Fantasy fiction; Science fiction; Subconsciousness -- Fiction
From the chair an apparently disembodied hand swung downward and
grasped the bottle on the floor. Then, even as they watched it, it
raised the bottle rakishly over the center of the chair and poured a
portion of its contents into ... into nothing! This done, the hand and
bottle moved downward again, and a resounding burp rumbled messily
through the room.
"Holy gee!" Toffee repeated breathlessly.
"What ... what's...." The words died in Marc's throat.
The floating hand, now at rest on the arm of the chair, had suddenly
been matched by another on the opposite arm. Marc and Toffee, struck
dumb by this spectacle, remained rigid, staring with wide-eyed
amazement. And as they watched, two feet, as though to add balance to
the already gruesome picture, slowly appeared on the floor in front of
the chair. After that things seemed to really get under way, and it was
only a matter of seconds until, a section at a time, a whole body had
come into view, complete with everything ... except a head.
"Ulp!" The sound came from Marc.
"You said it," Toffee murmured. "I think I'm going to be hysterical."
With a shudder she turned away and gazed intently out the window.
"You ... you see it too?" Marc asked wretchedly.
"I'm doing my level best not to," Toffee replied. "It's the most
horrible thing I've ever set eyes on. It's positively haunting. I'd be
just as pleased if you wouldn't remind me of it."
"What do you suppose it is?"
"I don't know," Toffee returned miserably. "And I don't care. I just
want to forget all about it. Maybe if we simply ignore it, it will go
away and leave us alone. Let's just look out the window and engage in
casual conversation. Maybe it'll get the idea it's not wanted."
"I wonder if it _can_ go away?" Marc said. Shakily he rose from the
lounge, and with one last tormented glance at the headless figure,
moved rapidly to Toffee's side. "Suppose it ... it can't move ... any
more?"
"It can move all right," Toffee said gloomily. "The way it was whipping
that bottle around I wouldn't be surprised to see it get up and start
doing an Irish jig, though the mere thought of it makes my flesh fairly
scamper."
"That's right," Marc mused. "Whatever it is, it seems to be in splendid
working order."
"Too damn splendid," Toffee agreed.
"Maybe we should assert ourselves," Marc suggested. "Maybe we could
throw it out."
"I, personally," Toffee replied firmly, "would rather slash my wrists
than lay a finger to the clammy thing."
"As I recall," a voice said hollowly from across the room, "you didn't
mind in the least laying a finger to me a while ago. And a shockingly
intimate finger it was too. In fact I was quite embarrassed by it. And
if you two mental cases really want something to do, I suggest you
open up that window and throw yourselves out into the street. Your
feeble-minded gibbering is keeping me awake."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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