, direct
way through a number of realistic and applicable examples. Our hope is that students
will take away a basic knowledge of, and appreciation for, communication theory
from reading our text.
The theories in communication studies have roots in both communication and in
other fields of study. This interdisciplinary orientation is reflected in the selection of
the various theories presented in the text. We not only include the unique contribu-
tions of communication theorists, but also theories with origins in other fields of study,
including psychology, sociology, biology, education, business, and philosophy. Com-
munication theorists have embraced the integration of ideas and principles forged by
their colleagues across many disciplines. Yet, the application, influence, and inherent

xvii
 value of communication are all s­ ustained by the theorists in this text. In other words,
although theories cut across various academic disciplines, their relevance to communi-
cation remains paramount and we articulate this relevancy in each theory chapter. We
do not presume to speak for the theorists; we have distilled their scholarship in a way
that we hope represents and honors their hard work. Our overall goal is to frame their
words and illustrate their theories with practical examples and instances so that their
explication of communication behaviors becomes accessible for students.
Together, we have over 60 years of experience in teaching communication ­theory.
During this time, we have learned a great deal. Introducing Communication Theory:
Analysis and Application utilizes and applies all that we as teachers have learned from
our students. We continue to be indebted to both students and colleagues whose sug-
gestions and comments have greatly influenced this newest edition.

The Challenges of Teaching and Learning

Communication Theory
The instructor in a communication theory course may face several challenges that are not
shared by other courses. First, because many students think of theory as distant, abstract,
and obscure, teachers must overcome these potentially negative connotations. Negative
feelings toward the subject can be magnified in classrooms where students represent
a variety of ages and socioeconomic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds. Introducing
Communication Theory addresses this challenge by offering a readable and pragmatic
guide that integrates content with examples, capturing the essence and elegance of theory
in a straightforward manner. In addition, the book takes an incremental approach to learn-
ing about theory, resulting in a thoughtful and appropriate learning pace.
A second challenge associated with teaching and learning communication
theory relates to preconceived notions of research: Students may view scholarship
as difficult or remote. This book demonstrates to students that they already possess
many of the characteristics of researchers, such as curiosity and ambition. Students
will be pleasantly surprised to know that they operate according to many personal
theories every day. Once students begin to revise their misconceptions about re-
search and theory, they are in a position to understand the principles, concepts, and
theories contained in this book.
A third challenge of teaching and learning communication theory is capturing
the complexity of a theory in an approachable way without oversimplifying the theo-
retical process. To address this problem, instructors often present a skeletal version
of a theory and then fill in the missing pieces with personal materials. By providing
a variety of engaging examples and applications reflecting a wide range of classroom
demographics, Introducing Communication Theory facilitates such an approach.
A final challenge relates to a theory’s genesis and today’s students. Clearly, in
this technological age, students look for and usually crave a desire to find a “tech
angle” to communication theory. Although many theories were conceptualized de-
cades ago, in each chapter, we have provided the most recent research that represents
a theory–technology framework. Further we have added questions in each chapter
that are technological in nature, facilitating further student interest in the material.

xviii Preface
Major Changes in Content in the New Edition
The sixth edition has undergone significant modification, namely in the content of the
theory chapters and in the various learning aids available. EACH chapter has been
updated to reflect the most current thinking. In particular, the following chapters have
undergone major changes:
Chapter 2 (Thinking About the Field: Traditions and Contexts) includes the most
current scholarship in each of the seven contexts of communication.
Chapter 3 (Thinking About Theory and Research) is completely reorganized to reflect
both the quantitative and qualitative thinking influencing theoretical development.
Chapter 4 (Symbolic Interaction Theory) has been completely reorganized so that it
disentangles the assumptions and themes of SI.
Chapter 8 (Uncertainty Reduction Theory) has been overhauled and provides a more
thoughtful presentation of the various axioms and theorems related to the theory.
Chapter 12 (Communication Privacy Management Theory) has been substantively
reorganized. In addition, new information on the criteria used to for developing
privacy rules is discussed in detail.
Chapter 14 (Groupthink) includes new information on NASA and the Military
Whistleblower Protection Act and their relationship to groupthink.
Chapter 15 (Structuration Theory) provides the newest thinking on various caution-
ary tales related to social integration.
Chapter 20 (The Narrative Paradigm) delineates new research and practices related
to storytelling.
Chapter 21 (Agenda Setting Theory) presents a reorganization and reconceptualiza-
tion of the three levels of agenda setting.
Chapter 22 (Spiral of Silence Theory) employs the legalization of marijuana as an over-
arching template while discussing the influence and pervasiveness of public opinion.
Chapter 24 (Cultivation Theory) includes extensive additions throughout on how
technology and “mass-mediated storytelling” influence individuals.
Chapter 25 (Cultural Studies) uses both the Flint, Michigan water crisis and mar-
riage equality to demonstrate several of the issues and themes related to the theory.
Chapter 29 (Muted Group Theory) includes a brief history of sexual harassment as
computer jargon’s male-centeredness to exemplify several concepts associated with
MGT.

