I think the unattainable in woman is always irresistible. Summer
had the most peculiar air of unattainability about her I ever have
experienced. It was as though, when I touched her, it was a fleeting
touch; when I looked at her, I was constantly beset by the feeling that
she would, the next instant, shimmer into insubstantiality.
Talking with her heightened this illusion, rather than lessening it. A
conversation with Summer was a unique experience. It was a little like
two people trying to talk at once, each talking, then each hesitating
to let the other have his say. Our words crossed each other, like
scissor blades that do not quite meet. She might answer a question
before it was asked, or take the conversation off on tangent after
tangent. Disconnected, discontinuous--those adjectives describe our
conversations.
Except for his amnesia, dating back to the night in the park, Wyn
was perfectly normal. After some time, he confided that he, too,
was concerned about Summer's strangeness. I got the impression from
him--though he did not go into great detail--that it extended beyond
her conversation, to her actions.
"It seems to me that I ought to know what's wrong with Summer," he told
me, very puzzled about it. "I mean, it seems I ought to remember. But I
don't. I've gone so far as to talk it over with her."
"What did she say?" I asked.
"She said she wasn't going to tell me now. She said she'd tell me one
of these days, but that when she did, I'd leave her. She smiled all the
time she was saying it, in the strangest way."
Well, we had Summer examined. Old Doctor Lodge is no psychiatrist,
but a man isn't a general practitioner for as long as he's been at it
without learning something about the way a person's mind ticks. He said
there was nothing wrong with Summer, mentally.
"She acts like she's still suffering a little from some sort of shock,"
he said. "If she was right next to a lightning bolt when it struck, I'm
not surprised. It's lasting a little longer than such things usually
do, but it'll clear up."
It didn't clear up, but Wyn and I got used to it.
Amateurs, they say, shouldn't fool around with hypnosis, and I suppose
there's a sound reason behind that admonition. But I'm a little better
than the average amateur hypnotist. I've not only done a good deal
of it at club benefits and what not, but I've read pretty heavily in
psychology. I decided to see if hypnotizing Wyn would give me any clue
to his past and Summer's.
Summer sat beside me that night at their home, as I went through the
familiar motions and Wyn sank into hypnotic trance.
Under hypnosis, Wyn recalled easily everything that had happened since
that night in the park. But attempts to regress him past that night
brought only a death-like silence, in which he sat pale and immobile.
I tried several times, and at last succeeded in getting him in an
extremely deep hypnotic state.
Suddenly, Summer interrupted with an exclamation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account