Science fiction; Short stories; Spouses -- Fiction; Television -- Fiction
The third Full-wall came as a surprise. Flora had taken the 1100 car
to the roboclinic on the 478th level for her annual check up. When
she returned home--there it was. She hardly noticed the chorus of
gasps cut off abruptly as the door shut in the faces of the other
wives in the car. Flora stood, impressed in spite of herself by the
fantastic panorama filling her apartment. Directly before her, the
studio audience gaped up from the massed seats. A fat man in the front
row reached inside a red plaid shirt to scratch. Flora could see the
perspiration on his forehead. Farther back, a couple nuzzled, eyes on
the stage. _Who were they_, Flora wondered; _How did they manage to get
out of their apartments and offices and sit in a real theatre...._
To the left, an owlish youth blinked from a brightly lit cage. And on
the right, the MC caressed the mike, chattering.
Flora deployed her chair, sank down, looking first this way, then
that. There was so much going on--and she was in the middle of it. She
watched for half an hour, then retracted the chair, deployed the bed.
She was tired from the trip. A little nap....
She stopped with the first zipper. The MC was staring directly at
her, leering. The owlish youth blinked at her. The fat man scratched
himself, staring up at her from the front row. She couldn't undress in
front of all of them....
She glanced around, located the switch near the door. With the click,
the scene died around her. The glowing walls seemed to press close,
fading slowly. Flora turned to the one remaining opaque wall, undressed
slowly, her eyes on the familiar pictures. The children--she hadn't
seen them since the last semi-annual vacation week. The cost of travel
was so high, and the crowding....
She turned to the bed--and the three mirror-bright walls confronted
her. She stared at the pale figure before her, stark against the wall
patched with its faded mementos. She took a step; on either side, an
endless rank of gaunt nude figures stepped in unison. She whirled,
fixed her eyes gratefully on the familiar wall, the thin crevice
outlining the door, the picture of the sea....
She closed her eyes, groped her way to the bed. Once covered by the
sheet, she opened her eyes. The beds stood in a row, all identical,
each with its huddled figure, like an infinite charity ward, she
thought--or like a morgue where all the world lay dead....
* * * * *
Harry munched his yeast chop, his head moving from side to side as he
followed the action across the three walls.
"It's marvellous, Flora. Marvellous. But it can be better yet," he
added mysteriously.
"Harry--couldn't we move to a bigger place--and maybe do away with two
of the walls. I--"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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