Features of the Book

To accomplish our goals and address the challenges of teaching communication the-
ory, we have incorporated a structure that includes number of special features and
learning aids into the sixth edition:
∙∙ Part One, Foundations. The first three chapters of the book continue to pro-
vide students a solid foundation for studying the theories that follow. This

Preface xix
“The first three groundwork is essential in order to understand how theorists conceptualize and
chapters of the book test their theories. Chapters 1 and 2 define communication and provide a frame-
continue to provide work for examining the theories. We present several traditions and contexts in
which theory is customarily categorized and considered. Chapter 3 provides an
students a solid foun- overview of the intersection of theory and research. This discussion is essential
dation for studying in a theory course and also serves as a springboard for students as they enroll in
the theories that fol- other courses. In addition, we present students with a template of various evalua-
low. This groundwork tive components that we apply in each of the subsequent theory chapters.
is ­essential in order ∙∙ Part Two, Theories and Theoretical Thinking. Updated coverage of all ­theories.
to ­understand how Separate chapters on each of the theories provide accessible, thorough cover-
­theorists conceptu- age for students and offer flexibility to instructors. Because of the feedback we
alize and test their received from the previous edition, we ­retained the original theories from the
theories.” fifth edition This updating results in a more thoughtful, current, and applicable
presentation of each theory. As noted earlier, in many cases, we have provided
the most recent information of the influences of culture and/or technology upon
a particular theory, ­resulting in some very compelling discussions and examples.
“Every theory chapter ∙∙ Section openers. The theory chapters in Part Two are organized into six sec-
is self-contained tions. We have written section openers to introduce these groups of chapters.
and includes a The overviews provide students with an explanation for our choices, placing
the theories in context and allowing students to have a foundation in order to
consistent format see the connections ­between and among theories.
that begins with a
∙∙ Chapter-opening vignettes. Each chapter begins with an extended vignette, which
vignette, followed is then integrated throughout the chapter, providing examples to illustrate the the-
by an introduction, a oretical concepts and claims. We have been pleased that instructors and students
summary of theoreti- point to these vignettes as important applications of sometimes complex material.
cal assumptions, a These stories/case studies help students understand how communication theory
description of core plays out in the everyday lives of ordinary people. These opening stories help
drive home the i­mportant points of the theory. In addition, the real-life tone of
concepts, and a
each vignette entices students to understand the practicality of a particular theory.
critique (using the
∙∙ A structured approach to each theory. Every theory chapter is self-contained
criteria established and includes a consistent format that begins with a story, followed by an intro-
in Part One). This duction, a summary of theoretical assumptions, a description of core concepts,
consistency pro- and a critique (using the criteria established in Part One). This consistency
vides continuity for provides continuity for students, ensures a balanced presentation of the theo-
students, ensures a ries, and helps ease the retrieval of information for future learning experiences.
balanced presenta- Instructors and students have found this template to be quite valuable since it
eliminates the stream-of-consciousness frequently found in other published
tion of the theories, resources.
and helps ease the
∙∙ Student Voices boxes. These boxes, featured in every chapter, present both new
retrieval of informa- and returning ­student comments on a particular concept or theoretical issue. The
tion for future learn- comments, extracted from journals in classes we have taught, illustrate the practi-
ing experiences.” cality of the topic under discussion and also show how theoretical issues relate to
students’ lives. In a sense, this feature illustrates how practical theories are and how
much their tenets apply to our everyday lived experiences.

xx Preface
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Our Town
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Our Town

Author: Jerome Bixby

Release date: February 27, 2019 [eBook #58974]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online

Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR TOWN ***

OUR TOWN
 BY JEROME BIXBY

The jets got all the young ones in Smoky

Creek. Only the old folks were left—with
their memories. And the jets—friendly
or hostile—would never get them....

