Fantasy fiction; Science fiction; Spouses -- Fiction; Subconsciousness -- Fiction
Just at that moment the door at the far end of the room opened and
Marc, accompanied by a guard, stepped into view. His progress to a
position before the bench was not marked with any noticeable tendency
toward levitation. Toffee, the judge, the court spectators regarded
him with undisguised interest. Marc directed his gaze self-consciously
toward his toes.
* * * * *
Only that morning Marc had made a remarkable discovery: that food
tempered his buoyancy and made it possible for him to remain secure to
the floor without clutching to anything for anchorage. Whether this was
a permanent condition or not, he didn't know, but still it had been a
relief to know that he would be able to make his way before the court
without appearing on the ceiling.
However, though mightily relieved, Marc was not as elated at this
development as he might have been; there were other things to plague
him. Julie's message that she was going to Reno, for instance. And
the court's probable decision; they were bound to conclude that he
was either a criminal or insane or both before they were through with
him. He felt that he might just as well drift off into eternity and
have it over with as spend the rest of his life locked up, separated
from Julie. He raised his head and glanced apprehensively at the court
audience.
Julie wasn't there. But he hadn't really expected that she would be.
However, a number of people involved in the affair at the Wynant were
in attendance, including the manager and the clerk. Also, there were
a pair of the most evil-looking male twins Marc had ever set eyes on.
Heavily bearded, wearing thick-lensed glasses, they looked to him like
nothing so much as a pair of those spies you used to see in movies.
Marc shuddered and turned back to the judge, which was no improvement
over the unattractive twins. The judge lifted his gavel.
"The court is now in session!" he thundered.
"And high time, too!" Toffee sang out in reproving agreement.
The judge leaned on the gavel and brought it down solidly on his own
hand.
"Damnation!" he bellowed.
"Such low talk for such high places," Toffee commented dryly, turning
to Marc.
Marc glanced down at her brief costume and a look of pain assailed his
already troubled features.
"Be quiet," he said, almost pleadingly.
"Yes!" the judge said, nursing his hand. "You be quiet!" Then he
turned and gazed malevolently at the gathering in general. "The air
of insanity which has crept into this court will dissipate itself
instantly or I'll clear the hall. I'll clear out the whole kit and
kaboodle of you, even the defendants." He turned back to Toffee. "I may
clear out the defendants anyway."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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