Fantasy fiction; Science fiction; Subconsciousness -- Fiction
"Just think!" the man continued. "Just think what it would mean if you
could remain thirty-two for the rest of your life! Even if you live to
be a hundred and thirty-two! See what I mean? No loss of faculties. No
decrease in vigor. Thirty-two till the day you die! And look at the
commercial value of the thing. The women. My word, the women! There
isn't a woman alive who wouldn't pauperize her husband and family for a
thing like Fixage. They'd be young and beautiful forever!"
"Or young and ugly," Marc murmured. With an air of finality he gripped
the edge of his desk and boosted himself to his feet. "And besides,
Mr. Culpepper, this agency is not interested in ventures of this sort.
Frankly, I don't see why you came to me at all. When you've a proven
product, fully backed and on the market, I will be happy to do business
with you. But not until. It's my job to sell things to the public, not
the manufacturers."
Seemingly out of nowhere, the little man's finger darted toward
Marc's face. "Those wrinkles, Mr. Pillsworth!" the little man rasped.
He looked as though he'd just opened the door on a closet full of
vampires. "Those marks of worry and age around your eyes! They can be
stopped! Permanently!"
Marc backed away, affrighted. For a moment he was very close to hiding
his face in his hands. He recovered his poise just in time however.
"This is incredible," he said with hostile dignity. "My wrinkles were
come by honestly, Mr. Culpepper, and if you don't mind, I'd prefer
not to have them pointed at. Also, I'll thank you to stop talking in
headlines and get out of my life and my office. You've already talked
me out of my lunch hour and I've a great deal of work to do."
At last Mr. Culpepper seemed to get the idea. He shrugged and turned
partly away.
"Oh, well," he said. "I'm willing to wait until you've made up your
mind. In the meantime, I'll just leave that bottle with you, and you
can think it over. You could even try it yourself and see how it works.
You'll be surprised what it will do for you."
"You'll be surprised what I'll do for it," Marc said, "if you leave it
here." He picked the bottle up and started around the desk with it.
"Here, take it with you. I don't want you to have any excuse to come
creeping back in here. Do you have your hat?"
But now the little man was as anxious to leave as Marc was to have him
leave. He raced to the door and threw it open.
"Just keep it," he called back. "I'll drop back in a few days." And
just before closing the door, he added, "I don't wear a hat."
* * * * *
Marc returned to the desk and sank into his chair. He deposited the
bottle before him and regarded it thoughtfully. "Holy smoke," he
murmured, "where do they come from, these crackpot ideas?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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