Twisted Mind (Twisted Stories, #1) by D. Michael Martindale

Author:D. Michael Martindale
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction, speculative fiction, short stories, twist ending, Twilight Zone, Black Mirror
Publisher: Worldsmith Stories
Published: 2018-11-21T00:00:00+00:00

Eyes of the Beholder

Chapter 5

Gabriel Lincoln toweled down from his after-jog shower, crawled into a robe and slippers, and padded his way to the den with a cup of coffee in hand. The clock said three minutes before the President’s press conference, so he settled into his leather-upholstered chair and grabbed the remote.

The huge television screen, recessed into the oak-paneled wall, was dark. He aimed the remote at it and fired the television, the receiver, and the recorder up with one universal click. The plastic face of some channel’s anchorman appeared, and his voice boomed into the room. Gabe hit mute immediately.

He didn’t want to hear what the commentator said, before or after an event. He could figure out on his own what the President meant, and he’d say it in his columns and blog. He got the nickname “Honest Gabe” Lincoln from frank and politically unbiased commentary, not passing along the canned talking points of the media. He knew he was on the right track when liberals accused him of being conservative and conservatives accused him of being liberal.

When the Swiss cuckoo clock chirped the hour and the screen image cut to the White House press room, he brought the sound up. The channel didn’t matter—they’d all be covering the press conference.

The commentator quickly wrapped up his last banal words as the journalists in the press room stood and applauded. The President of the United States entered, followed by his usual entourage—including Gabe’s wife Marianne, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations—and marched up to the stand, smiling his signature political smile. He stood patiently drinking in the ovation, waving to different parts of the room with an upraised hand.

A warm feeling spread over Gabe as the camera flashed briefly on Marianne’s face. Eight years since their marriage in the little chapel of Gabe’s home town, and still she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

When the applause died down, the President postured regally for a moment, then with perfect timing began.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the press, my fellow Americans, I—”

The picture faded into snow, and a torrent of noisy static flooded from the speakers. “No!” Gabe shouted. He cycled through stations, but snow and static greeted him on every one. “No, no, no!” What a time for the feed to go out!

Gabe rose to his feet with no clear idea in mind what he was going to do about it, but before he could take a step, the snow resolved back into a picture. “That’s better,” he said as he lowered himself back into the chair.

But he froze in place, half-sitting, half-standing, propped up by both his arms.

A long crocodile snout with razor fangs peered from the screen. Two beady eyes stared from above the snout. A halo of anemone-like spines, dingy yellow in color, shrouded the head and face.

Gabe sunk slowly the rest of the way into his chair. “Good God, what is that?”

A hand appeared, raised with palm out and six digits extended: five fingers and an opposable thumb.

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