DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Black Flames, whole no. 1, January 1946

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Black Flames, whole no. 1, January 1946

Page 20

to these rooms? In my position, it's always easy to take a key from the desk.

"Well, suffice to say that any little thing that I need, I..ah...appropriate. I hope you aren't too shocked."

"Why not at all," I reassured her. "Many a person in your predicament would probably have a dandy time 'appropriating' beautiful clothes, jewelry, furs, expensive cosmetics............"

Roxana interrupted. "Ah yes, it sounds like fun," she spoke wistfully, "but what good are fine clothing and precious jewels when they automatically become invisible? And anyway, I don't take anything unless I absolutely need it. I'm not light fingered by nature."

"Why haven't you called the attention of some competent scientist to your unusual case?" I queried. "It should make a most interesting study."

"But that's just it," Roxana wailed. "I don't want to be a guinea pig and I'd loathe having doctor pawing over me and making examinations, and testing me for reactions."

I thought it over again, and said I didn't blame her. After all, poor kid, she'd had an unpleasant enough life as it was. "Wasn't there any way you could have traced the old woman who sold you the cosmetics?" I asked.

Roxana sighed wistfully. "I tried, but I never say the woman again. Sometimes wonder if those stories about fairy godmothers haven't some factual basis after all."

"You've no idea how lonely it is, really," Roxana continued. "Since I've seen countless motion pictures and read quite a few books dealing with invisibility you might think that I would have been fairly well informed as to how an invisible person should behave; that I wouldn't have been particularly perturbed in my new status. But you'd be surprised how many infintesimal little details confronted me when I encountered this actuality--things that never occur in tailor-made stories in motion pictures concerning invisibility. It is one thing to contemplate such a state of affairs, and another to experience it.

"I used to try to make friends with people, but when I spoke to them they'd be afraid and think that they were having hallucinations or something. Sometimes, influenced by different motion pictures I had seen concerning invisibility I would play harmless practical jokes on people, but I soon grew tired of that. I remember one poor lady. I tried, in all seriousness, to introduce myself to her, and she passed out from a heart attack. I never forgave myself for that, and I never tried to make friends again with anyone else until tonight, when I met you."

Saving...

to these rooms? In my position, it's always easy to take a key from the desk. "Well, suffice to say that any little thing that I need, I..ah...appropriate. I hope you aren't too shocked." "Why not at all," I reassured her. "Many a person in your predicament would probably have a dandy time 'appropriating' beautiful clothes, jewelry, furs, expensive cosmetics............" Roxana interrupted. "Ah yes, it sounds like fun," she spoke wistfully, "but what good are fine clothing and precious jewels when they automatically become invisible? And anyway, I don't take anything unless I absolutely need it. I'm not light fingered by nature." "Why haven't you called the attention of some competent scientist to your unusual case?" I queried. "It should make a most interesting study." "But that's just it," Roxana wailed. "I don't want to be a guinea pig and I'd loathe having doctor pawing over me and making examinations, and testing me for reactions." I thought it over again, and said I didn't blame her. After all, poor kid, she'd had an unpleasant enough life as it was. "Wasn't there any way you could have traced the old woman who sold you the cosmetics?" I asked. Roxana sighed wistfully. "I tried, but I never say the woman again. Sometimes wonder if those stories about fairy godmothers haven't some factual basis after all." "You've no idea how lonely it is, really," Roxana continued. "Since I've seen countless motion pictures and read quite a few books dealing with invisibility you might think that I would have been fairly well informed as to how an invisible person should behave; that I wouldn't have been particularly perturbed in my new status. But you'd be surprised how many infintesimal little details confronted me when I encountered this actuality--things that never occur in tailor-made stories in motion pictures concerning invisibility. It is one thing to contemplate such a state of affairs, and another to experience it. "I used to try to make friends with people, but when I spoke to them they'd be afraid and think that they were having hallucinations or something. Sometimes, influenced by different motion pictures I had seen concerning invisibility I would play harmless practical jokes on people, but I soon grew tired of that. I remember one poor lady. I tried, in all seriousness, to introduce myself to her, and she passed out from a heart attack. I never forgave myself for that, and I never tried to make friends again with anyone else until tonight, when I met you."