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from

Worlds of If Science Fiction, February 1955.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
A jet bomber and four fighters had appeared low over Bald Ridge,
out of the east. They'd curved up as one to clear Lawson's Hill, their
stubby wings almost brushing the treetops, their hiss and thunder
rolling back and forth between the valley walls like a giant's derision;
they'd dipped into the valley proper, obviously informed that Smoky
Creek, Tennessee (population 123) had no anti-aircraft installations,
and circled the town at about five hundred feet. They circled and
looked down—broad slavic faces with curious expressions, seen
through plexiglass, as if thinking: So this is an American small town.
Then they took altitude and got to work. The first bomb was aimed
at the big concrete railway bridge spanning the upper end of the
valley; that was the main objective of the attack. The bomb
exploded four hundred yards north of the bridge, at about six
hundred feet altitude—the ideal point from which to flatten Smoky
Creek. Low altitude bombing can be tricky, of course, especially in
mountain country. A-bombs were cheap though, turned out by the
carload; not like 20 years before, when they were first developed. So
it was likely the bombardier tripped a bomb over the town just for
the hell of it.
The next bomb got the bridge. The next tore up a quarter mile of
track. The next tore up a quarter mile of road. That was the mission.
The bomber circled, while the fighters strafed Smoky Creek for good
measure; and then they roared away past Lawson's Hill, over Bald
Ridge, into the east toward their invasion-coast base.
Everybody died. The bombs were midget A's, designed for tactical
use; so Smoky Creek wasn't reduced to dust—just to sticks. There
wasn't much heat from the bomb and there was hardly any residual
radiation. But everybody in town died. Concussion. Smoky Creek had
been comprised of one main street and three cross streets, and
that's not much area—the wave had thumped down from right
above, like a giant fist.
Everybody died, except twenty-one old men and women who had
been off in the woods at the far end of the valley, on their annual
Grandfolk's Picnic. They didn't die, except inside.

