Teaser Tuesdays: A Tale for the Time Being

This teaser (from A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki) is an excerpt from a conversation the protagonist Ruth has with her Alzheimer’s affected mother after the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers.

“What program is this?” her mother asked.
“It’s the news, Mom,” she answered.
“I don’t understand,” her mother said. “It looks like a war. Are we at war?”
“Yes, Mom,” she said. “We’re at war.”
“Oh, that’s terrible!” her mother exclaimed. “Who are we at war with?”
“Afghanistan, Mom.”

They watched together in silence, until the commercial break. Her mother got up and shuffled to the bathroom. When she came back, she stopped and looked at the screen.

“What program is this?”
“It’s the news, Mom.”
“It looks like a war. Are we at war?”
“Yes, Mom. We’re at war.”
“Oh, that’s terrible! Who are we at war with?”
“Iraq, Mom.”
“Really? But I thought that war was over.”
“Oh, that’s terrible!” her mother leaned forward and peered at the screen.
Dys pass, and weeks. Months pass, and then years.
“Now, who did you say we are at war with?”

~ A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!