be better than now, rather worse. The air won't be suitable for breathing so there will be probably some kind of masks or glass cities, where to live. Water won't be drinkable and people will buy all needful water from shops, actually not from shops but from the internet, because there won't be shops anymore. Food nearly won't exist anymore; energy will come in tablet form. Transport will be a lot comfortable and faster. Cars will be soundless and all vehicles will whir ten times faster. You will think nothing of taking a holiday in outer space. Students will learn from TV, recorders and teaching machines. They will get pills to make them learn faster. We shall be healthier, too. There will be no common colds, cancer, tooth decay or mental illness. But this will be artificial and impermanent. People will be lazier because they won't have to do any work and life will be extremely comfortable but boring
T h e girl doesn't know what to do and begins to weep. At once the door opens and a little man, or "manikin" as the tale says, comes in, asking her why she is crying so. Apparently he has been attracted by her strong emotions, as faerie folk are said to be. W h e n she explains her predicament he says he can spin straw into gold, no problem, and asks what she can give him if he does the job for her. She hands over her necklace and he at once sits down and spins the straw, whir, whir, whir, into shining gold wire on a spool. In the morning the little man has vanished. T h e king is very pleased with the gold, but being greedy, locks the girl into a bigger room with more straw, and again demands that she spin it all into gold by dawn. If not, she will die. All alone in the room that night, the girl feels hopeless and weeps once more. As if summoned again by her emotions, the little man appears a second time. T h i s time she offers
It wasn't until my head started to swim that I realized I wasn't breathing. When I drew in a jagged breath, breaking the stillness, he closed his eyes. "Bella, I think you should go inside now." His low voice was rough, his eyes on the clouds again. I opened the door, and the arctic draft that burst into the car helped clear my head. Afraid I might stumble in my woozy state, I stepped carefully out of the car and shut the door behind me without looking back. The whir of the automatic window unrolling made me turn. "Oh, Bella?" he called after me, his voice more even. He leaned toward the open window with a faint smile on his lips. "Yes?" "Tomorrow it's my turn." "Your turn to what?" He smiled wider, flashing his gleaming teeth. "Ask the questions." And then he was gone, the car speeding down the street and disappearing around the corner before I could even collect my thoughts. I smiled as I walked to the house. It was clear he was planning to see me
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