Three months later, an enemy jet came out of the sky and over the
valley. A scoop arrangement under its belly was sniffing Tennessee
and Alabama air for radioactive particles. It sniffed low over the
town, and then again—a ruined town might hide an underground lab
and converter—and then it barrel-rolled and crashed. Nine rifle
bullets had hit the motor; straight back through the jet intake, into
the blades.
A year after that another jet came low over the town, and it crashed
too. Only three bullets this time; but a jet motor's like a turbine—you
get a blade or two, and it goes crazy.
Two years after that, Ben Bates (no longer Mayor Ben, because a
mayor has to have a town; but still the man in charge) knocked off
playing horseshoes in what had been the Town Hall. Now the
building served as a recreation hall; there were horseshoe pits at
one end of the long room, there were tables for checkers and cards,
and a short tenpin alley along one wall. Three years ago the alley
had been twice as long as it was now; but then there were young
men around who could peg the length of it without tiring every time.
Overhead the roof sagged, and in one place you could see quite a
piece of sky—but under the hole the old men had rigged a slanted
board watershed that led to a drainage ditch; and scattered through
the room were a lot of supporting posts and timber braces. Actually
the building was about as safe as it had ever been.
There were other buildings like it; buildings that the bomb hadn't
pounded flat or made too risky. They were propped up and nailed
together and buttressed and practically glued so they'd stay up.
From outside you'd think they were going to crumble any minute—
walls slanted all cockeyed, boards peeled off and hanging, and roofs
buckling in. But they were safe. Fixed up every which way—from the
inside. All from the inside; not an inch of repair on the outside. It
had to be that way, because the town had to look like a dead town.
After the men had finished propping, the women had come along
with all the furniture and things they'd salvaged, and they swept and
scrubbed and did a hundred jobs the men never would have thought
of; and so the old people ended up with half a dozen buildings to
live in, secretly and comfortably, in the town that had to look dead.
"Arthritis is bad," Ben Bates told his teammates and opponents.
"Hell, I'm just giving away points. Maybe next week. I'll rest up, and
kick you all around next week."
He lit a cigar, a big grey man with long legs and a good-humored
mouth, and he watched Dan Paray throw one short; then he strolled
over to kibitz at the checker game between Fat Sam Hogan and
Windy Harris, at one of the tables near the door. Late morning
sunlight slanted in through the window by the table and struck light
off Windy's glasses as he leaned across the board, thumped a
checker three times and said triumphantly, "King me, Sam. You're
getting blind, I swear. Or dumber."
Behind his back Ben Bates heard a shoe ring against the stake; then
he heard it spin off, and he grinned at Owen Urey's bullfrog cussing.
Tom Pace was saying urgently, "Look—look, Jim, damn it, you didn't
no more shoot down that plane singlehanded than I did. We was all
shooting. Godamighty—where you get off claiming you brung it
down?"
Ben turned and sat down at the table next to the checker game, and
stretched his legs in the sunlight. He raised thick brows like clumps
of steel-wool at Tom and at old Jim Liddel, who sat in his pillowed
armchair like a thin, scowling, bald, mansized spider.
"You keep talking so high and mighty," Tom said, "we'll carry you out
o' here and take you and dump you in the creek. You can tell the
fish about who got the plane."
"Still arguing over who planted the shot, huh," Ben grinned. "Regular
feud, you two."
"Well, hell, Ben," Tom said, and bit down on his gums so his
whiskers almost hid the end of his nose. "I just get filled up on this
old windbag hollering how he—"
"You go call me a windbag once more, Tom Pace," Jim Liddel said,
and he stirred his all but helpless body in the armchair, "you're
gonna have a sore eye, you seventy year old whippersnapper. I
brung it down."
"In a hog's behind, you brung it down, Mister Dan'l Boone!"
"It 'us just after I let loose it started smoking," old Jim snarled, "and
nobody else was shooting right then! You're gonna get a sore eye, I
swear—tobacco in it. I can spit to where you sit, and I can spit
faster'n you can move, I bet, unless you're faster'n a fly, and you
ain't. You just ask anybody who was there ... it 'us just after I shot it
started—"
Tom Pace thumped the table. "I was there, you old ... now, now,
Jim, don't spit, for Godsake! Hold on. What I mean, I was there too,
and maybe somebody's shot from a second or two before was what
done the trick. Maybe even my shot! Takes a plane a while to know
it's hurt, don't it? Ever think o' that?"
"Maybe," Ben Bates said. "Maybe, maybe. And maybe. Let it go, you
two. It ain't important who done it; we oughta just be grateful we
got it."
"Grateful I got it," Jim Liddel grunted.
Tom Pace said, "Now, looky here, Jim—" Ben Bates nudged Tom's
leg under the table; and then slowly, fingering his jaw he said, "Well,
now, Jim ... I figure maybe you did, at that. Like you say, it smoked
and crashed right after you shot, so I always kind o' figured it was
you brought it down. But that's a hard thing to prove."
Jim snorted. "Can't prove it! But I got it, all right. A man knows
when he sunk a shot."
"In a varmint, maybe," Tom Pace objected, "or a man. But you
claiming to know where to hit a plane the worst?"
"We was all shooting at the front, up where they put the motor," Jim
said nastily. "Don't know about planes, but I know my aim. I got it
square-on."
"Well," Ben said, "why don't you just let it lay, eh, Tom? Jim's got a
lot on his side." He looked sidewise at old Jim, and saw that Jim was
still scowling at Tom. Old Jim was ninety eight, and some set in his
notions.
"Mm. Hell," Tom said reluctantly, after a second, "I ain't saying you
didn't, Jim. That ain't my intent. I just get burned when you yell you
did, like no man dared say you was wrong. Sure, maybe you're right.
But ain't you willing to admit you might be wrong too?"
"No," Jim Liddel yelled, and from the checker table came Windy
Harris's encouraging, "You tell 'em who got that plane, Jim!"
Ben Bates scraped an inch of ash off his cigar against the table-
edge, sighed and got up. He looked down at the glowering pair and
said, "Well, come the next plane, if there is one, we'll shove a rifle in
your hand, Jim, and see how good your eye is. You too, Tom. Till
that time, reckon this is no place for a reasoning man."
"Sit down, Ben Bates," old Jim snarled. "If you're a reasoning man,
sit down. Be glad to talk to one, after Tom here goes away."
"You go to hell. I ain't going no place," Tom said, and he picked up
the cards and started shuffling them in his stiff hands.
Ben sat down and stretched out his legs again.
After a second, old Jim said wistfully, "You know, I wish I could still
handle a rifle, Ben. Or do anything but sit. No way for a man to live,
to have dead legs and dying arms." He shifted in his cushions. "You
know, I reckon when I start to really die—die all over—I'm gonna
get up out o' this chair. I'll stand up, somehow, even if it kills me
faster. A man oughta fall when he dies, like a tree, so they know he
stood up in his time. A man oughtn'ta die sitting down."
"Sure, Jim," Ben said. "You're right about that."
"Never had a sick day in my life, until they dropped that bomb. Why,
I could outpitch and outchop and outshoot any of you
whippersnappers, until they ..." Old Jim walloped the chair arm.
"Damn, I made up for it, though! Didn't I? They put me in a chair, I
sat in it and I got me an airyplane, and that's more'n they could do
to me, by golly, they couldn't kill me!"
"Sure, Jim," Ben said.
"And when my time comes, I'll be up and out o' this chair. Man
oughta fall and make a noise when he dies."
"Sure, Jim," Ben said. "But that's a long ways off, ain't it?"
Jim closed his eyes, and his face looked like a skull. "You squirts
always think a man lives forever."

