He could take apart an
old watch and put it back...
He could take apart an
old watch and put it back together exactly as it had
beenHe understood how the faucets in the sink
workedHe'd fixed the toilet many timesHe'd made a
wheeled cart out of the parts of an old armchairHe
even had a hazy idea of what was going on in the
refrigeratorHe was proud of his mechanical talentThere was only one thing he didn't understand at all,
and that was electricityWhat was the power that ran
through the wires and into the light bulbs? Where did
it come from? He had thought that if he could just get
a look at the generator, he would have the clue he
neededFrom there, he could begin to work on a solution
that would keep the lights of Ember burning
But one glimpse of the generator showed him how
foolish he wasHe'd expected to see something whose
workings he could understand--a wheel turning, omega watches for sale a
spark being struck, some wires that led from one point
to anotherBut this monstrous roaring thing--he
wondered if anyone understood how it workedIt
looked as if all they were doing was trying to keep it
from flying apart
47
As it turned out, he was rightWhen the day was
over and he was upstairs taking off his boots and
slicker, he saw the old man from the generator room
and went to talk to him"Can you explain to me about
the generator?" he asked"Can you tell me how it
works?"
The old man just sighed"All I know is, the river
makes it go
"But how?"
The man shrugged"Who knows? Our job is just
to keep it from breaking downIf a part breaks, we got
to put on a new oneIf a part freezes up, we got to oil
it He wiped his hand wearily across his forehead,
leaving a streak of black grease"I been working on the
generator for louis vuitton white speedy twenty yearsIt's always managed to chug
along, but this year The thing seems
to break down every couple minutes He cracked a
wry smile"Of course, I hear we might run out of light
bulbs before that, and then it won't matter if the
generator works or not
Running out of light bulbs, running out of power,
running out of time--disaster was right around the
cornerThat's what Doon was thinking about when he
stopped outside the Gathering Hall on his way home
and saw Lina on the roofShe looked so free and happy
up thereHe didn't know why she was on the roof, but
he wasn't surprisedIt was the kind of thing she did,
turning up in unexpected places, and now that she was
48
a messenger, she could go just about anywhereBut
how could she be so lighthearted when everything was
falling apart?
He headed for homeHe lived with his gucci silver bag father in a
two-bedroom apartment over his father's shop in
Greengate Square--the Small Items shop, which sold
things like nails, pins, tacks, clips, springs, jar lids,
doorknobs, bits of wire, shards of glass, chunks of
wood, and other small things that might be useful in
some wayThe Small Items shop had overflowed
somewhat into their apartment aboveIn their front
room, where other people might display a nice teapot
on a tabletop or a few attractive squashes or tomatoes
on a shelf, they had buckets and boxes and baskets full
of spare items for the shop, things Doon's father had
collected but not yet organized for sellingOften these
items spilled over onto the floorIt was easy to trip
over things in this apartment, and not a good idea to
go barefootToday Doon didn't stop in at the shop to see his
father before going upstairsHe mens gucci watches wasn't in the mood for
conversationHe removed two buckets of stuff from
the couch--it looked like mostly shoe heels--and
flopped down on the cushionsHe'd been stupid to
think he could understand the generator just by looking
at it, when other people had been working on it
their entire livesThe thing was, he had to admit, he'd
always thought he was smarter than other peopleHe'd
49
been sure he could learn about electricity and help
save the cityHe wanted to be the one to do itHe had
imagined many times a ceremony in Harken Square,
organized to thank him for saving Ember, with the
entire population in attendance and his father beaming
from the front rowAll Doon's life, his father had
been saying to him, "You're a good boy and a smart
boyYou'll do grand things someday, I know you will
But Doon hadn't done much that was grand gucci bookbag so
