erehW eht dliW sgnihT erA T. COOPER
K AD NES ECI R UA M
Swimming
Originally published in The New Yorker, August 2007
3 6 91 n i d e h s i l b u p y l l a n i g i r O
The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind
3
and another his mother called him “WILD THING!” and Max said “I’LL EAT YOU UP!” so he was sent to bed without eating anything. That very night in Max’s room a forest grew and grew — and grew until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around and an ocean tumbled by with a private boat for Max and he sailed off through the night and day and in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the wild things are.
4
And when he came to the place where the wild things are they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws till Max said “BE STILL!” and tamed them with the magic trick of staring into all their yellow eyes without blinking once and they were frightened and called him the most wild thing of all and made him kind of all wild things “And now,” cried Max, “let the wild rumpus start!”
5
“Now stop!” Max said and sent the wild things off to bed without their supper. And Max the king of all wild things was lonely and wanted to be where someone loved him best of all. Then all around from far away across the world he smelled good things to eat so he gave up being king of where the wild things are. But the wild things cried, “Oh please don’t go — we’ll eat you up — we love you so!”
6
And Max said, “No!� The wild things roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws but Max stepped into his private boat and waved good-bye and sailed back over a year and in and out of weeks and through a day and into the night of his very own room where he found his supper waiting for him and it was still hot.
7
lO iw re h w kSadne” ?sge ryats’ngdn ih liEw eO hC te w k adnSes ec rPuOaO mC .T REPdO Ce .Tht eWIMMING nc ihitryu na m r a eh e uo iD “ t dR PO .TrehWIMMING RiE ni dna k aSdneRsEePcO i rOuCa.m WIMMING T
.T
gPnOih e h t e re h w RsE Ot Cd .Tli w WIMMING S .T
eWIMMING r a sgnihtSdli w k adnesSeci rRuEaPm nih t REePh OtOeCr.e Th w WIMMING OOCe.r Ta sgWIMMING S kE aP dO nO esCe.TciruWIMMING a m e r a sSgnih dO lO iw re h w skSeew fR oE tuPoOdO naC R Rt EP Ce .Tht eWIMMING
k aWIMMING dnes eciru eeO w Cfo.T tuo dn”a?ngindihntaynaerraa gonyith’ntdd l“i w eWIMMING ht e reh wS S a mREsPkO ehsu iD rO uC am Re Ec PiO .T
er a sgniht Sdli wRe tO er hw WIMMING Eh PO Ce.T
kRaEdPnOeO sC ec.Ti ruaWIMMING m era S
k adnes e uE aP mOOe a sgn iht dli w Seht R eE re WIMMING S ci rR Cr.T WIMMING Ph Ow OC
e r a sgnihSt dlR iw eO hO tCe r k adneSs eciRrEuPaOmOC e nih t dli w tEePrO eO hC w.T WIMMING EP .Teh wWIMMING .Tr a sg WIMMING S ehR
.T
k aWIMMING d n es S
sg t e reh w S k aRdEnPeOsOeCci.Trua m e r a sgn wOeCh.T t e reWIMMING hw k adSnesReEcPi r Rn EiPh OtOd Cl.iTw eh WIMMING WIMMING S ihtRd ElPiO Ou OaCm dl i w eht e rSeh wREPO kO adCn.Tes ecWIMMING irua m eSr a sR gE nP ih i w eh t e re h w S k a era S WIMMING Ot Od Cl.T WIMMING Rd En Pe OsOeCc.iTrua m WIMMING
.T
ehRtEePrOeOhCw.T
kWIMMING adnes ecirSua m” ?gneir litw h“t e rR eh wOOCk.T adneWIMMING s eci rua mS h tays ng an raiehhtud oy ’ndeiD EP
dWIMMING na k adne am e r a sWIMMING gniht dliSw eh eO reOhCw.T Ss ecRi r Eu PO OC .T Rt EP
.T
sRgEnPiO ht dl.Ti w eWIMMING h t e re h w S OC
eR ra sO gn EP OiCht
kWIMMING adnes eciSrua m t dli w REPe Or OaCs.g TnihWIMMING S
kR ad nO esOe iruaWIMMING m e r a sgSniht” ?dgl wt yenhatraeerheuhow ke“ew foRtE uoPdOnOa Cni EP Cc.T nih y t’ndisD
dl i w eht e rSeh wREPO kO adCn.Tes ecWIMMING irua m eSr a sR gE nP ih i w eh t e re h w S k a era S WIMMING Ot Od Cl.T WIMMING Rd En Pe OsOeCc.iTrua m WIMMING
.T
eh eO reOhCw Rt EP .T
kWIMMING adnes eciSrua m e rOaCs.T gnihWIMMING t dli w eh t s eci rua mS e rRaEsPgOnOiC ht REPO S e re Rh Ew POOCk.a Td neWIMMING
hw k adSnesReEcPi r .T e reWIMMING Ou OaCm.T
e rWIMMING a sgniht dSli wReEhPtOeOrCe.h Tw
k adnes eSci ruRaEm ih t dli w S WIMMING POOeCr.a TsgnWIMMING
er sg i w eht e rSeh wREPsOkeOew o tuo dWIMMING na ni dna Sk adR nE esPO ec ru e r a sgnih liEw eh R Ea PO On Ci.h Tt dlWIMMING C f.T OiC .Ta m WIMMING S t dR PO Ot C .T
sgn iht dli w Seht e dn dli w eh t e kCad eci rua m S WIMMING ” ?rge nh ihw t yna rk aa eh uoeyste ’ncdiir Du “ a m REePr OaOsCg.n TihtWIMMING S rehRw EPOO .Tnes WIMMING dRlEiP wOeOhCt.T e rehWIMMING w k adnSes eRcEirPu sgniht dlSi w eRhEtPe Oa Om C .T e r aWIMMING Or OeCh.w T
k adnes ecSi ruaRm WIMMING EPOeOrCa
ehWIMMING t e reh w S k aR dE nP eO sO ecCir e r a sgnSiht R dE liPw eh w k adSnes e uO aC m.T e r a sgniht S .Tua mWIMMING OO Ct .Te reh WIMMING Rc EiPrO WIMMING
.T
e rReE hPwOOCk.Tadne s eci rua mS WIMMING .T
eR rE aPsO gO nC ih.T t dliWIMMING w eht e reSh w
ad s eciWIMMING rua m e rSa sgR nE ihPtOd REk PO On Ce.T Ol Ci w
skWIMMING eew fo tuo dnSa ni dRnEaPOeOrCa.T sgniWIMMING h t dli w eh es eci rua m S t er ReEh Pw OOC .k Tad nWIMMING S
eRrEaPsOgOnCih i w eht .Tt dlWIMMING S
sg t e reh w S k aRdEnPeOsOeCc.iTrua m e r a sgn wOeCh.T t e reWIMMING hw k adSnesReEcPiO ru Rn EiPh OtOd Cl.iTw eh WIMMING WIMMING S ihtRd ElPiO OaCm .T
k a”d?n eishe g“niht dli w ehtSe reR hEwPOOk dnesWIMMING eci rua m S skeR ewEfPoOtuOoCdn.Ta ni dWIMMING na e r a S gn t ycniarruaaem h uoyetr ’nads iD WIMMING Ca.T rO uC am Re Ec PiO .T
er a sgniht Sdli wRe tO eC re.T hw WIMMING Eh PO
k adnes e uE aP mOOe a sgn iht dli w Seht R eE re WIMMING S ci rR Cr.T WIMMING Ph Ow OC
maurice sendak where the wild things maurice sendak where the wild T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER “Didn’tare you hear anything?” SWIMMING T. COOPER things are mauriceSWIMMING sendak where the wildSWIMMING things are SWIMMING T. COOPER T. COOPER and out of weeks where the wild things are maurice sendak COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER are maurice sendak SWIMMING T. COOPER
where the wildSWIMMING things are T. COOPER
maurice where T. the wild things are maurice sendak COOPERsendak SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER
things are COOPER
maurice T. COOPER
maurice sendak where the wild are maurice sendak SWIMMING T. COOPER “Didn’t youthings hear anything?” SWIMMING
are maurice sendak SWIMMING T. COOPER
maurice sendak where the wild things are maurice sendak SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING
the wild things are COOPER SWIMMING
where the wild things are T. COOPER SWIMMING
T.
where the wild things SWIMMING T. COOPER
where the wild things are maurice sendak the wild SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPERwhere SWIMMING
wild thingsT. are maurice sendak SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING
T.
the T.where COOPER
where the wild things are maurice sendak and T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING
inCOOPER and out of weeks wild things are maurice sendak “Didn’twhere you hearthe anything?” SWIMMING T. COOPER
T.
where the wild things SWIMMING T. COOPER
where the wild things are maurice sendak the wild SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPERwhere SWIMMING
wild things are maurice sendak SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING
things are COOPER
where the wild things SWIMMING T. COOPER
the wild things are maurice sendak the wild things are T.where COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMINGwhere T. COOPER SWIMMING
are maurice sendak SWIMMING T. COOPER
T.
where the wild things areanything?” and in and out weeks maurice sendak T. SWIMMING “Didn’t you hear T.of COOPER SWIMMING
where theSWIMMING wild things are maurice sendak COOPER T. COOPER SWIMMING sendak SWIMMING
maurice sendak and in T. COOPER SWIMMING
T.
