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Polaris, v. 1, issue 4, September 1940
Page 6
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6 POLARIS I gazed upward at the curious round leaves. I closed my eyes. A breeze stirred the branches, and their whispered music lulled me into tranquil oblivion. And suddenly I saw again the pale red sky and the tree suns. The land of three shadows! Again the great temple came into view. I seemed to be floating on the air---a disembodied spirit exploring the wonders of a mad, multi-dimensional world! The temple's oddly-angled cornices frightened me, and I knew that this place was one that no man on earth had ever seen in his wildest dreams. Again the vast doorway yawned before me; and I was sucked within that black, writing cloud. I seemed to be staring at space unlimited. I saw a void beyond my vocabulary to describe; a dark, bottomless gulf teeming with nameless shapes and entities---things of madness and delirium, as tenuous as a mist from Shamballah. My soul shrank. I was terribly afraid. I screamed and screamed, and felt that I would soon go mad. Then in my dream I ran and ran in a fever of utter terror, but I did not know what I was running from. . . . I left that hideous temple and that hellish void, yet I knew I must, barring some miracle, return. . . . At last my eyes flew open. I was not beneath the tree. I was sprawled on a rocky slope, my clothing torn and disordered. My hands were bleeding. I stood up, pain stabbing through me. I recognized the spot---the ridge where I had first seen the blasted area! I must have walked miles---unconscious! The tree was not in sight, and I was glad. . . . Even the knees of my trousers were torn, as if I had crawled part of the way. . . . I glanced at the sun. Late afternoon! Where had I been? I snatched out my watch. It had stopped at 10:34. . . . II "So you have the snapshots?" Theunis drawled. I met his gray eyes across the breakfast table. Three days had slipped by since my return from Hell's Acres. I had told him about the dream beneath the tree, and he had laughed. "Yes," I replied. "They came last night. Haven't had a chance to open them yet. Give 'em a good, careful study---if they aren't all failures. Perhaps you'll change your mind." Theunis smiled; sipped his coffee. I gave him the unopened envelope and he quickly broke the seal and withdrew the pictures. He glanced at the first one, and the smile faded from his leonine face. He crushed out his cigarette. "My God, man! Look at this!" I seized the glossy rectangle. It was the first picture of the tree, taken at a distance of fifty feet or so. The cause of Theunis' excitement escaped me. There it was, standing boldly on the hill, while below it grew the jungle of grass where I had lain. In the distance were my snow-capped mountains! "There you are," I cried. "The proof of my story----" "Look at it!" Theunis snapped. "The shadows---there are three for every rock, bush and tree!" He was right. . . Below the tree, spread in fanlike incongruity, lay three overlapping shadows. Suddenly I realized that the picture held an abnormal and inconsistent element. The leaves on the thing were too lush for the work of sane nature, while the trunk was bulged and knotted in the most abhorrent shapes. Theunis
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6 POLARIS I gazed upward at the curious round leaves. I closed my eyes. A breeze stirred the branches, and their whispered music lulled me into tranquil oblivion. And suddenly I saw again the pale red sky and the tree suns. The land of three shadows! Again the great temple came into view. I seemed to be floating on the air---a disembodied spirit exploring the wonders of a mad, multi-dimensional world! The temple's oddly-angled cornices frightened me, and I knew that this place was one that no man on earth had ever seen in his wildest dreams. Again the vast doorway yawned before me; and I was sucked within that black, writing cloud. I seemed to be staring at space unlimited. I saw a void beyond my vocabulary to describe; a dark, bottomless gulf teeming with nameless shapes and entities---things of madness and delirium, as tenuous as a mist from Shamballah. My soul shrank. I was terribly afraid. I screamed and screamed, and felt that I would soon go mad. Then in my dream I ran and ran in a fever of utter terror, but I did not know what I was running from. . . . I left that hideous temple and that hellish void, yet I knew I must, barring some miracle, return. . . . At last my eyes flew open. I was not beneath the tree. I was sprawled on a rocky slope, my clothing torn and disordered. My hands were bleeding. I stood up, pain stabbing through me. I recognized the spot---the ridge where I had first seen the blasted area! I must have walked miles---unconscious! The tree was not in sight, and I was glad. . . . Even the knees of my trousers were torn, as if I had crawled part of the way. . . . I glanced at the sun. Late afternoon! Where had I been? I snatched out my watch. It had stopped at 10:34. . . . II "So you have the snapshots?" Theunis drawled. I met his gray eyes across the breakfast table. Three days had slipped by since my return from Hell's Acres. I had told him about the dream beneath the tree, and he had laughed. "Yes," I replied. "They came last night. Haven't had a chance to open them yet. Give 'em a good, careful study---if they aren't all failures. Perhaps you'll change your mind." Theunis smiled; sipped his coffee. I gave him the unopened envelope and he quickly broke the seal and withdrew the pictures. He glanced at the first one, and the smile faded from his leonine face. He crushed out his cigarette. "My God, man! Look at this!" I seized the glossy rectangle. It was the first picture of the tree, taken at a distance of fifty feet or so. The cause of Theunis' excitement escaped me. There it was, standing boldly on the hill, while below it grew the jungle of grass where I had lain. In the distance were my snow-capped mountains! "There you are," I cried. "The proof of my story----" "Look at it!" Theunis snapped. "The shadows---there are three for every rock, bush and tree!" He was right. . . Below the tree, spread in fanlike incongruity, lay three overlapping shadows. Suddenly I realized that the picture held an abnormal and inconsistent element. The leaves on the thing were too lush for the work of sane nature, while the trunk was bulged and knotted in the most abhorrent shapes. Theunis
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