The WALLS By KEITH LAUMER Illustrated by SCHELLING _Four walls do not a prison make--unless they look out upon a world that doesn't exist anymore._ [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Amazing Stories March 1963. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Harry Trimble looked pleased when he stepped into the apartment. The lift door had hardly clacked shut behind him on the peering commuter faces in the car before he had slipped his arm behind Flora's back, bumped his face against her cheek and chuckled, "Well, what would you say to a little surprise? Something you've waited a long time for?" Flora looked up from the dial-a-ration panel. "A surprise, Harry?" "I know how you feel about the apartment, Flora. Well, from now on, you won't be seeing so much of it--" "Harry!" He winced at her clutch on his arm. Her face was pale under the day-glare strip. "We're not--moving to the country...?" Harry pried his arm free. "The country? What the devil are you talking about?" He was frowning now, the pleased look gone. "You should use the lamps more," he said. "You look sick." He glanced around the apartment, the four perfectly flat rectangular walls, the glassy surface of the variglow ceiling, the floor with its pattern of sink-away panels. His eye fell on the four foot square of the TV screen. "I'm having that thing taken out tomorrow," he said. The pleased look was coming back. He cocked an eye at Flora. "And I'm having a Full-wall installed!" Flora glanced at the blank screen. "A Full-wall, Harry?" "Yep!" Harry smacked a fist into a palm, taking a turn up and down the room. "We'll be the first in our cell-block to have a Full-wall!" "Why--that will be nice, Harry...." "Nice?" Harry punched the screen control, then deployed the two chairs with tray racks ready to receive the evening meal. * * * * * Behind him, figures jiggled on the screen. "It's a darn sight more than nice," he said, raising his voice over the shrill and thump of the music. "It's expensive, for one thing. Who else do you know that can afford--" "But--" "But nothing! Imagine it, Flora! It'll be like having a ... a balcony seat, looking out on other people's lives." "But we have so little space now; won't it take up--" "Of course not! How do you manage to stay so ignorant of technical progress? It's only an eighth of an inch thick. Think of it: that thick--" Harry indicated an eighth of an inch with his fingers--"and better color and detail than you've ever seen. It's all done with what they call an edge-excitation effect." "Harry, the old screen is good enough. Couldn't we use the money for a trip--"