Mr. Rapp, his view partly blocked by the repairman, could not see
exactly what was happening on the screen. However, he caught a brief
glimpse of the newscaster's face. It was right side up, but no longer
smiling. Instead, the pictured face wore a look of profound alarm, and
the newsman was apparently leaning far forward, his face almost out of
focus because of its nearness to the lens. Just for a moment, Mr. Rapp
could have sworn he saw a chair floating _up_, past the agonized
expression on the screen.
Then the screen want gray, and a panel of lettering appeared, shaking
slightly.
OUR PICTURE HAS BEEN TEMPORARILY INTERRUPTED. NORMAL SERVICE WILL BE
RESTORED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. PLEASE STAND BY.
"I was going to give you a bill," the repairman said. "Only maybe we
better just charge it up to customer relations."
The letters remained steady on the screen, and Mr. Rapp studied them.
They were right side up.
"You fixed it," Mr. Rapp said, a little uncertainly. "I mean, it's
working. I ought to pay...."
"I goofed," the repairman said. He picked up his tools, and moved toward
the door. "Like, I won't mention it to anybody if you won't. But I
goofed, all right. Didn't you see the picture?"
"But whatever you did ... it worked," Mr. Rapp said. "The picture's
right side up."
"I know," the repairman said. "Only somewhere ... there's a studio
that's upside down. I just goofed, Pops, that's all."
He closed the door behind him, leaving Mr. Rapp still staring at the
immobile, right-side-up message on the glowing screen.
[Illustration]
The End.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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