The Dedalus Book of Dutch Fantasy (1993) by Richard Huijing (ed.)

Author:Richard Huijing (ed.) [Huijing, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B007P4V3G4
Publisher: Dedalus Limited
Published: 1994-11-01T21:00:00+00:00

Frans Kusters

I awoke from a deep, dreamless sleep. At the foot of my bed stood four figures: two men and two women, all of them well past fifty. They wore starched white coats; in front of one of the women's throats hung a paper theatre mask. They looked pale with fatigue and didn't move a muscle. Why, I could not say, but I was quite sure that the foursome had been observing me for some time already.

'Am I ill then?' I uttered, seeking to support myself on my elbows. Barely had I posed the question when, that instant, they lost all interest in me and, to my amazement at first, but soon to my indignation and annoyance, began to gambol about like little children and to grab one another by the hair, the nose and the ears. These can't be real doctors, I thought, they're nursing staff; if they get caught here, they'll be given the boot, you bet.

'Would you please cut out those pea-brained goings-on!' I cried. 'Let somebody tell me what's wrong with me, instead.'

My words did not have the desired effect: on the contrary. Things got ever wilder and more vicious; they rolled about on the floor more than that were on their feet, and where only recently there had been boisterous and teasing laughter now the first cries of anger, fear and pain resounded already. As far as I could see, each fought for himself; where there were any alliances, these never lasted longer than a few seconds. The most remarkable of all, however, was how the women kept their end up.

I would have to get out of bed and try all that was possible to put a stop to this bizarre and horrifying pantomime. I had already thrown off the covers but suddenly all my attention was taken up by the shirt I was wearing. It was so beautiful, that shirt; it was made of dark-grey damask and the patterns woven into it changed at the slightest movement I made. I just continued to stare at that dark, mysterious fabric that was so soft I could barely feel it, and the banging and shrieking seemed to be coming from very far away, now.

Then a very bright light shone in the room and a small, slight little man was standing on the threshold. I quickly wrapped the blankets round both my shoulders and the moment I went and lay down again I saw that the men and the women had let go of one another and, contrite, were brushing the dust from their coats and smoothing down their hair. Flanking the little man on both sides, they took up positions at the foot of the bed once again.

'The chef de clinique,' the woman without the mask whispered, bending forwards. Nothing in her appearance or behaviour indicated that, just now, she had had to perform a tremendous feat of strength, and this applied to her three colleagues likewise.

Am I ill then?' I asked once more, raising myself upright.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.