where the T. COOPER
where T. T.maurice COOPERsendak SWIMMING
maurice sendakSWIMMING and in and outT. of COOPER weeks where the wild things are T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER
maurice sendak where the wild things are maurice where theSWIMMING wild things T. SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER “Didn’tsendak you hear anything?” are maurice sendak COOPER SWIMMING
where the wild things are T. COOPER maurice sendak where wild T. COOPER SWIMMING SWIMMING T.the COOPER
things are T.maurice whereT.the wild things are maurice sendak SWIMMING where the T. SWIMMING COOPER sendak SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER wild things are maurice T. sendak the wild things are COOPER SWIMMING COOPER where SWIMMING T. COOPER the wild things are SWIMMING T. COOPER
maurice sendak where SWIMMING T. COOPER
maurice sendak where the wild things and in and out of weeks SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T.are COOPER SWIMMING
maurice where T. the wild things are maurice sendak COOPERsendak SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER
T.
where the wild things SWIMMING T. COOPER
are and in and out of weeks SWIMMING maurice sendak whereSWIMMING the wild things areyoumaurice sendak T. SWIMMING T. COOPER T. COOPER “Didn’t hear anything?” where theSWIMMING wild things are maurice sendak COOPER T. COOPER SWIMMING
where the wildSWIMMING things are T. COOPER
maurice T. COOPER
ereh w er.eT hw
k adnes ecirua m
era sgnihtWIMMING dliw eht ereh wS skeew fo tuo dRnaEni P dnaO
k adnesWIMMING ecirua m
S
R E P O O C
era sgniht dli w eht
. T
ereth uaEmP O erO a sC gnih eh w k adnes ecSirua m ’nw diD“ k adnes ecirR . t T dli w eht erWIMMING R E P O O C
k adnesWIMMING ecirua m era sgSniht dliw ehR t eErePhO w O kCadn . e Ts ecirua m
e re h w
k aR dnEesPecOirO uaCm
eew f.o T tuo dna ni dna R E P O OskC
WIMMING S
era sgnih t dliw eht erehSw WIMMING R E P O O C
d.liT w e h t er e h w o t
R E P O O C
ireh ua my t’ndiD“ ”k ?gandin h teysne ac ra uo k adnes ecirua m
era sgniht dli w eht ereh w
era WIMMING sgniht dliw eht Sereh w
. T
e ra sgniht dli w eSht WIMMING k adnes
k adnes eRciEruPa m huw O Oer Ca sg .n Tiht dli w eht ” ?e rerpe m b eh tktiahdnes
dl.iw k adnes ecirua m T eht ereh w WIMMING S dliw eht ereh w
WIMMING S
ra sgniht dliWIMMING w eht ereh w kSadnes eciruaRmE e a sO gnCiht dli w eht .eT PrO
ecginriu sogynniehhtwdploitw edriedhyw h taem mosetr lea fu s ueoh yt t’n h W“ k adnes ecirua m eciru . a Tm
era sRgnEihPt O dlO i wCeht
liw eht ereh w Sk adnes ecir”u hyt dli w eht . Ter a sgniht dWIMMING ?ganm ih t yenraaraseghnuio
er.eT hw
ecirua m
adn.eT s ecirua m OkC
raeyRa rE evoPtsoOmlO a dC na
. T
WIMMING S
gnO ihC t R eEr a P sO
WIMMING S
era sgniht dliw eht ereh w
k adnes
k adnes ecirua m
era sgniht
ecirua m
erRa E sgP niO htOdlCiw e. hTt ereh w
kWIMMING adnes ecirua m Sera sgniht dlRi w htOer E eP Oeh Cw
ec.irTua m
era sgWIMMING niht dliw eht ere S hw
k adneRs eEciPruOa m ht ereh w k adn O Cer a. sTgniht dli w eWIMMING Ses
ecirua m yh W“
R E P O O C
. T
era sgnWIMMING iht dliw eht ereSh w
reh WIMMING Ser a sgniht dl Ri w E ePht OeO Cw
k adnes
k adnesRecEirPuaOmO eCra s. gTniht dli w ehWIMMING t ereh w k adnS es
ecirua m
” ?repmub eh t tih gnih temos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’ndid R E P O O
a revo tsomla dnaWIMMING Crae.y T
sg.nT iht dli w eht WIMMING ereh w k adnesSecirua m sgniht dli w eht ereh w
k adRne ecO i ru Es P Oa m C
S
era sgnih dlPi wOeh ere.hTw RtE OtC
erRa sEgnPihOt O dlC i w e.hTt ereh w
k adnes
k aWIMMING dnes ecirua m
k adnes ecirua mWIMMING era sgniht dliSw eht ereh wR Ek aPdO neO s eC cirua m
era s. gTniht dliw ehWIMMING t ereh w k adne Ss ecirua m ereh w
er a s g n i h t
R E P O O C
. T
S
er a er a
e eht ereh w erSa sgniht dliw eht R e r eE hwPot O O k aC dnes ecirua m .r Ta sgniht dli w WIMMING
maurice T sendak and . C O O P in Eand R out of weeks the wild things are
T .
theCwild O O things P E R are
the wild things are Swhere WIMMING
maurice sendak
maurice sendak S WIMMING
C O O P E R
maurice sendak where the wild T things are S WIMMING . C O O
maurice sendak T . C
the wild things are C O O P
sendak
sendak where the wild things are Emaurice R S WIMMING T .
where the wild things are
O P E R
and almost a year C O O Pover E R
S WIMMING
things are C O O P E R
maurice sendak
things are things are
maurice sendak
where maurice
where the wild things are S WIMMING T .
maurice T .
C O O P E R
maurice sendak where the wild S WIMMING T .
C O O P E R
S WIMMING
maurice C O O Psendak E R
where T .
where the things maurice “Why didn’t youwild stop when you are felt something
whereS the wild things are WIMMING T .
C O O P E R
S WIMMING
sendak the wild things maurice hit the where bumper?” T . are C O O P E R sendak sendak
.
wild things are maurice sendak O where O P E the R S WIMMING
the things are and in and out S wild WIMMING T of. weeks C O
where T .
sendak “Didn’t where Pmaurice E R
the wild things maurice sendakS WIMMING where the wild things areT you hearare anything?” S WIMMING
where
maurice sendak “Didn’t you hear anything?”
where the wild things are
maurice sendak
where the wild to where the wild T .
where the wild maurice sendak C O O P E R things are S WIMMING
where the T . wild C Othings O P E are R
maurice
sendak where the wild things maurice S WIMMING T are . C O O P E sendak R
where the wild things are S WIMMING
maurice T .
sendak
where the wild C O O P E R things areS
sendak where the wild things S WIMMING T . are C
WIMMING Omaurice O P E Rsendak
T .
C O O P E R
where the wild things are S WIMMING
where wild are T . Cthe O O P Ethings R
maurice sendak S WIMMING are
a year S WIMMINGand almost over T . C O O P E R
where the T . wild C O things O P E are R
mauriceSsendak where the wild things WIMMING T .
maurice sendak things are maurice sendak C O O P E Rwhere the wild S WIMMING
are maurice sendak C O
T .
“Why
maurice
didn’t you stop when you felt something hit the bumper?”
sendak
maurice
C O O P E R
where the wild things
maurice sendak where the wild things S WIMMING T . are
where the wild things are O toPwhere E R the wild things are S WIMMING T .
maurice C O O P sendak E R
where
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
yh W“ .T
dna
er a s g n i h t d l i w e h t er e h w o t
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
tuo dna ni dna
uoy t’ndiD“
tsomla dna
WIMMINGS
k adnes eci rua m REPOOC .T
k adnes ecirua m
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
” ?gnih t yna raeh uoy t’ndiD“
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
k adnes eci rua m REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
raey a r ev o
eh t tih gnih temos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’ndid yh W“
WIMMINGS
.T
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
skeew fo tuo dna ni dna
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
k adnes eci rua m
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
k adnes eci rua m
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
k adnes eci rua m
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
fo tuo dna ni dna
e re h w
WIMMINGS
” ?gnih t yna raeh uoy t’ndiD“
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
k adnes eci rua m
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
ot
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
dli w e h t e re h w WIMMINGS
a r ev o tsomla dna REPOOC .T
k adnes ecirua m
REPOOC .T
k adnes ecirua m
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
” ?gnih t yna raeh uoy t’ndiD“
er a s g n i h t d l i w e h t er e h w o t
” ?gnih t yna raeh uoy t’ndiD“
er a s g n i h t d l i w e h t er e h w o t
REPOOC .T
tih gnih temos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’ndid yh W“
raey a r ev o tsomla dna e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
k adnes eci rua m WIMMINGS
e r a sgniht dli w eht
WIMMINGS
” ?repmub eh t
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
er a s g n i h t d l i w e h t er e h w
REPOOC .T
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
WIMMINGS
skeew fo tuo dna
” ?repmub eh t tih gnih temos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’ndid yh W“ REPOOC .T
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
WIMMINGS
skeew
k adnes eci rua m
WIMMINGS
skeew fo tuo dna ni dna
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
k adnes eci rua m
” ?repmub eh t tih gnih temos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’ndid yh W“
k adnes eci rua m
REPOOC
k adnes eci rua m
skeew fo tuo dna ni dna
” ?gnih t yna raeh uoy t’ndiD“
skeew fo tuo dna ni dna
WIMMINGS
dna ni dna
REPOOC .T
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
ni dna
skeew fo tuo dna ni dna
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
” ?repmub eh t tih gnih temos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’ndid yh W“
tih gnih temos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’ndid yh W“
raey a r ev o tsomla dna
REPOOC .T
k adnes ecirua m
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
” ?repmub
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
er a s g n i h t d l i w e h t er e h w o t REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
raey a r ev o tsomla dna
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
REPOOC .T
skeew fo
” ?gnih t yna raeh
WIMMINGS
” ?repmub eh t tih gnih temos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’ndid yh W“
k adnes eci rua m
REPOOC
skeew fo tuo dna ni
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
skeew fo tuo dna ni dna
WIMMINGS
k adnes eci rua m
” ?repmub eh t tih gnih temos tlef uoy nehw pots
REPOOC .T
k adnes ecirua m
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
skeew fo tuo dna ni dna
er a s g n i h t d l i w e h t er e h w o t
WIMMINGS
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
er a s g n i h t d l i w e h t er e h w o t
WIMMINGS
” ?repmub eh t tih gnih temos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’ndid
WIMMINGS
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
uoy t’ndid yh W“
k adnes eci rua m
” ?gnih t yna raeh uoy t’ndiD“
REPOOC .T
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
skeew fo tuo dna ni dna
WIMMINGS
raey
REPOOC .T WIMMINGS
eh t tih gnih temos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’ndid yh W“
k adnes eci rua m
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
” ?gnih t yna raeh uoy t’ndiD“
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
k adnes ecirua m
skeew fo tuo
WIMMINGS
k adnes eci rua m
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e r a sgniht
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS ” ?repmub eh t
k adnes eci rua m
” ?gnih t yna raeh uoy t’ndiD“
to where the wild things are
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
and in and out of weeks
maurice sendak
maurice sendak
to where the wild things are
to where the wild things are
SWIMMING
in and out of weeks
T. COOPER
maurice sendak
SWIMMING
where the wild things are
hear anything?”