From outside came the late morning sounds: the murmuring of

Smoky Creek at the edge of town, under its cool tunnel of willows;
the twittering of a flock of robins circling above; the constant soft
rustle of the trees that crowded the green hills around. From the
warehouse down by the tracks came the faint sounds of livestock—
and the voices of the men whose job it was to look after them this
week: to feed them, turn them out into the big pens for an hour's
sunlight, then drive them back into the warehouse again.
Lucky the warehouse had stood the bomb—it was perfect for the
use.
"Wonder how the war's going," Tom Pace said. He dropped some
cards and bent painfully to retrieve them; his voice was muffled: "I
just wonder how it's going, you know? Wonder who's killing more
than who today.
"Maybe," Tom continued, coming up, "it's all over. Ain't seen no
planes for couple years now. Maybe somebody won."
Ben shrugged. "Who knows. Don't matter none to us. We're ready
as we can be if another plane comes around. Other than that, it ain't
our concern."
"Darn tootin'," Tom said, and pushed the cards together and started
shuffling again.
Jim Liddel said, "War!" and looked like he'd bit into spoiled meat.
"Never settled nothing ... just makes the biggest dog top-dog for a
while, so he can get his way. Man, I wish I could still lift a rifle, if an
airyplane come around! I'd love to get me another one." He put his
thin back against the cushions and pushed at the edge of the table
with his hands. Jim's fingers didn't move so well any more; some
were curled and some were straight out, and the joints were
different sizes, and now they were trembling a little. "Sometimes
when I think o' Johnny and Helen and all the kids—when I think o'
that day, and those damn bombs, and that white tower o' smoke up
over the town, I ... oh, godamighty, I'd love to see another
airyplane! I'd shout and yell and pray; I'd pray almighty God for you
to get it!"
Ben pulled on his cigar with stiff lips, and said slowly, "Well, we
might, Jim. We just might. Two out o' seven ain't bad." He puffed
out smoke. "We been running in luck, so far, what with nobody ever
coming back loaded for bear. Reckon that means the other five didn't
see us, low as they was; probably didn't even know they was being
shot at."
"They musta found bulletholes, though," Tom Pace said.
"Afterwards. Not a chance we'd all miss—" he bobbed his beard at
old Jim—"'specially with Dan'l Boone here plugging away. They'd
know they was shot at, all right. Might even find rifle bullets."
"Maybe they did," Ben said. "Nobody ever come snooping back,
though."
"Wouldn't know where to, would they?" Windy Harris said. He and
Fat Sam Hogan had stopped playing checkers, and had been
listening. "Smoky Creek looks dead as Sodom. Buildings all down,
and stuff knee-deep in the streets. Bridge down, and the road out.
And the valley is way the hell out o' the way ... no call for them to
suspect it more'n anyplace else. Less, even. They'd likely figure
somebody took a potshot from a hill ... and there's a pack o' hills
between here'n outside.
"Looks like," Ben said. "We just got to keep it that way. We got a
good plan: if the plane's up high, we just freeze under cover; if it
comes down low a time or two, we figure we're likely spotted and
start shooting. We shoot, and maybe it shoots too, and we pray."
"It's a good plan," Jim Liddel said, looking out the window. "We got
two."
Windy Harris got up and stretched out his arms.
"Two ain't enough," old Jim said bitterly.
"Well," Windy said, "I hope we keep on getting 'em—them as sees
us, anyway. Hope nobody ever knows we're here. It's peaceful here.
Way off by ourselves, nothing to do but get up and go to bed, and
do what we want in between." He sent tobacco juice into the
cuspidor by the door. "Right now, me, I guess I'll go fishing down by
the creek—promised Maude I'd bring home a cat or two for supper.
Anybody come along?"
Tom Pace shook his head, and old Jim looked like he'd like to go, if
he only could—and Ben said, "Maybe I'll be down a little while later,
Windy. Keep to the trees."
Windy left, and Tom Pace shuffled the cards and looked over at Jim
Liddel. "You going to play with Ben and me, you old windbag, or you
going to keep bragging so loud a man can't stand your company?"
"Why, you whippersnapper," Jim growled, "you just go ahead and
run 'em. Reckon a reasoning man and a nitwit's about the best I can
do right now."
Tom dealt out two cards, and said, "War!" without dealing out the
rest. He looked at Ben, his eyes cloudy. "Got a cigar, Ben?"
Ben handed one over and held a match, and Tom got it going,
puffing longer than he had to, like he didn't want to talk yet.
Then he said, "It didn't have to happen." He worked the cigar over
to the corner of his mouth and settled it in the nest of stained
whiskers there. "None of it had to happen—what happened here,
and whatever happened outside the valley. It just didn't have to
happen."
"'Course it didn't," Ben said. "Never has to. It just always does.
