Man-woman relationships -- Fiction; Psychological fiction; Science fiction; Short stories
"Yes. And it means at least one of the results of our experiments are
going to be sensational. The pineal gland may be the answer to perfect
psychiatric diagnosis, because it seems that it translates the brain
waves into actual pictures."
"The pineal gland--an eye in reverse!" he gasped.
"Exactly. And now, I'll leave you. And if you don't care to show me
these particular pictures, I'll...."
"Judging from what I was thinking initially, it's going to be a
pleasure!" he said.
She swept furiously from the room.
* * * * *
Two hours later he seated her before the projection screen and went
back to the projector.
"If you're sure this isn't going to embarrass you...." she began.
"It won't," he assured her. "I haven't seen any of it yet, except a few
interesting glimpses I caught in the darkroom. But if you look like
some of the things I saw...."
"Just what do you mean?"
"Wait and see." He switched on the projector and came back to sit down
beside her.
As the first picture appeared on the screen, only an indistinct white
pillar was visible. It swirled, thickened, grew more distinct. A face
appeared. "It's you," he said.
"Yes," she said. "And then I turned up the power to bring the image up
stronger."
The image on the screen clarified. He drew a long breath. "Nice!" he
breathed. "And I gather that's where you socked me?"
"Don't you think I should have? Is that all you've ever got in your
head...."
"Wait a minute," he said in a strained voice. "There's more of what's
in my head, apparently. But I swear I never saw any of _that_ before!"
The two watched in amazement as the dim confines of the weird valley
flashed on the screen. They saw the shadowy bulk of the monster moving
about. Then abruptly the scene changed, and Mary gasped.
"Brannan!" she choked. "But how evil he looks!"
"Oh, I don't know.... That's the way I picture him...."
"In a long cloak?" she asked.
"And with a dagger," he agreed.
Now Mary gasped again. "It's you--carrying me down a cliff!"
"Regular Batman, ain't I?"
She snorted. And snorted again as the film reached the point where she
threw her arms around his neck and received his kiss.
"You don't like that?" he asked.
She tossed her head, but didn't reply. Her eyes were intent on the
screen. Suddenly she snickered. "Look at you!" she exclaimed. "You'd
think you were preparing to protect me from the Devil, or something,
the way you push me behind that rock and get ready with your gun.
What's coming next--Indians?"
"Better than that," he said drily. "If that's an Indian, I'm a pop
bottle cork...."
She screamed involuntarily, then caught herself. "What a foul looking
beast," she said. "So that's what you have in your mind!"
"Looks like I don't intend to keep him there," he remarked. He watched
with interest as his shots took effect on the monster and it crashed to
the valley floor. "Too bad we don't have sound effects."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account