SWIMMING
T. COOPER T. COOPER
SWIMMING
over a year
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
maurice sendak T. COOPER
SWIMMING
T. COOPER
“Why didn’t you stop when you felt something hit the
T. COOPER
maurice sendak
where the wild things are
where the wild things are
maurice sendak
where the wild things are
SWIMMING
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
and in and out of weeks T. COOPER
and in and out of weeks
the wild things are
the bumper?”
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
maurice sendak
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
and out of weeks
T. COOPER
T. COOPER
to where the wild things are SWIMMING
where the wild things are
SWIMMING the bumper?”
maurice sendak SWIMMING
T. COOPER
maurice sendak
maurice sendak
T. COOPER
maurice sendak
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
year
T. COOPER SWIMMING
T. COOPER
SWIMMING T. COOPER
maurice sendak
T. COOPER
T. COOPER
to
and in
SWIMMING
and in and
“Didn’t you hear anything?”
where the wild
T. COOPER
where the wild things are
SWIMMING
where the wild things are
“Didn’t you hear anything?”
where
and almost over a year
SWIMMING
maurice sendak
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
and almost over a T. COOPER
“Why didn’t you stop when you felt something hit
where the wild things are
T. COOPER
T. COOPER
to where the wild things are
T. COOPER
and in and out of weeks
and in and out of weeks
“Didn’t you hear anything?” SWIMMING
SWIMMING
where the wild things are
“Didn’t you hear anything?”
where the wild things are
SWIMMING
to where the wild things are
maurice sendak
where the wild things are
SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER
“Why didn’t you stop when you felt something hit
“Why didn’t you stop when you felt something hit the bumper?”
things are
T. COOPER
“Why didn’t you stop when you felt something hit the bumper?” T. COOPER
T.
and in and out of
and in and out of weeks
maurice sendak where the wild things are
T. COOPER
where the wild things are
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
where the wild things are
“Didn’t you hear anything?”
T. COOPER
maurice sendak
where the wild things are
“Why didn’t you stop when you felt something hit the bumper?”
maurice sendak
out of weeks
T. COOPER
“Didn’t you hear anything?”
T. COOPER
maurice sendak
maurice sendak
SWIMMING
and in and out of weeks
where the wild things are
SWIMMING
and almost
“Didn’t you hear anything?”
and almost over a year
weeks
and in and out
“Why didn’t you stop when you felt something hit the bumper?”
SWIMMING
COOPER
and
“Didn’t you
where the wild things are
maurice sendak
bumper?”
T.
“Why didn’t you
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
maurice sendak
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
T. COOPER
T. COOPER
T. COOPER
and in and out of weeks
T. COOPER
where the wild things are
where the wild things are
stop when you felt something hit the bumper?”
of weeks
SWIMMING
maurice sendak
“Why
T. COOPER
where the wild things are
didn’t you stop when you felt something hit the bumper?”
COOPER
where the wild things are
“Didn’t you hear anything?”
and almost over a year
maurice sendak
where the wild things are
“Why didn’t you stop when you felt something hit the
Where the Wild Things Are MAURICE SENDAK
Originally published in 1963
maurice sendak are
where the wild things are
maurice sendak
things are sendak
are
where the wild things are
where the wild things are
maurice sendak are
things are
wild things are almost over a year are
things are
wild things are
are
maurice sendak
things are
maurice sendak
wild things are
maurice sendak
where the wild where the
to where the wild things are where the wild things
maurice sendak
where the wild
maurice sendak
where the wild things are
and
where the wild things
maurice sendak
maurice sendak
where the
maurice sendak
maurice sendak
where the wild things are
maurice sendak
the wild things are
maurice sendak
where the wild things are
maurice
where the wild
maurice sendak
where the wild things are
where the wild things are
maurice sendak
where the wild things
maurice sendak
where the wild things are
where
where the wild things are
maurice sendak
where the wild things are
maurice sendak
where the wild
maurice sendak
where the wild things are
where the wild things are
maurice sendak
maurice sendak
maurice sendak
where the wild things are
maurice sendak
maurice sendak
maurice sendak
where the wild things are
where the wild things are
maurice sendak
where the wild things
where the wild things are
where the wild things are
maurice sendak
maurice sendak
maurice sendak
maurice
where the wild things are
where the wild things are
maurice sendak
where the wild
where the wild things are
where the wild things are
maurice sendak
where the wild things
maurice sendak
maurice sendak
where the wild things are
the wild things are
sendak
and in and out of weeks
where the wild things are
maurice sendak
things are
where the wild things are
maurice sendak
maurice sendak
maurice sendak
where the
maurice sendak
where the wild things are
where
maurice sendak
T. COOPER SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
“Didn’t you hear anything?” T. COOPER
SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
COOPER SWIMMING COOPER
T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
T. COOPER
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
felt something hit the bumper?” SWIMMING
SWIMMING
T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING
T. COOPER
SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER
SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING
T. COOPER
SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
T.
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T.
T. COOPER
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T.
T. COOPER
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T.
T. COOPER
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T.
T. COOPER
SWIMMING T. COOPER
T.
T.
T. COOPER SWIMMING
SWIMMING
T.
T. COOPER
“Why didn’t you stop when you SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
T.
T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER
T.