Some people got reasons to let it happen, and some ain't got the
sense not to."
Fat Sam Hogan said, "I don't figure there's anything in the world a
man can't sit down and talk out, instead o' reaching for a gun. Don't
know why that oughtn'ta hold for countries."
Ben Bates looked at one of the two cards Tom Pace had dealt—his
hole card. It was a four, and he lost interest. "Yup," he said, "it holds
all right ... they'll just both reach half the time anyway. One war on
top of another. Even one right after this one, ten years or so, if this
one's over. I just bet. Every country wants a piece out o' the next
one's hide—or his poke—and they won't give an inch except in talk;
they won't really buckle down to stop a war. Never. Not if they can't
get what they want by talk." He looked at the card again, just in
case—a four, sure enough. "Only time there's never a war is when
everybody has what they want, or figure they can get it without
killing somebody. But the second they see that's the only way, then
it's war. War, war, war. It's a rotten way to run a world, killing to
decide who's right or wrong ... 'specially killing people who got damn
little say about it. But I seen three-four wars now, and they don't
look to stop soon, judging." He shook his head wonderingly. "Put
half the money they spend on killing toward curing, instead, and
helping them that wants, and finding out all about diseases and such
... why, shucks, it'd be a brand-new world."
"I seen five," Jim Liddel said. "I seen wars come and go. I fought in
one. Afterwards, every time, they say everything's fine. The war to
save this or that's over, and things are fine. Then somebody wants
something somebody else has, and they're at it again, like two bulls
trying to hump the same heifer. Bulls don't have enough sense to
know there's enough cows to go around; but people ought. It's a big
enough world." He worked those hands of his together until they
were clasped, and he pushed them that way against the table-edge
until the overgrown knuckles looked like chalk. "When I think o' that
noise, and that cloud, ... how we come running and screaming back
here into all the dust and mess, and all them bodies ... I ... Ben,
I...."
"You lost heavy, Jim," Ben said. He let smoke out of his lungs, and it
curled off into the broad beam of sunlight that came through the
window, and it looked like the smoke that had shadowed a murdered
town. "Heavy. You lost heavier'n any of us."
"You can't count it," old Jim said, and the chalk was whiter. "We all
lost the same; I just had more of it. Our kids and their kids—and
their kids ... lost heavy? What can a man lose more'n his life?... And
if you're as old as us, what's your life except the family you made
out o' your own flesh? What else's a man got when he's eighty or a
hundred?"
Tom Pace said, "Ruth and Dave and their kids. I remember little
Davey. He called me Tom Peach. I bought him a toy plane for his
birthday. That was a couple days before the real planes come. I
buried it with him ... I think. I think it was him I put it with. It
mighta been Joey ... they looked alike."
"A man ain't nothing, when he's as old as us," Jim Liddel said, his
skull sockets closed, "except what he done. He ain't much any more,
himself; he's mostly what he done with his life, whatever he done
and left around that he can point to and say, 'I did that', that's all.
And what's he got left if they take that away? We can't make it
again. We made Smoky Creek; built it; wasn't a thing here that
didn't come out o' us or ours. We made the valley, after God give it
to us; wasn't a thing here we didn't let live or help live or make live.
We made our families, and watched 'em fit into the town and the
valley, like the valley fits into the world, and we watched 'em go on
doing what we done before them: building and working and planting
and raising families—going on, like people got to go on. That's the
way it was. That's what we had. Until they dropped the bomb and
killed it—killed all we done that made us men." Tears were
squeezing out of the skull sockets, and Ben Bates caught Tom Pace's
eye and looked away, out the window, at the green walls of the
valley that was a coffin.
"I just wish an airyplane would come around again," old Jim said. "I
—just—wish. You know, Ben?"
Ben tried to talk and had to clear his throat; he put out his cigar in
the ashtray, as if that was what was wrong with his throat, and said,
"I know, Jim. Sure. And maybe you'll get your wish." He pushed
back his chair and tried to grin, but it came out sour. "Maybe you
will, you old fire-eater—and what if one comes and we get spotted
and it shoots us up or goes back and tells everybody we're here?
That's one wish we don't want the good Lord to grant, ain't it? Ain't
it, now?"
Jim didn't say anything.
Ben got up and said, "'Bout noon. Guess I'll go home for a bite and
then go down and fish with Windy."
Jim said, thinly, "I meant, I wish one would come and we'd get it."
"Well, maybe one will," Ben said, turning toward the door. "They
built a slew o' them. And maybe we will, if it does."

