Read "1Q84 Book 3: October - December" by Haruki Murakami online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
It was a windy Saturday, nearly eight p.m., when the phone rang. Aomame was wearing a down jacket, a blanket on her lap, sitting on the balcony. Through a gap in the screen, she kept an eye on the slide in the playground, which was illuminated by the mercury-vapor lamp. Her hands were under the blanket so they wouldn't get numb. The deserted slide looked like the skeleton of some huge animal that had died in the Ice Age.
Sitting outside on a cold night might not be good for the baby, but Aomame decided it wasn't cold enough to present a problem. No matter how cold you may be on the outside, amniotic fluid maintained nearly the same temperature as blood. There are plenty of places in the world way colder and harsher, she concluded. And women keep on having babies, even there. But above all, this cold was something she felt she had to endure if she wanted to see Tengo again.