T. COOPER
Swimming
Originally published in The New Yorker, August 2007
REPOOC .T .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS REPOOC .T
.T
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T .T
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T .T
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T WIMMINGS
er a s g n i h t d l i w e h t er e h w o t
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
REPOOC
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
REPOOC
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS REPOOC .T REPOOC .T
REPOOC
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS WIMMINGS
REPOOC
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
REPOOC
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
REPOOC
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
raey a r ev o tsomla dna
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T .T
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
skeew fo tuo dna ni dna
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
REPOOC
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T .T
REPOOC .T WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T .T
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
REPOOC
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T .T
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T .T
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS REPOOC WIMMINGS WIMMINGS
sgniht dli w eht e reh w dli w e h t e re h w
k adnes ecirua m
k adnes ecirua m
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w sgniht dli w eht e reh w dli w e h t e re h w e h t e re h w e re h w
k adnes eci rua m eci rua m
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
dli w e h t e re h w
e re h w
k adnes ecirua m
k adnes ecirua m
k adnes eci rua m
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e h t e re h w e re h w
k adnes ecirua m
k adnes ecirua m
k adnes eci rua m
k adnes eci rua m eci rua m
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
k adnes
k adnes eci rua m
k adnes eci rua m
k adnes eci rua m
k adnes eci rua m
k adnes eci rua m
k adnes ecirua m
e r a sgniht
e r a sgniht dli w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
era
e r a sgniht dli w eht
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
k adnes eci rua m
k adnes eci rua m
k adnes eci rua m
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
k adnes
k adnes eci rua m
k adnes eci rua m
k adnes ecirua m
k adnes ecirua m
eh t tih gnih temos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’ndid yh W“
dli w e h t e re h w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e r a sgniht
e r a sgniht dli w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
era
e r a sgniht dli w eht
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
k adnes eci rua m
k adnes eci rua m
k adnes eci rua m
era
e r a sgniht
k adnes eci rua m
k adnes eci rua m
k adnes ecirua m
k adnes ecirua m
k adnes ecirua m
k adnes eci rua m
eci rua m
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
sgniht dli w eht e reh w
k adnes eci rua m
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
k adnes eci rua m
k adnes eci rua m
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
e h t e re h w
” ?gnih t yna raeh uoy t’ndiD“
k adnes ecirua m
k adnes eci rua m
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
k adnes ecirua m
k adnes ecirua m
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
” ?repmub
e r a sgniht
e r a sgniht dli w
e r a sgniht dli w eht
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
eci rua m
” ?re pm ub eh t ti h gni h temos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’n di d yh W“ REPOOC .T WIMMINGS REPOOC .T raey a r ev o tsomla dna WIMMINGS REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
dna
sgniht dliw eht erehw
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
era sgniht dliw eht erehw yhW“ REPOOC .T raey a r ev o tsomla dna WIMMINGS REPOOC .T ot
k adnes eci rua m REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
kadnes er a s g n i h t d l i w e h t er e h w o t k adnes eci rua m era skeew fo tuo dna ni WIMMINGS REPOOC .T
” ?gniht yna raeh uoy t’ndiD“ skeew fo tuo dna ni dna REPOOC .T
” ?re pm ub eh t ti h gni h temos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’n di d raey a r ev o tsomla dna REPOOC .T er a s g n i h t d l i w e h t er e h w o t WIMMINGS
dliw eht erehw
k adnes eci rua m era sgniht dliw eht erehw er a s g n i h t d l i w e h t er e h w raey a r ev o tsomla dna REPOOC .T WIMMINGS k adnes eci rua m era sgniht ” ?gniht yna raeh uoy t’ndiD“ WIMMINGS REPOOC .T NG era sgniht dliw eht erehw ot WIMMIS REPOOC .T WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
d l i w e h t er e h w o t W S REPOOC .T dliw eht erehw .T
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
” ?gniht yna raeh uoy t’ndiD“ ING skeew fo tuo dna ni dna WIMMS
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
IMMING
er a s g n i h t
era sgniht ” ?re pm ub eh t ti h gni h temos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’n di d yh W“ REPOOC .T WIMMINGS REPOOC .T ING skeew fo tuo dna ni dna WIMMS raey a revo tsomla dna REPOOC k adnes eci rua m era sgniht dliw eht erehw k adnes eci rua m e h t er e h w o t WIMMINGS raey a revo tsomla dna REPOOC .T WIMMINGS REPOOC .T WIMMINGS dliw eht erehw k adnes eci rua m era sgniht dliw eht erehw er a s g n i h t d l i w dna WIMMINGS REPOOC .T WIMMINGS REPOOC .T WIMMINGS REPOOC .T era sgniht er a s g n i h t d l i w e h t er e h w o t REPOOC .T WIMMINGS raey a revo tsomla dna REPOOC .T skeew fo tuo dna ni k adnes eci rua m era sgniht dliw eht erehw k adnes eci rua m .T
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
eht erehw ” ?re pm ub eh t ti h fo tuo dna ni dna REPOOC .T WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
gnihtemos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’ndid yhW“ REPOOC .T skeew fo tuo dna ni dnaWIMMINGS REPOOC
k adnes eci rua m era sgniht dliw skeew fo tuo dna ni dna WIMMINGS skeew era sgniht dliw eht erehw ” ?re pm ub eh t ti h gni h temos REPOOC .T WIMMINGS REPOOC .T WIMMINGS skeew fo tuo dna ni dna REPOOC .T WIMMINGS k adnes eci rua m t’ndiD“ d l i w e h t er e h w o t WIMMINGS er a s g n i h t d l i w e h t er e h w o t REPOOC .T WIMMINGS skeew fo tuo dna ni dna tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’ndid yhW“ REPOOC .T WIMMINGS raey a r ev o tsomla dna
REPOOC .T
tih gnihtemos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’ndid yhW“ ” ?gniht yna raeh uoy er a s g n i h t REPOOC .T WIMMINGS er a s g n i h t d l i w e h t er e h w o t REPOOC .T WIMMINGS REPOOC .T .T
k adnes eci rua m
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
era sgniht dliw eht erehw
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
k adnes eci rua m era raeh uoy t’ndiD“ REPOOC .T WIMMINGS REPOOC .T WIMMINGS
dna ni dna
” ?gniht yna raeh uoy t’ndiD“ era era sgniht dliw eht erehw ot REPOOC .T WIMMINGS
” ?re pm ub eh t REPOOC .T WIMMINGS
sgniht dliw eht erehw REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
REPOOC
sgniht dliw eht erehw ” ?gniht yna skeew fo tuo R raey a revo tsomla dnaEPOOC .T WIMMINGS pots uoy t’ndid yhW“ k adnes eci rua m ” ?gniht yna raeh uoy t’ndiD“ REPOOC .T WIMMINGS RE raey a revo tsomla dnaPOOC .T WIMMINGS REPOOC .T WIMMINGS sgniht dliw eht erehw ” ?re pm ub eh t ti h gni h temos tlef uoy nehw REPOOC .T WIMMINGS er a s g n i h t d l i w e h t er e h w o t r a e y a r e v o t s o m l a d n a REPOOC .T WIMMINGS
m “W hy d id n’t you stop when you felt somet h ing h it t he bu mp er? ” T. COOPER SWIMMING and almost over a year T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER
aur ice
SWIMMING
sendak “Didn’t you hear any thing? ” where the wild things to where the wild things are T. COOPER and in and out of weeks SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING and are m aur ice senda k where the wild things are “Why in and out of weeks T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING and almost over a year T. COOPER m aur ice senda k d id n’t you stop when you felt somet h ing h it t he bu mp er? ” to where the wild things are T. COOPER and almost over a year SWIMMING T. COOPER to SWIMMING where the wild things are m aur ice senda k where the wild where the wild things are SWIMMING T. COOPER and almost over a year SWIMMING T. COOPER things are m aur ice senda k “Didn’t you hear any thing? ” NG T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMI to where the wild things are SWIMMING
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
“Didn’t you hear any thing? ” SWIMM and in and out of weeks ING
SW to where the wild where the wild
T. COOPER
things are IMMING T. COOPER T. COOPER SWIMMING T. things are “W hy d id n’t you stop when you felt somet h ing h it t he bu mp er? ” and almost over a year SWIMMand in and out of weeks ING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER COOPER m aur ice senda k where the wild things are m aur ice senda k and almost over a year SWIMMING to where the SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER where the wild things are m aur ice senda k where the wild wild things are T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING and things are in and out of weeks T. COOPER and almost over a year SWIMMING T. COOPER to where the wild things are m aur ice senda k where the wild things are m aur ice senda k SWIMMING
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
“W hy d id n’t you stop when you felt somet h ing h it t he bu mp er? ” w T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER COOPER SWIMMING and in and out of weeks
T.
here the and in and out of
wild things are m aur ice senda k “Why didn’t you stop when you felt weeks SWIMMING and in and out of weeks T. COOPER and almost over a year SWIMMING T. COOPER where the wild things are somet h ing h it t he bu mp er? ” and in and out of weeks SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER m aur ice senda k “Didn’t and in and out of weeks SWIMMING T. COOPER to where the wild things are SWIMMING to where the wild “Why didn’t you stop when you felt something hit you hear any thing? ” T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER to where the wild things are SWIMMING T. COOPER
things are
t he bu mp er? ” SWIMMING T. COOPER
where the wild things are
SWIMMING
T. COOPER
where the wild things are
COOPER
SWIMMING
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
m aur ice senda k
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
T.
m aur ice senda k
SWIMMING
T. COOPER
“Didn’t you hear and in and SWIMMING T. COOPER
where the wild things are “Didn’t you hear any thing? ” T. COOPEand almost over a year R SWIMMING T. COOPER to where the wild things are “Didn’t you hear any thing? ” m aur ice senda k “Why didn’t you stop ER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPand almost over a year where the wild things when you felt somet h ing h it t he bu mp er? ” and almost over a year to where the wild things are SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER
any thing? ” out of weeks SWIMMING
sRgEnPiO hO tCd.lTi w eWIMMING ht e reh wS a r ev o tsomla dna WIMMINGS
S T kRaEdPnOeO sC ec.TiruaWIMMING m e r a sg nihRtEdPlOiO wCe.h t e re h w
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
C .T WIMMINGS e r a sgniht dli w eht WIMMING e reh w ”S?gnihRt yEnPaOrO aeh uoy t’ndiD“
sgniht dli w eht e reh w .T
k adnes eci rua m
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
k adnes eci rua m
REPOOC .T S REPOOC .T WIMMINGS REPOOC .T S k adnWIMMING es eci rua m e re h w ” ?repmuWIMMING b eh t tih gnih temos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’ndid yh W“ WIMMINGS
k adnes eci rua m
.T
WIMMINGS
eci rua m
REPOOC .T
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
REPOOC .T
S e r a sgniht dli wWIMMING e h t e re h w WIMMINGS
sgniht dli w eht e reh w WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
e re h w
k adnes eci rua m
WIMMINGS
k adnes eci rua m REPOOC .T
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
er a s g n i h t d l i w e h t er e h w o t WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
kRaEdPnOeOsC
k adnes eWIMMING ci rua m S
k adnWIMMING es eci ruaSm
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
k adnes eci rua m
era
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T
k adnes eci rua m
REPOOC .T
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
WIMMINGS
e r a sgniht
REPOOC .T
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
WIMMINGS
era
REPOOC
REPOOC .T
e r a sRgEnPiOhOtCd.lTi w eWIMMING ht e reh wS
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
REPOOC .T
dli w e h t e re h w .T
S k adnes eciruWIMMING am
WIMMINGS
REPOOC .T
raey
skaeedwnfe o stueocdinraunai dmna e r a sgniht dli w WIMMINGS k eht
REPOOC .T
k adnes ecirua m
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
k adnes eci rua m .T
REPOOC .T
era
WIMMINGS
T e r a sgniht dli w eht e rWIMMING eh w k aSdneRsEePcO i rOuCa.m
k adnes ecirua m
WIMMINGS OOC .T dl i w eht e reh wREPO kO adCn.Tes ecWIMMING irua m eSr a sR gE nP ih t dli w e h t e re h w
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
WIMMINGS
e r a sgniht dli w eht
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
WIMMINGS REPOOC .T WIMMINGS REPOOC ” ?gnih t yna raeh uoy t’ndiD“ e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
.T OOC .T WIMMINGS REPOOC .T WIMMINGS ehWIMMING t e reh w S k aR dE nP eO sO ecCir ua mWIMMING e r a sgnSiht R dE liPw e h t e re h w k adnes e ci rua m e r a sgniht
tsomla dna earreevhow
WIMMINGS
POOC .T erR aE sg niht dli wWIMMING eht e rehSw
REPOOC .T
OOC e r a sgniRhEtPd li w
EPOOC .T WIMMINGS REPOOC .T WIMMINGS POOC .T e r a sgR nE ih t dli w ehrtaey k adnes eci rWIMMING ua m ” ?reSpmuR b eh t tih gnih temos tlef uoy nehw pots uoy t’ndid yh W“
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
eci rua m
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T S k adnes eciruWIMMING a m e r a sSgnih t dli w eht eWIMMING re h w
REPOOC .T
REPOOC .T e r a sgniht dWIMMING li w eht eSreh w k adnes eWIMMING cirua m Se r a sRgEnPiOhOtCd.lTi w eht e reh w
erehw ostgniWIMMING S OOC .T S h t dli w eh t e rReEhPw k adnWIMMING es ecirua m REPOOC .T
dli w ehWIMMING t e re h w S
REPOOC .T
WIMMINGS
e r a sgniht dli w eht e reh w
skeew fo tuo dna ni dna
k adnes
REPOOC .T
S k adnes eciWIMMING rua m
ra sgneirhtadliw eht k adnes eci ruaem
T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER where the wild things are maurice sendak
maurice sendak SWIMMING
are
year
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
T. COOPER
maurice sendak
COOPER things are
sendak
T. COOPER
where the wild things are
SWIMMING
T. COOPER maurice sendak
where the wild things are T. COOPER
maurice sendak
SWIMMING
T. COOPER
maurice sendak
to where the wild things are
T. COOPER
T. COOPER
the wild things are
SWIMMING
maurice sendak
T. COOPER
T.