He stopped by the door of the Town Hall to listen carefully, his sharp
old eyes half-shut. Behind him, at the far end of the room,
somebody made a ringer, and Dave Mason said, "Nice, Owen," in his
reedy voice. Ben listened and didn't hear what he was listening for.
He stepped past the rifle that leaned beside the door and made his
way to the end of the porch, walking close to the wall. The summer
sun stood at noon, and the porch was in shadow; beyond, the street
was a jumble of boards and broken glass, its canyon walls of leaning
building-fronts and sagging porches, its caverns of empty windows
and doorways shimmering in the heat. You couldn't see much dirt
along the way; where the debris didn't come to your knees, it
reached over your head.
At the end of the porch Ben stopped and listened again; heard
nothing. He stepped down and walked as fast as he could—damn
arthritis again—to the porch of the next building.
This had been Fat Sam Hogan's Hardware Store, and about all that
was left of it was the porch; the rest was a twisted mess of wood
that slumped away to the ground at the rear. The porch had been
down too, right after the bombing—but the old men, working at
night, had raised it and braced it up. Something to walk under.
A Springfield stood, oiled and waiting, against the wall. Ben paused
and touched the barrel—it was his own. Or rather it had once been
his own; now it was the town's, strictly speaking, to be used by
whoever was nearest it when the time came. It was a good gun, a
straight-shooter, one of the best—which was why it was here instead
of at his house. A man could get a better shot from here.
He went on, hugging the wall.
He passed a rifle wedged up between the fender and hood of Norm
Henley's old Model A, and he remembered how the bomb had
flipped the car right over on its top, and how the car must have
protected Norm from the blast—just a little. Enough so they found
him two blocks up the street, in front of his mashed house, trailing
blood from every hole in him, to get to his family before he died.
Ben passed rifles leaned against walls and chairs on porches, rifles
standing behind trees, leaned in the cracks between what buildings
still stood to provide cracks, even old Jim's carbine lying under the
ledge of the pump-trough in front of Mason's General Store. All of
them in places where they were protected from rain or snow, but
where they were easy to get at.
He passed sixteen rifles—walking, as everybody walked when they
were out of doors, as close to the walls of the buildings as possible.
When you had to cross open spaces you ran as fast as your seventy
or eighty year old legs would take you—and if you couldn't run, you
walked real fast. And always you listened while you walked;
particularly you listened before you went out. For planes. So you
wouldn't be spotted from the air.
At the end of the porch of the last building on the street, Ben
paused in the shade and looked out across the creek to where the
first plane they'd shot down had crashed—the one Jim claimed to
have got by his lonesome. They'd buried what they found of the
pilot, and cleared away every last bolt and nut and scrap of
aluminum, but the long scar in the ground remained. Ben looked at
it, all broken up by rocks and flowers and bushes the old people had
transplanted so it wouldn't show from the air; and he looked at the
cemetery a hundred feet beyond at which the scar pointed like an
arrow—the cemetery that wasn't a cemetery, because it didn't have
headstones; just bodies. A town that was dead shouldn't have a lot
of new graves—the dead don't bury themselves. A pilot might see a
hundred graves he hadn't seen before and wonder—and strafe.
So Ben looked at the flat ground where those hundred bodies lay,
with only small rocks the size of a man's fist with names scratched
on them to mark who lay beneath; and he thought of his daughter
May, and Owen Urey's son George who'd married May, and their
three kids, and he remembered burying them there; he remembered
their faces. The blood from eyes, nose, ears, mouth—his blood it
was, part of it.
Then Ben looked up. "We ain't looking for trouble," he said to the
empty blue bowl of sky. "But if you do come, we're ready. Every day
we're ready. If you stay up high, we'll hide. But if you come down
low, we'll try to get you, you crazy murderers."

