The SHADES of TOFFEE
By Charles F. Myers
Marc Pillsworth thought that certain
laws were futile and should be repealed—such
as gravity—which he annihilated!
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Fantastic Adventures June 1950.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Standing in the center of the basement laboratory, Marc Pillsworth heldthe vial up to the light and carefully poured out a small portion ofthe liquid so that the measure would be exact to the final degree.
Certainly, if he had known that the thing he measured was destruction,intrigue and madness, he would have hurled the container and itsgreenish contents to the floor. But he did not know, or even dream....
Assured that the amount was correct beyond question, he turned with thevial, poised it over the small vat on the work table, and poured.
Chaos!
The room screamed with brilliant light as the vat erupted andvengefully spat its contents to the four walls. The wall at the endof the room shuddered and shrugged away a great, irregular section ofconcrete so that the night gushed inside and swallowed up the light.Caught in the tide of the rushing darkness, Marc felt himself liftedhelplessly from his feet, hurled upward to a great height, then plungeddownward headfirst.
He fell endlessly, it seemed, down and down. And the darkness droned inhis ears and in the pit of his stomach as he fell—deeper and deeperinto a region of black strangeness. Fear grew inside him, writhing,coiling and recoiling like a great venomous snake in the depths ofhis stomach. He opened his mouth to scream, but the sound died in histhroat as the darkness rushed inside him and caused the metallic tasteof panic.
And then it was over.
He had arrived, but how and where and for what precise reason hecouldn't imagine. But, oddly, it didn't seem to matter. There was noreason for it to matter now. None that he could think of at the moment.His thoughts moved so slowly, it seemed.
It was as though he had lain down to rest, limply and gently, in asoft coolness. A languor seeped through him, and he fell easily underthe spell of a dreamy quietude. What could any man conceivably have toworry about when he felt like this?
Marc stretched his arms up over his head, then brought them down andclasped his hands at the back of his neck. He was suddenly swept witha mood of utmost felicity. Everything was so unreasonably wonderful!Mother, he thought, pin a rose on me! He grinned happily at his ownurbanity.
And then the darkness began to pulse with a faint light which grewsteadily stronger with each successive impulse. Slowly, vague outlinesbegan to rise out of the dimness and form a horizon. And then the lightbecame a steady glow, and the forms moved in closer and were distinct.Marc sat up and looked about him with astonished eyes.
A soft emerald greenness stretched beneath him in all directions,lifting softly from rise to rise in the distance, gently sloping intocool shadows. Behind him a knoll rose above the others, and along itsside stretched a grove of tall feathery trees which were gracefulbeyond description. A soft breeze coiled through the trees trailinga shimmering blue mist, like a scarf, capriciously upward and out ofsight beyond the rise.