maurice sendak
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
T. COOPER
where
maurice sendak
T. COOPER
where the wild things are
SWIMMING T. COOPER where the wild things are
SWIMMING
maurice sendak
SWIMMING maurice sendakT.
SWIMMING
T. COOPER where the wild
SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER maurice sendak whereT.the wild things are maurice sendak T. COOPER
T. COOPER
T. COOPER
T. COOPER
COOPER wild things are
T.
where the wild things
where the wild things are
T. COOPER
COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER where the wild things are “Didn’t you hear anything?”
things are
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
where the wild things are
where the wild things are
SWIMMING
SWIMMING where the wild
maurice sendak
SWIMMING T. COOPER where the wild things are SWIMMING maurice
T. COOPER where the wild things areSWIMMING
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
where the wild things T. COOPER
T. COOPER where the wild things areSWIMMING maurice sendak
SWIMMING
maurice sendak
T. COOPER
SWIMMING
SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER maurice sendak “Why didn’t you stop when you felt something hit the bumper?” where
SWIMMING
are
maurice sendak
T. COOPER
in and outsendak of weeks the wild things are and maurice
COOPER
and almost over a
SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING COOPER “Didn’t you hear anything?” where theT.wild thingsSWIMMING are
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
T. COOPER where the wild things
T. COOPER
T. COOPER SWIMMING maurice sendak where the wild things are
are
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
SWIMMING
where the
T.
and almost over a where
year T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING COOPER the wild things are “Why didn’t you stop when you felt something hit the bumper?” mauriceT.sendak SWIMMING
T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER where the wild things are maurice sendak
sendak
where the wild things are SWIMMING maurice
T. COOPER T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER where the wild things areSWIMMING maurice sendak where the wild things are
SWIMMING
T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER maurice sendak where the wild things are
the wildare things are maurice sendak
to where SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING maurice sendak where the wild things
and in and out of weeks
SWIMMING
T. COOPER where the wild
sRgEnPiO hO tCd.lTi w eWIMMING ht e reh wS .T
kRaEdPnOeO sC ec.TiruaWIMMING m e r a sg wCe.h eh w k aSdneRsEePcOi rOuCa.T m S nihRtEd Pl OiO Tt e r WIMMING
dl i w eht e rSeh wREPO kO adCn.Tes ecWIMMING irua m eSr a sR gE nP ih i w eh t e re h w S k a era S WIMMING Ot Od Cl.T WIMMING Rd En Pe OsOeCc.iTrua m WIMMING ka es ecWIMMING i rua m eSr a sR gn ih aOsC gn dli w eht eSrehRwEPO”O ?gC ni.T h t ynaWIMMING raeh uoy t’n REePrO .Tiht WIMMING SdiD“REPO Od Cn.T EP Ot OC
.T
sgWIMMING niht dli wSehtReErPeOhOwC .T k ad nes eciruSa m REePrOaOsC gn dli w eht eSrehRwEPOO ka nes eWIMMING ci rua m S WIMMING .Tiht WIMMING Cd.T dRlEiP wOeOhCt.T e rehWIMMING w k adnSes eRcEirPu sgniht dlSi w eRhEtPe Oa Om C .T e r aWIMMING Or OeCh.w T
.T
k adnes ecSi ruaRm WIMMING EPOeOrCa
ehWIMMING t e reh w S k aR dE nP eO sO ecCir e r a sgnSiht R dE liPw eh w k adSnes e uO aC m.T e r a sgniht S .Tua mWIMMING OO Ct .Te reh WIMMING Rc EiPrO WIMMING
e reh w S k adRnEePsOeOcCi r.T ua mWIMMING e r a sgnSiht d wOeOhCt.Te rehWIMMING w k adn tEdPlOi w WIMMING RlEiP S es esc keierwufoatm uo dnearnai dsnganihR OC dO nCes.Teci rWIMMING ua m e r aS sgnRiE hPtOdOlC i w.TehtWIMMING e reh w Sk adR nEePsO eO ciCr.u e r a sgniSht dRlE iw eO hC t .T REkPaO Ta m WIMMING PO .T
eci rua m S e r aRsEgPnOiO hC td e h t e re h w WIMMING .Tli wWIMMING S
kEaPdO nO esC e.TciruWIMMING a m e r a sSgnih tPdOlO iw re h w R RE Ce .Tht eWIMMING S
sgCn.T iht dWIMMING li w eht eSreh w cirua m Se r a sRgEnPiOhOtCd.lTi w eWIMMING ht e reh wS Re Er Pa OO REPOkOaCd.n Tes eWIMMING .T
sgWIMMING niht dli wSehtReErPeOhOwC .T k ad nes eciruSa m REePrOaOsC gn dli w eht eSrehRwEPOO ka nes eWIMMING ci rua m S WIMMING .Tiht WIMMING Cd.T dRlEiP wOeOhCt.T e rehWIMMING w k adnSes eRcEirPu sgniht dlSi w eRhEtPe Oa Om C .T e r aWIMMING Or OeCh.w T
.T
ua m e r a hPtOdOlCi w REk Pa OdOnCe.sTeci r WIMMING S sgn RiE
k adnes eciSruaR mEPOeO rC a s.TgnihWIMMING t dli w ehSt e rR eE hPwOOCk.TadneWIMMING s eci rua mS WIMMING rO uC am Re Ec PiO .T
.T
k adnes ecSi ruaRm WIMMING EPOeOrCa
ehWIMMING t e reh w S k aR dE nP eO sO ecCir e r a sgnSiht R dE liPw eh w k adSnes e uO aC m.T e r a sgniht S .Tua mWIMMING OO Ct .Te reh WIMMING Rc EiPrO WIMMING e rReEhPw adneWIMMING s eci rua mS e r sg h.tTdliWIMMING w e h t e re h OOCk.T Ra EP On OiC Sw
.T
kRaEdPnOeOsC
er a sgniht Sdli wRe tO eC re.T hw WIMMING Eh PO
eR rE a PsO gn w eht OiCh.t T dliWIMMING S
k adnes e uE aP mOOe a sgn iht dli w Seht R eE re WIMMING S ci rR Cr.T WIMMING Ph Ow OC
e r a sgnihSt dlR iw eO hO tCe r k adneSs eciRrEuPaOmOC e gniht dli w tEePrO eO hC w.T WIMMING EP .Teh wWIMMING .Tr a sWIMMING S ehR
k aWIMMING d n es S
e r a sgnihSt dlRiE wPe re h w k adneSs ecRi r am eh t tih gniS h temR osEtPle uC oy.T nehwrapeoyta s rueovyo ts’n dild WIMMING OfO om a dynhaW“ WIMMING Oh Ot Ce.T WIMMING Eu PO OC dlRiEwPe re h w k adne am e r a sWIMMING gniht dliSw ehRtEe Oh Ot Ce.T WIMMING Ss ecRi r Eu PO OC .T Pr Oe Oh Cw .T .T
kWIMMING adnes eciSrua m pm REP”O?rOeC .Tub
ehWIMMING t e reh w S k aR dE nP eO sO ecCir e r a sgnSiht R dE liPw eh w k adSnes e uO aC m.T e r a sgniht S .Tua mWIMMING OO Ct .Te reh WIMMING Rc EiPrO WIMMING e rReE hPwOOCk.Tadne s eci rua mS WIMMING
eR rE aPsO gO nC ih.T t dliWIMMING w eht e reSh w
ad s eciWIMMING rua m e rSa sgR nE ihPtOd REk PO On Ce.T Ol Ci w
k a.Tdnesere gn dli w eh t e kCad eci rua m Se r aRsEgPnOiO ht eht REPOOC a csginriu htadm liw ehetreraehsw otihtWIMMING S rehRw EPOO .Tnes WIMMING Cd .Tli w WIMMING S .T
eci rua m S e r aRsEgPnOiO hC td e h t e re h w WIMMING .Tli wWIMMING S
kEaPdO nO esC e.TciruWIMMING a m e r a sSgnih tPdOlO iw re h w R RE Ce .Tht eWIMMING S
maurice sendak where the wild things are maurice sendak T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER are maurice sendak SWIMMING T. COOPER
where the wild things SWIMMING T. COOPER
where the wild things are maurice sendak the wild SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPERwhere SWIMMING
T.
