The World Behind the Door

The World Behind the Door Read Online Free PDF Page A

Book: The World Behind the Door Read Online Free PDF
Author: Mike Resnick
how I got here, or even where I am. All my art is back in my studio."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "May I see it?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "If you can show me how to get back, you can have some of it," said Dali.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  She stared at him as if considering her next statement. Finally she spoke.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "If I show you how to get back, indeed how to come and go whenever you want, will you give me lessons?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "It's a bargain!" said Dali eagerly. He was about to extend his hand to shake on it, but at the last moment he thought better of it. "This is a very unusual place you live in," he continued after a moment. "Everything is so strange here."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Not as strange as my paintings," said Jinx.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Birds walk, snakes fly, rivers flow upstream, chipmunks and trees talk . . . what could be stranger than that?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "There's nothing strange about that," replied Jinx. "It's the natural course of things. If you want strange, you should see my art. It upsets everyone who sees it."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "That's not a terrible thing," said Dali.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "It isn't?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "At least they remember it. If it's unique, if no one else paints like it, then it will always be identified with you."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Is that a good thing?" asked Jinx.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Do you want to just be another painter, interchangeable with all your peers?" said Dali. "Or do you want your work to stand out, to be like no one else's?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "It already stands out, and nobody except me understands it," said Jinx.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  Dali smiled. "I feel an affinity with you, Jinx. I don't know where I am or how I got here, but I'm glad we met, and I hope the next time I fall asleep or get drunk I meet you again."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "You won't, you know," said Jinx.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Oh?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  She shook her head. "When you sleep, you dream. I am not a dream. You can visit me whenever you want, and I hope you will let me visit you, but only when you're awake."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "You're sure I'm awake?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Yes."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "It is the middle of the night, though," he continued, looking at his wristwatch. Suddenly he noticed Jinx staring at his watch in rapt fascination. "What is it?" he asked.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "I've never seen anything like it before," she said.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "You've never seen a watch?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "I've seen lots of watches. But never one like that."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "I don't understand," said Dali.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "It doesn't change."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  He held it out for her. "The hands move."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "But the watch doesn't change. It's fixed and rigid. It was flat and circular a minute ago, and I suspect it will be flat and circular an hour from now."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Of course it will."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "That's what's so strange. The world changes with each passing second. I have never heard of a watch that didn't change too, to show the passage of time."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "You are a very interesting young lady," said Dali. He smiled. "And a very pretty one, with just the right number of eyes and noses."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Thank you," she said. "If you like, I will pose for you." She paused. "But I won't take my clothes off."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "I haven't asked you to."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "But you would have. All artists like to see what's beneath the clothing. I would disappoint you: just arms and legs. No snakes, no insects, no white bones."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Good God!" exclaimed Dali. "What do the people of this world look like?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "It's your world too, you know," said Jinx. "And they look just
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