{"id":"01KG6FVH1QEDZWR8HWKP70701R","cid":"bafkreihlk5n65jhpnm6nrsaxj2zapj42mrziybsejeinvwhcew27kse2l4","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":2089,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T03:41:20.744Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 9","source_file":"01KG6FT59BXAZ3C5HRJ6SW8F58","start_line":2027,"text":"kept wishing I could go home and shoot the bull for a while with old Phoebe. But finally,\nafter I was riding a while, the cab driver and I sort of struck up a conversation. His name\nwas Horwitz. He was a much better guy than the other driver I'd had. Anyway, I thought\nmaybe he might know about the ducks.\n\"Hey, Horwitz,\" I said. \"You ever pass by the lagoon in Central Park? Down by\nCentral Park South?\"\n\"The what?\"\n\"The lagoon. That little lake, like, there. Where the ducks are. You know.\"\n\"Yeah, what about it?\"\n\"Well, you know the ducks that swim around in it? In the springtime and all? Do\nyou happen to know where they go in the wintertime, by any chance?\"\n\"Where who goes?\"\n\"The ducks. Do you know, by any chance? I mean does somebody come around\nin a truck or something and take them away, or do they fly away by themselves--go south\nor something?\"\nOld Horwitz turned all the way around and looked at me. He was a very\nimpatient-type guy. He wasn't a bad guy, though. \"How the hell should I know?\" he said.\n\"How the hell should I know a stupid thing like that?\"\n\"Well, don't get sore about it,\" I said. He was sore about it or something.\n\"Who's sore? Nobody's sore.\"\nI stopped having a conversation with him, if he was going to get so damn touchy\nabout it. But he started it up again himself. He turned all the way around again, and said,\n\"The fish don't go no place. They stay right where they are, the fish. Right in the goddam\nlake.\"\n\"The fish--that's different. The fish is different. I'm talking about the ducks,\" I\nsaid.\n\n\n\"What's different about it? Nothin's different about it,\" Horwitz said. Everything\nhe said, he sounded sore about something. \"It's tougher for the fish, the winter and all,\nthan it is for the ducks, for Chrissake. Use your head, for Chrissake.\"\nI didn't say anything for about a minute. Then I said, \"All right. What do they do,\nthe fish and all, when that whole little lake's a solid block of ice, people skating on it and\nall?\"\nOld Horwitz turned around again. \"What the hellaya mean what do they do?\" he\nyelled at me. \"They stay right where they are, for Chrissake.\"\n\"They can't just ignore the ice. They can't just ignore it.\"\n\"Who's ignoring it? Nobody's ignoring it!\" Horwitz said. He got so damn excited\nand all, I was afraid he was going to drive the cab right into a lamppost or something.\n\"They live right in the goddam ice. It's their nature, for Chrissake. They get frozen right\nin one position for the whole winter.\"\n\"Yeah? What do they eat, then? I mean if they're frozen solid, they can't swim\naround looking for food and all.\"\n\"Their bodies, for Chrissake--what'sa matter with ya? Their bodies take in\nnutrition and all, right through the goddam seaweed and crap that's in the ice. They got\ntheir pores open the whole time. That's their nature, for Chrissake. See what I mean?\" He\nturned way the hell around again to look at me.\n\"Oh,\" I said. I let it drop. I was afraid he was going to crack the damn taxi up or\nsomething. Besides, he was such a touchy guy, it wasn't any pleasure discussing anything\nwith him. \"Would you care to stop off and have a drink with me somewhere?\" I said.\nHe didn't answer me, though. I guess he was still thinking. I asked him again,\nthough. He was a pretty good guy. Quite amusing and all.\n\"I ain't got no time for no liquor, bud,\" he said. \"How the hell old are you,\nanyways? Why ain'tcha home in bed?\"\n\"I'm not tired.\"\nWhen I got out in front of Ernie's and paid the fare, old Horwitz brought up the\nfish again. He certainly had it on his mind. \"Listen,\" he said. \"If you was a fish, Mother\nNature'd take care of you, wouldn't she? Right? You don't think them fish just die when it\ngets to be winter, do ya?\"\n\"No, but--\"\n\"You're goddam right they don't,\" Horwitz said, and drove off like a bat out of\nhell. He was about the touchiest guy I ever met. Everything you said made him sore.\nEven though it was so late, old Ernie's was jampacked. Mostly with prep school","title":"Chunk 9"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG6FV13CF8EYK8ZH4S5HFGWW","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG6FT59BXAZ3C5HRJ6SW8F58","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KFF1K6A8V452X8SQKY55DD16","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG6FVH1Q847PG562T23VTE0Q","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG6FVH1VMVSBT5EC3W58RY4Y","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T03:41:23.383Z","ts":"2026-01-30T03:41:29.610Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}