Andrea Tillmanns
The biological library
Frank Fisher, an average earthling with an average life, was kept in the fourth attic from the left. He was waiting patiently to be chosen by one of the visitors – as far as this state could be described as “waiting”.
“It’s nice to chat with you,” he said after waking up. “How are you?”
“Very well, thank you,” replied the visitor. “Tell me something about flowers.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know very much about flowers,” said Frank Fisher. “Can I tell you something about cars instead?”
The visitor shook his head. “I’m not interested in cars. Then you’d better tell me about yourself and your family – where did you prefer to go on vacation?”
“In Italy, of course, mostly in Sorrento.” He talked about the sunny spring days when they enjoyed the warm but still bearable sun on the beach and in some years, when the blue-green algae allowed it, they could even cool off in the water. He talked about his family, the two children, how they grew up and eventually went on vacation alone, but mostly to cooler regions after the summer heat in their hometown had become almost unbearable, even with air conditioning. And Frank Fisher and his wife also eventually switched to spending their summer vacations in the cooler regions of Canada. “I don’t remember exactly why we don’t go there anymore …” he finally said.
The visitor registered the irritation. “Thank you very much,” he said politely and quickly let Frank Fisher return to the fourth storage unit from the left. Working with the historical storage media required caution in order not to damage them. Humans were much more sensitive than most of the other extinct races that the Relusians kept in their central library.
Other work by Andrea Tillmanns