Epistolary fiction; Science fiction; Short stories
I had got my mechanism as close to perfect as possible when I
realized that, in my befuddled condition, I had set off a reaction
that inevitably would result in an explosion. I had to leave there
immediately, but I could not create suspicion. The management was not
aware of the nature of my activities.
I moved swiftly. I could not afford time to bring my baggage. I
stuffed as much money into my pockets as I could and then sauntered
into the hotel lobby. Assuming my most casual air, I told the manager
I was checking out. Naturally he was stunned since I was his best
customer.
"But why, sir?" he asked plaintively.
I was baffled. What could I tell him?
"Don't you like the rooms?" he persisted. "Isn't the service good?"
"It's the rooms," I told him. "They're--they're--"
"They're what?" he wanted to know.
"They're not safe."
"Not safe? But that is ridiculous. This hotel is...."
At this point the blast came. My nerves were a wreck from the alcohol.
"See?" I screamed. "Not safe. I knew they were going to blow up!"
He stood paralyzed as I ran from the lobby. Oh, well, never say die.
Another day, another hotel. I swear I'm even beginning to think like
the not-men, curse them.
Glmpauszn
* * * * *
Rochester, New York
September 25
Dear Joe:
I have it! It is done! In spite of the alcohol, in spite of Blgftury's
niggling criticism, I have succeeded. I now have developed a form
of mold, somewhat similar to the antibiotics of this world, that,
transmitted to the human organism, will cause a disease whose end will
be swift and fatal.
First the brain will dissolve and then the body will fall apart.
Nothing in this world can stop the spread of it once it is loose.
Absolutely nothing.
We must use care. Stock in as much gin as you are able. I will bring
with me all that I can. Meanwhile I must return to my original place of
birth into this world of horrors. There I will secure the gateway, a
large mirror, the vibrational point at which we shall meet and slowly
climb the frequency scale to emerge into our own beautiful, now secure
world. You and I together, Joe, conquerors, liberators.
You say you eat little and drink as much as you can. The same with
me. Even in this revolting world I am a sad sight. My not-world senses
falter. This is the last letter. Tomorrow I come with the gateway. When
the gin is gone, we will plant the mold in the hotel where you live.
In only a single gleeb it will begin to work. The men of this queer
world will be no more. But we can't say we didn't have some fun, can
we, Joe?
And just let Blgftury make one crack. Just one xyzprlt. I'll have
hgutry before the ghjdksla!
Glmpauszn
* * * * *
Dear Editor:
These guys might be queer drunk hopheads. But if not? If soon brain
dissolve, body fall apart, how long have we got? Please, anybody who
knows answer, write to me--Ivan Smernda, Plaza Ritz Arms--how long is a
gleeb?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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