things are maurice sendak you hear anything?” where the wild things are COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER“Didn’t SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER maurice sendak where the wild things are SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER are maurice sendak COOPER SWIMMING
maurice sendak SWIMMING
where theSWIMMING wild things T. T. COOPER
where the wild things are T. COOPER maurice sendak where wild T. COOPER SWIMMING SWIMMING T.the COOPER
things are T.maurice whereT.the wild things are maurice sendak SWIMMING where the T. SWIMMING COOPER sendak SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER wild things maurice whereT.the wild things are maurice sendak SWIMMING where and are in and out of weeks sendak SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER COOPER wild things are T. the COOPER SWIMMING
maurice sendakSWIMMING where theT.wild things SWIMMING are mauriceT.sendak T. COOPER COOPER COOPER
where the wild things are maurice sendak SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER sendak COOPER
where the wild things are SWIMMING maurice SWIMMING T. COOPER
T.
where the wild things areSWIMMING maurice sendak where the wild things are SWIMMING T. COOPER T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER
maurice sendak where the wild things are SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER are maurice sendak COOPER SWIMMING
maurice sendak SWIMMING
where theSWIMMING wild things T. T. COOPER
where the wild things are T. COOPER maurice sendak where wild T. COOPER SWIMMING SWIMMING T.the COOPER
things are T.maurice whereT.the wild things are maurice sendak SWIMMING where the T. SWIMMING COOPER sendak SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER wild things are mauriceT. sendak the wildT. things are COOPER SWIMMING COOPER where SWIMMING COOPER the wild T. things are SWIMMING COOPER
maurice sendak where SWIMMING T. COOPER
maurice sendak where the wild things are maurice sendak SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING
where theSWIMMING wild things are maurice sendak where the wildSWIMMING things are COOPER T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER sendak SWIMMING
the wild things are maurice sendak the wild things are T.where COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMINGwhere T. COOPER SWIMMING
maurice sendak where the wild things are COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING maurice sendak bumper?” T. COOPER SWIMMING
T.
maurice T. COOPER T.
“Why didn’t over you a stop felt something hit the and almost yearwhenT.you COOPER SWIMMING
where the wild things are maurice sendak where the wild T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER
things are T.maurice whereT.the wild things are maurice sendak SWIMMING where the T. SWIMMING COOPER sendak SWIMMING COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER wild things are maurice T. sendak the wild things are COOPER SWIMMING COOPER where SWIMMING T. COOPER
maurice sendak where SWIMMING T. COOPER
the wild things areSWIMMING maurice sendak where the wild things are maurice to where the wild things aresendak T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER T. COOPER SWIMMING where the wild things are maurice sendak SWIMMING T. COOPER SWIMMING T. COOPER
where the wild things are SWIMMING maurice SWIMMING T. COOPER
T.
31
People say to me, “Didn’t you hear anything?,” or “Why didn’t you stop
when you felt something hit the bumper?” But I don’t know how to answer either question. He was just there with us, alive, one minute, as we were eating barbecue and watching the Super Bowl on TV at my brother-in-law’s house, and then the next minute he was dead — very dead — under our car. I sold the car after that. My wife strongly suggested I do so, and that was when I was still trying to do pretty much anything she strongly suggested. In the end, I suppose that’s what made it possible for me to come to Cambodia. I got something like twelve grand, cash, for that car. I’ve been living in Kep for a year and a half now, in a crappy little two-room bungalow I rent on the beach. It’s fifty dollars a month, and it’s literally on the beach, the wild gray Gulf of Thailand chop not twenty feet from where I lay my head at night. I think I fit in pretty well here, as well as a white guy can. A haole, or cracker, not that those names apply here. The Cambodians don’t seem to have a derogatory name for “white person.” In Thailand, there’s farang, but that’s not really derogatory — they’ll say it to your face. And I don’t think there’s an equivalent in Khmer. At least, if there is one I don’t know it. Only two people in town know that I killed my son. There’s the expat Colin, who runs the coffee shop and guesthouse in Kampot, and 32
there’s Veata, but I never know how much of what I tell her she really understands. It came up not long after I learned that she had a son, a fact that she had been keeping from me because — you know what? I don’t know why she was keeping it from me. I think her mother had told her to. But I’m no smitten soldier boy — I’m not going to take Veata home with me and send money back to her family every month. So I didn’t really
T. COOPER
care that she had a son — it didn’t matter either way. Which is also why I can admit that Angel’s actually kind of cute. He’s named after Veata’s patron saint, Angelina Jolie. Veata says, “He handsome like Maddox,” and she styles his hair in a faux hawk. He’s the only five-year-old running around Kampot with a faux hawk and trendy camouflage pants. The day I learned who Angel was, Veata and I had just finished having sex, when her parents burst into the front room of my house with Angel wrapped in a blanket. He was bleeding from his nose, listless. I’d seen him a couple of times before, when Veata was looking after him, but she’d told me that he was her sister’s son and that she was just babysitting. Veata threw on my robe, and I quickly pulled on some boxers and scrub bottoms and went out to the other room, shirtless, to see what the problem was. Veata’s father stared at the tattoo on my chest. I assumed that he wanted to kill me. If I were him, I would’ve wanted to kill me, too. But he didn’t. When you have next to nothing, I guess it’s not so insane to pin your hopes to a silly daughter’s fantasies and faux hawks. Veata’s father put Angel on the floor, and I knelt over him. Veata and her parents spoke in Khmer, very softly and quickly, so as to prevent me from understanding. I can speak very rudimentary Khmer, but I can understand a great deal more after living here for so long, so I knew that Veata was telling her parents not to reveal that Angel was her son, and her mother was replying that Angel was very sick and they needed my help. During my first week in town, I witnessed a really brutal motorcycle-versus-truck accident on the road between Kampot and Kep. One person — the driver of the motorcycle — died, and his passenger’s leg
SWIMMING
33
snapped in half. I temporarily set this guy’s open-femur fracture and stabilized him so that he could get on the bus to the hospital in Phnom Penh, three hours away. Word got around, and after that ailing villagers sometimes showed up at my door. I generally just directed them to the clinic in town, which has I.V.s and antibiotics and basic first-aid stuff that I don’t have. But if they were really poor, and I could handle the problem, I’d do it myself. I didn’t take their money, and the clinic took a lot. So there was Angel on the ground, bleeding from his little nose, and Veata’s mother started to cry in little muffled hiccups, and then Veata started to cry even louder, and all I wanted her to do was go back into the bedroom and put some clothes on so that she wouldn’t be standing there with her titties hanging out of my robe in front of her father. I took the kid’s pulse and counted his respirations. He was very hot to the touch. “Why did you bring him all the way here instead of to the clinic?” I asked. Nobody said anything. “Clinic? Kampot town?” I repeated. Veata’s father shook his head twice, quickly, like he was saying no 34
to a price in a negotiation. “I don’t have what he needs,” I said. I didn’t feel anything looking at that kid. Not one thing beyond the clinical. It was obvious by then that he was Veata’s child. I could see it just by looking at his pretty face. Veata’s parents didn’t speak a word of English, so I asked her,
T. COOPER
“What do they want?” “They walk here” is all she said. I tried to get Angel to drink some water from a glass, but he wouldn’t take any, and the blood from his upper lip dripped into the glass of water, dispersing into a puff of maroon haze. I picked him up, rewrapped the blanket around him, and passed him over to Veata. I pulled on a T-shirt in the bedroom, and then came back out and took Angel again, nodding toward the bedroom for Veata to go in and get dressed. Veata’s parents just stood there staring at me while she was gone. A storm was coming in off the gulf; you could feel a change in the humid wind. The waves lapped more frequently on the sand behind my house, rocks rolling noisily over themselves. The wrinkles in Veata’s father’s face were positively elephant-like. He’d seen a lot. It was probably a miracle that he was alive. But I didn’t want to hear the story of his hiding out in some cave for years while Pol Pot killed the rest of his family or any crazy shit like that. I didn’t want to have to care, to have to marry his daughter and have a little half-American, half-Khmer kid who’d play soccer really well and have a funky haircut and be especially popular at the prep school we’d send him to in Connecticut or Vermont. Mercifully, Veata came back clothed and we headed out front to my motorcycle. I told her to hold onto Angel and get on the back. Her parents followed us out and wordlessly watched us go. I looked back over my shoulder, pretending to check for cars — which never come by here — and caught a glimpse of them standing a couple of feet apart in front of my little house off the main dirt road.