His house was only a few yards farther on; he got there by sticking
under the trees, walking quickly from one to the next, his ears
cocked for the jetsound that would flatten him against a trunk. Way
off to his left, across a long flat of sunflowers and goldenrod, he saw
Windy Harris down on the creekbank, by the bridge. He yelled,
"They biting?"—and Windy's faint "Got two!" reminded him of all old
Jim had said, and he shook his head. He left the trees and walked
fast up his front path.
His house was in pretty good shape. All four houses on the outskirts
had come off standing—his and Windy's and Jim's and Owen Urey's.
They'd needed just a little bracing here and there, and they were
fine—except Owen's. Owen had stomped around in his, and listened
to the sounds of it, and said he didn't trust it—and sure enough, the
first big storm it had gone down.
Now Ben and his wife Susan lived downstairs in his house; Joe
Kincaid and his wife Anna lived on the second floor; and Tom Pace
lived in the attic, claiming that climbing the stairs was good for his
innards.
Anna Kincaid was sitting on the porch-swing, peeling potatoes. Ben
said, "Afternoon, Anna," and saw her pale bright eyes flicker up at
him, and that scared smile touched her mouth for just a second;
then she hunched her shoulders and kept on with the potatoes, like
he wasn't even there.
Ben thought, It must be lonely to be that way—and he attracted her
attention again, his voice a little louder: "Hope you're feeling fine,
Anna."
Again the flicker of eyes. "Just fine, Ben, thanks," she said, almost in
a whisper. "Peeling spuds."
"I see."
Her knife sped over a potato, removing a spiral of skin. She popped
out an eye with a twist of the point. "Think Keith'll be back from the
war today, Ben? It's been so long ... I hate to think o' my boy
fighting out there so long. Will they let him come home soon, Ben?"
"They will, Anna. I think they will, real soon. Maybe tomorrow."
"Will they?"
"Sure."
Keith Kincaid was under one of those fist-sized rocks, out in the
cemetery that wasn't a cemetery—next to his wife, June Hogan, and
their four kids. But Anna Kincaid didn't know that. Since the bomb,
Anna hadn't known much of anything except what the old people
told her, and they told her only things that would make her as happy
as she could be: that Keith was in the Army, and June was off with
the kids having a nice time in Knoxville; and that they'd all be back
home in a day or so.
Anna never wondered about that "day or so"—she didn't remember
much from day to day. Joe Kincaid sometimes said that helped a
little, as much as anything could. He could tell her the same nice
things every day, and her eyes would light up all over again. He
spent a lot of time with her, doing that. He was pretty good at it, too
... Joe Kincaid had been Doctor Joe before the bomb. He still
doctored some, when he could, but he was almost out of supplies;
and what with his patients being so old, he mostly just prayed for
them.
In the kitchen, Susan had lunch ready and waiting—some chicken
from last night, green beans, boiled potatoes and a salad from the
tiny gardens the women tended off in the weedy ground and around
the bases of trees where they wouldn't be seen.
On the way in Ben had noticed that the woodbox was about empty—
he'd have to bring home another bag of charcoal from the "general
store"—which was Windy's barn, all braced up. Into it the old people
had taken every bit of clothing, canned food, hardware, anything at
all they could use in the way of housekeeping and everyday living,
and there it all stood; when somebody needed something, they went
and took it. Only the canned foods and tobacco and liquor were
rationed. Every week or so, around midnight, Fat Sam Hogan and
Dan Paray went into the big cave in Lawson's Hill, right near where
the second plane had crashed, and set up a lot of small fires, back
where the light wouldn't be seen; they made charcoal, and when it
cooled they brought it down to the "store," for cooking and such—a
charcoal fire doesn't give off much smoke.
Over coffee, Ben said, "Reckon I'll fish some this afternoon, honey.
How's a cat or two for supper sound?"
"Why, goodness, Ben, not for tonight," Susan smiled. "You know
tonight's the Social; me and Anna are fixing a big dinner—steaks and
all the trimmings."
"Mm," Ben said, draining his cup. "Forgot today was Sunday."
"We're going to have some music, and Owen Urey's going to read
Shakespeare."
Ben pursed his lips, tasting the coffee. It was rationed to two cups a
day; he always took his with his lunch, and sometimes he'd have
sold a leg to dive into a full pot. "Well ... I might as well fish anyway;
take in some fun. Fish'll keep till tomorrow, won't it?"
"You can have it for breakfast." She sat down across the table and
picked up the knitting she'd been on when Ben came home; he had
a hunch it was something for his birthday, so he tried not to look
interested; too early to tell what it was, anyway. "Ben," she said,