The Pseudo People (v1.0) by Unknown Author

Author:Unknown Author
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-11-10T00:00:00+00:00

I remember that night. Lisa was so beautiful. She was fire and quicksilver, her song was sunlight and carnival and April rain. I loved her so much I wanted to cry. I remember how we stood in the wings before that last scene, and the way she squeezed my hand and whispered, “Midge, I’m going to divorce Paul.”

I could not breathe.

“I don’t love him, not really.” Her eyes were brimming. “I found out this afternoon what he really was. Quick, darling, there’s your cue. Hurry.”

“Divorce him?” I said stupidly.

“You’re on. I’ll tell you all about it later.”

I stumbled onstage. I wanted to scream at Paul, to warn him. I wanted to run to the Zarl’s cage and bolt it tightly, but I am an Actor and I had no real choice. Midge the clown. Now singing, turning handsprings with the other clowns, juggling, dancing on the high wire. But the music was an ancient Danse Macabre, the song was a leaden dirge. It had been so unnecessary! Lisa’s infatuation for Paul was but a temporary thing. She loved me. She would always love me. Fool, fool and murderer! And now too late.

For Paul and Lisa were standing in the center ring singing their final duet while the Zarl crouched in its cage. The cage door opened and the Zarl roared.

The clowns scattered in mock panic. Lisa screamed.

It was all part of the act; the Zarl was supposed to lumber from its cage in a drugged stupor. It would lunge feebly at Lisa and I would slay it.

But the Zarl moved fast, fast. Lisa screamed again as it came at her in a feral rush. I dropped to the center ring, moving to intercept its anticipated charge towards Paul, then the sick agony as I understood, too late. It was after Lisa.

It was a nightmare in slow motion. Lisa trying to run, stumbling. Falling. The Zarl caught her.

She stopped screaming. Forever.

The Zarl lifted its muzzle and grinned at me. I killed that Zarl with my bare hands.

Through the grief and horror I realized someone was singing. Singing the Vesti in a cracked horrible voice as the curtain came down. My voice. The grand finale.

The lights were on, blindingly. Paul was sobbing. The stagehands were carrying Lisa’s body away. Someone was shaking me. It was Latham.

“You’ve done it,” he breathed. “Magnificent! What a trouper Lisa was. When the Zarl told me this afternoon I couldn’t believe it. What sacrifice!”

“The Zarl told you?” I could not understand. He kept talking and I did not understand.

“It was the missing touch, Lisa’s death at the end, the final tragedy.” Latham wiped tears from his eyes. “Sheer genius, Midge! Look at those Reaction Banks!”

The Reaction indicators flashed a deep ruby, washing the stage in bloody light. Latham kept talking, huskily. “The council just called. We’ve got a smash hit. Within a week the hate bars will be condemned. The good fight is won, Midge! Meet Lisa U, fresh from the vats.”

I looked at lisa n. I understood.

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.