35
At the clinic, I asked the nurse to start Angel on an I.V. drip, just basic Ringer’s lactate, and then to push some antibiotics as soon as we realized he had an infection going on. He was burning up: 105. Kids can die with that kind of fever. When I was a boy, I used to get fevers like that, and my mother would sit me in an ice-cold bath and pretend to make different outfits out of washcloths (tuxedo, tank top, wetsuit), draping the freezing wet cloths over my chest, arms, and head in hope of bringing down my temperature and avoiding a trip to the emergency room. Angel had to stay at the clinic overnight. I left Veata there and drove the fifteen miles back to my place, shuttling first her mother and then her father back to the clinic to be with her. I didn’t say anything to either of them the whole time. Except once, when I gestured to Veata’s mother to watch out for the muffler on the bike, which was searing hot, just millimetres away from her thigh. When all three of them were at the clinic together, I turned to head back home, but Veata came out onto the deck and grabbed my elbow with her bony, birdlike fingers. “I have to get my swim in,” I said to her. “Swim?” I had to get my swim in. My daily swim that I paid good money at a good exchange rate to insure. She looked at me with those full eyes, the kind that peek out of the 36
tourist brochures for Southeast Asian cruises that stop in seven countries in seven days. I wanted to see hatred in those eyes, but all I saw was my own reflection. “I had a son,” I said then. “You have son?” she asked. “Yes,” I said, looking across the street, over the Kampot River and
T. COOPER
up at Bokor Mountain. Fog was hanging from the places where the jungle protruded from the dark-green mountain. “I killed him, though. I killed him.” I don’t know why I always said things twice around her. Ostensibly it was because she didn’t understand English very well, but I’m sure that there was some other reason. Some sort of superiority thing. I have that. Doctors have that. Even doctors in training, like I was. “I hit him with my car — accident,” I said. “He ran in front of the car. I hit him. Accident.” Veata’s mother came out onto the deck then, the torn screen door slamming shut behind her. She spoke softly to her daughter, and I stepped aside and lit a cigarette to give them some privacy. After a few exchanges with her mother, Veata turned to me and said, “Cockroach go in Angel nose.” This was something I’d heard about in med school. I remember the textbook for my pediatrics course saying something to the effect of “If a child presents with an infection and is a resident of a lower-income neighborhood, such as a housing project or other state- or city-subsidized environment, suspect an insect as a potential aggravating factor.” Insects tend to crawl into small, dark, moist spaces. Seals crawl up onto land. Whales beach themselves. But I did not want to miss my daily swim. It was my right. For killing my child I had earned the right to swim once a day in the beautiful and sometimes smelly Gulf of Thailand. The right to fuck the youngest, hottest girl with the tightest pussy in town and make her fall in love with me and yet bear no responsibility toward her or her family beyond shuttling them to the
SWIMMING
clinic when their grandchild was ill. My God-given rights. I missed my swim that day. The nurse-practitioner sedated Angel, extracted the roach from his nose, and amped up his antibiotics. He would soon be fine, back running around Kampot’s red-mud streets with his black hair spiked and newly shorn, just like Maddox Jolie’s. It started raining while I was on the road to my house, and my rear brake stopped working. I pulled to the side of the road, where some kids were playing in the three inches of water that filled the small, square rice paddy in front of their house. It was a one-ox, two-story household, and there were a bunch of crusty chickens huddling under a tree to escape the rain. The boys looked up at me and laughed, pointing. Muddy water dripped from my hair into my eyebrows, lashes, and eyes, as I knelt to unscrew the lever that activated the rear brake. It had been wailing like crazy as I drove, metal on metal, but I didn’t have the time to deal with it then. Nor the tools. So I drove about five miles per hour the rest of the way back to Kep, using only my front brake — and sparingly at that. Stuck in second gear with a squirrelly front brake, I finally gave up all hope of a swim. It was dark, and it wasn’t worth risking a jellyfish crossing my path. The next day, I went for my swim the minute I woke up. My swim. I wanted to make up for having missed the day before. I wondered momentarily about Angel’s infection, but as quickly as the thought had entered my consciousness it was gone again, and I was pulling on my trunks, swallowing a couple of little starchy bananas, and stepping out onto the bright beach. The storm had passed during the night, and there was some debris on the shore, a few stray coconuts and palm
T. COOPER
branches. The water was uncharacteristically glassy. I waded out up to my waist, pulled my goggles on, and dived in, staying submerged and swimming as long as I could before my first breath ran out. The water was too warm, but I pumped away freestyle, going as hard as I could for probably fifteen minutes before I felt even remotely winded. I felt as if I could sprint like that for hours. You know that feeling when you can’t get enough breath and every time you turn up for air you don’t know if you’re going to get a salty mouthful down your gullet or not? That feeling where you’re pushing so hard that you understand how a body could just as easily die as live, that living is just the absence of death, and thus always in a relationship with death? That’s what it had felt like fucking Veata that morning, too — like, bring it on, I don’t care — and then there was the frantic knock on the door and her parents were in my front room, and I thought I’d derive at least some satisfaction from staring that man, her father, in the face when he knew full well I’d been pounding away at his daughter seconds before. But you know what? There was nothing there. I felt more sorry for him than anything else, standing there all skinny and no taller than my own mother, holding his limp little camouflaged grandson in his arms. I was swimming around the other side of the point and saw a long purple jellyfish in front of me, a few feet below. I turned toward the beach in case he had friends. I was in unfamiliar water, but I didn’t slow my stroke. I kept going, around the next bend and past the abandoned cinder-block house with no roof where a pack of dogs live with their pups. I kept cutting through that thick water, my shoulders burning in the water-magnified sun, and then all of a sudden I got this acute
SWIMMING
feeling that I’d forgotten something, something really big — that jittery flutter running the length of my musculature which I used to get sometimes even before Jake died. Even the water tasted different, as if something metallic were making all the particles buzz. I stopped my stroke, pulled up, and trod water. I pushed my goggles up onto my forehead, and as my vision un-blurred I saw that there were three or four guys on the beach, standing around a massive, bloated dead animal. As I paddled closer I realized that it was a whale shark, its head and mouth smashed in, trailing thick blood into the water from the beach. Tiny waves lapped at the creature’s wide mouth. I swam all the way in to shore, and when I stepped onto the sand I looked at my arms and legs, a red film hewing to the hair and the skin. I stood on the edge of the scene, but only one of the guys noticed me at first. He just turned and looked with no discernible expression on his face. He was beautiful like a woman. He turned back and said something to the two men who were on the other side of the fish, hacking away at the connective tissue around its liver. It was gigantic, the liver — blood-purple — and the two guys were covered in bloody entrails. The man who’d noticed me walked up the fish’s tail then and stood on top of the creature, cockily resting an elbow on the dorsal fin as if he 40
were bellying up to a bar. The thing had to be thirty or forty feet long. I wasn’t angry when Jake died. But those guys’ girlish little necks — I pictured my hands gripping them each tightly, and then snap, snap, snap. I walked closer, still catching my breath from the workout or the panic attack or both. None of the men smiled or really acknowledged me at all, though I vaguely recognized the one who was standing
on top of the fish from the market in Kampot. The others just kept sawing away at the creature, whose spotted skin was now dull and rubbery in the sunlight. Dime-size flies had moved in, a swarm of them in the heat, and a few of the neighboring stray dogs sat in the shade on the perimeter, waiting to clean up. The men continued to ignore me, even when I stepped around behind them to get a closer look at the whale shark’s liver and chest cavity. When my wife asked me to take a temporary leave from the hospital to spend time with her, I took a leave from the hospital and spent all my time with her. When she asked me to move us to Vermont to be closer to her family, we moved to Vermont to be closer to her family. When she asked me to move us back to the city to get away from her family, I found us a condo in Chelsea. When she went off the pill and asked me to make love to her, I dropped everything and made love to her. When she asked me not to touch her again, I didn’t touch her. I slept on the couch and watched five straight seasons of “M*A*S*H” reruns on the Hallmark Channel from eleven to one every week night. On weekends I played Internet poker, against a guy from Wisconsin named Hal. When she asked me to do something — anything — to show that I was as destroyed by this as she was, I dragged her to a hipster tattoo studio in Williamsburg and squeezed her hand while a mook with Johnny Cash-black hair and dice tattooed on each of his knuckles carved Jake’s name into my chest in huge Gothic script. When she asked me to go back to work, I tried to get a residency in
New York. And when I couldn’t get a residency in New York I got one in New Jersey and commuted to Trenton, making it back to sleep on the couch every off-duty night, without exception. When she said she needed to be distracted, to get a job of her own, I told her to get a job of her own, and she did, volunteering at a local public-radio station downtown. When she said that there was a paid opening at the station and she wanted to apply for it, I said, Great, apply for the paid position, and so she did, and she got the job and worked a hectic nonprofit schedule, sometimes six days a week. When she asked me to donate to the station and come to the holiday party, I donated to the station, put on a festive tie, and brought a fruitcake to the holiday party. When she said that she needed to spend time with the producer of the afternoon music show because he understood her, because he’d lost a child to cancer, I said, Great, spend time with the producer of the afternoon music show because he lost a child to cancer. And when she asked me to leave I left. The producer moved in, and I took a little chunk of cash, left the rest for her, and bought a ticket to Bangkok. 42
