Page 26 - Effable Encounters

Fantasy and Fugue

breakthrough on the job. The store’s manager had called the police
after several dozen pairs of expensive ladies’ shoes had been either
destroyed or given away by the patient within the space of half an
hour. Chesterton had not resisted arrest, instead carrying on a
running commentary on the officers’ uniforms and accessories as
they escorted him to the service elevator.
Wheelhouse glanced at his watch and pressed a button on the side
of the desk. A moment later the door to the anteroom opened and an
orderly brought the patient in and sat him down in the vinyl-covered
armchair cursorily designed to put the uneasy at their ease. The
doctor quickly sized up the situation and waved the orderly out of the
room. Chesterton was not a large man and the hospital had already
administered enough physical discipline and psychological
mortification to render him totally tractable. Nevertheless, painful
experience had taught the psychiatrist to stay close to the call button
during a screening interview.
“Mr. Chesterton, I am Dr. Douglas Wheelhouse. I will be in charge
of your case as long as you remain here.” He sat on the edge of the
desk and tried to look chummy. ”Medicine today has a great many
tools at its disposal to cure and control diseases whose sufferers were,
until very recently, abandoned or imprisoned by a society unable to
understand or cope with their symptoms. Now, with your help, we
should be able to get to the bottom of your troubles very quickly and
put you on the road to recovery. I’m sure you’d like nothing better
than to get out of here and return to your normal everyday life.”
Wheelhouse smiled sympathetically, despite knowing well that the
chances of any of his charges obtaining release from the institution
were roughly equal to those of their escaping mortality.
Albert Chesterton regarded his interlocutor with undisguised
delight. “Why, that’s just great, doctor! But everyday life is just as
normal as it could be, right now. Boy, this chair is really
uncomfortable, isn’t it? You ever try sitting in it? No? Well, it’s got a
funny cold smooth feel to it, sort of clammy but not at all wet or
sticky. Maybe my skin will do funny things where it’s in contact with
it; that will be interesting to watch. And this room: all the light is
coming right at me, just like sunrise! You don’t mind having your
back to it? Maybe I’ll try that later, too. So, here I am, the very first
time right in this exact spot on Earth! Man alive, it’s weird in

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