I said that I was sorry. I’d thought he was inside. I wasn’t drinking. I was just tired. I didn’t even like football, or barbecue, or her brother’s wife, the frigid bitch. And I couldn’t say whether I’d heard something hit the bumper or not. I didn’t know I’d hit anything — hit him — until I finished parking the car and saw his little shoe by the tire. Obviously, if I’d heard something I would have stopped. I’ve stopped for less. I’ve
T. COOPER
stopped for a squirrel. I drove my bike to Colin’s coffeehouse in Kampot and researched whale sharks on the Internet. They were threatened and protected, but a set of fins went for five hundred dollars a kilo, in the right hands. And the liver was like gold. An Australian girl with a pink bandanna on her head was giggling loudly at the computer behind me as I read. She was instant-messaging her parents back home for more money, and detailing the conversation for her friend, loud enough so that everyone in the coffeehouse could hear. I fantasized about sending somebody to Phnom Penh to rob her when she visited the cash machine. Just to show her. Before getting off the computer, I logged onto my e-mail account, which I hadn’t checked in a couple of weeks. There were a few new messages there, one from my wife from a week before. I opened it and read the first line. She’d sent the divorce papers for me to sign months ago, but I hadn’t picked them up from general delivery, and they hadn’t been returned to her, either, so she didn’t know what to do. “Colin, can I use this address for some documents I need?” I called over my shoulder. “Sure.” I hit Reply and typed Colin’s name and business address, then skimmed over the rest of her note as an afterthought. She said that she was pregnant — with a girl — and wanted to get married to What’s His Face before she delivered, in a few months. I hit Return a few times after Colin’s address, and wrote, “I hope you feel better this time around,” before going back and erasing the line. When she was pregnant with
SWIMMING
43
Jake, she threw up for three months straight. I started typing again, “I hope you don’t get sick as much,” but then erased the “as much” and stared at the blinking cursor after “sick” for a few minutes. Colin brought my coffee and set it next to the keyboard. Espresso was apparently the one thing I truly couldn’t live without. “Here you go, man. Enjoy,” he said. I typed a period and hit Return, and then, “Enjoy it this time.” I quickly erased “this time,” hit the period key again, and left it at that. “Enjoy it.” I clicked Send, logged out, and took a sip of my coffee, which seared my tongue. I love that first sip. Driving back to Kep later that evening, I took the side road that hugs the coastline until I got to the house where the dogs live, which was surprisingly quiet and empty for that time of night. I pulled out onto the sand through the brush, and my back wheel got stuck a few times, but I walked the bike out of the holes and managed to get onto wetter sand. All that was left of the whale shark was a bunch of slop. There were about fifty dogs fighting over it in the bloody sand. I vomited a little from the smell. Indescribable. I covered my nose and mouth, straddling my idling bike. It was getting dark, but the moon was bright enough for me to see two very wide, deep tire tracks in the sand, leading all the way back up to the main road. I didn’t go back to Kampot town for a couple of days, or maybe a week, and I can’t honestly say what I did that whole time. I barely ate. I did swim every day, sometimes twice. I drank up my stash of warm beer, and when I ran out of food and water and was low on gas I headed
to Kampot for supplies. I swear Veata can sense me coming from a mile away — she’s like a dog that way — because she was in front of the market before I could swing my leg over my bike seat and cut the engine. “Where you been?” she asked. “Home.” “Why you go to police? Why you go say Sopat do something wrong?” “Because he did — he did do something wrong.” “No, no, he didn’t do something wrong,” she said. It was the first time she had ever not been in complete agreement with me. “He say you do something wrong.” “Me? Me. I did something wrong,” I said. “That’s great. That’s just fucking great.” “Sopat say you make a hard time for him and all of them. Now they come and want more money from them. They take away the fins.” “Who? Who took the fins?” “You know who,” she said. “You — ” “Well, whale sharks are protected,” I said. “They’re all dying, and nobody’s supposed to kill them. Not your cousin, nobody.” “Sopat, he is very angry.” “I don’t care if Sopat is angry.” “He say he just swim up on beach. The fish just swim right up on beach and he was very sick.” “He didn’t swim up onto the beach, Veata.” “He do that. Sopat say he do that.” “No, he didn’t. They killed that poor thing. They went out and killed it. Its face was bashed in!” I yelled.
Veata flinched ever so slightly when I raised my voice, and with a swift kick to the fuel tank that came virtually out of nowhere she knocked my motorcycle over, and it crashed to the ground noisily, gasoline spilling into the dirt, spewing a little purple rainbow. “What the fuck are you doing?” I screamed, even louder than before, and a few people nervously looked my way from the outer edge of the market — the same outdoor market where I’d first spotted Veata, in my second week in town. She and her friends had giggled uncontrollably from behind her uncle’s vegetable stand, where they were helping out. They had continued to laugh when I came up and asked in English to buy a loaf of bread that Veata’s mother was selling. Alas, the flirty Veata smile was no different from the one she sported after kicking over my motorcycle. I picked up my bike and reset the kickstand. My left rearview mirror was broken. “You’re fucking crazy,” I spat. She just kept smiling. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Veata’s mother approaching, with Angel in tow. When Angel spotted his mother he ran up and hugged her around the thighs, the way little boys do. He eyed me suspiciously, but I could tell that he wanted me to pay attention to him. Veata’s mother said something in Khmer and then motioned toward me. “My mother say my father say he want to thank you for taking care of Angel,” Veata said. “I didn’t do anything for Angel.” “Well,” she said, her mother nodding and smiling behind her, “we have a special dinner tonight, and my father, he want you to come.” “No, I can’t,” I said. I knew full well how rude this was.
Veata’s mother frowned. Veata looked like she hated me. Pure hatred, and I had to agree. “What do you want me to do?” I asked her. She didn’t answer. Her mother said something again, and Veata argued with her. Angel kept looking up at me from his mother’s leg, his little faux hawk crooked and flattened in the back. “My mother say you must come. My father, he will be very sad if you don’t come,” Veata said. “O.K., O.K.,” I said, and then, “Thank you, thank you very much,” to Veata’s mother. Veata’s family’s house was smaller than the one I was living in, but a pungent fishy coconut smell filled the place, and it seemed larger than it actually was. Angel ran around like a maniac as soon as I arrived, probably because his mother visibly stiffened at my presence. Veata’s father greeted me with a slight bow and led me to a table to sit. He poured me a whiskey, and sat only after I did. We drank in silence, nodding and smiling every so often until Veata’s cousin — Sopat, the whaleshark killer — showed up, eying me. “Maybe I should go?” I whispered to Veata. “Why you go?” Sopat asked politely. “We eat now,” Veata said.
47
Her mother came out with two large bowls of coconut milk with garlic, onion, potatoes, and chunks of white flesh floating in it. It smelled wonderful. She put some rice in front of me on a small table and motioned for me to start eating, but I didn’t want to until everybody sat. Eventually, Sopat sat across from me, and after she put Angel to sleep
SWIMMING
on a mat on the floor Veata joined us, followed, finally, by her father. Her mother kept working by the stove. “You like?” Sopat asked. My cue to take a bite of rice drenched in the thick soup. The potatoes practically melted on my tongue, and the broth was spiced perfectly. But the fish was rubbery and oily when I got to chewing it. My gag reflex kicked in, and I looked for a napkin to spit. I could feel the sweat dripping under my arms. But soon the coconut milk counterbalanced the oil, and I swallowed. Veata’s father smiled at me expectantly, and as the partially chewed mixture went down my throat I managed a version of the same smile we had been exchanging over liquor before. Everybody started eating once I did, even Veata’s mother, who sat on a stool behind her nephew and her husband. We ate in silence for the most part, with Veata and Sopat speaking intermittently, I couldn’t catch what about, but it seemed to be small talk. Sopat stared at me unsmilingly between bites. I looked at Veata’s father there, rail-thin and stooped over his chipped bowl, chewing each bite for what seemed like ten minutes. He should’ve been Veata’s grandfather, not her father. In his face there was something I’d never seen in my own father’s — nor in my own, to be 48
perfectly honest. He looked peaceful, happy even. Proud to be feeding a guest from whom he’d sought help just a week before. I’d had the nerve to pity him. All the while he could’ve been pitying me. Or should’ve been. He chewed and smiled, chewed and smiled, and against all my own rules I found myself wondering about him, so I said as much to Veata after I’d managed to swallow another oily,
briny mouthful. She looked at me, stunned by the inquiry. She began, “Father lost his first family to Khmer Rouge. They kill his two son in front of his eye because he try to hide them in the house. His wife, she die working in the camp, and — ” Veata stopped, searching my eyes for a sign that she’d said too much. Her father kept smiling between bites while Veata talked, telling me how he had found his way south to Kampot in 1980, during the famine. He had no idea what she was saying, but there he was, chewing his food full-cheeked as if he dined in this manner all the time. Dined like the King of Cambodia. Feasting upon the meat that kings eat.
Designed by Danae Moore, 2010 Typefaces: Freight, designed by Joshua Darden in 2005 “An exercise in whispering very loudly.” — Darden On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the U.S. Gulf Coast, killing at least 1,836 and causing severe damage. Galaxie Copernicus, designed by Chester Jenkins and Kris Sowersby in 2009 “I had always had a fondness for Plantin; it is such a workhorse typeface, more sturdy than graceful, with a nice wide stance, and quite different from other 16th-century type.” — Jenkins On June 1, 2009, Air France flight #447 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 on board.