Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Series Title: Highbury Tales By: Alexander Sunshine Episode 2:
Spitzer-Leonhard Syndrome

   ---------------- Author's note: Spitzer-Leonhard Syndrome is a fictional
disorder is named after Dr.  Robert L.  Spitzer, and Dr.  Karl Leonhard,
both considered major influences on the modern classification of mental
disorders.  ----------------

   Alice went into the bookstore once again.  It seemed much larger than
she remembered it being before.

   As she stepped inside it suddenly dawned on her that she was not wearing
any clothes.  She dived behind a bookshelf.  She wondered how she had
managed to make it all the way to the bookstore without having noticed
this. It should have been chill out, as it usually is in the mornings in
Kingsbury.

   She finally worked up the courage to sit up and peer through the
bookshelf.  She watched Rupbert Greenleaf talk to a customer.  She was
shocked to see he had his penis, fully erect, hanging out of his pants
through his open fly.  She was disappointed to see it was rather small, yet
it looked so pink and smooth she instantly felt the desire to have it in
her mouth.  Well, Alice thought, if he is brazen enough to go about like
that, then it would be all right for me to approach him.  She rushed
towards him and immediately went for his crotch.

   "Hi Alice," he said with a warm, friendly smile.

   She had expected him to ask her what in the world she was doing and so
she blurted: "But we are both naked...  so I thought, why not?"

   "Oh, well, just let me undo my belt..."

   Alice looked up and was shocked to see his belt was actually a snake. 
The snake was an eerie bright luminescent green, and it was so long it
actually twined around his waist several times covering his entire torso.

   "Snakes!" Alice cried.  She almost ran away, but saw that Rupbert was
calm about it.

   Rupbert stood with his arms raised, and she saw that each arm also had
snakes twined around them.  "It's all right Alice.  The snakes might look
weird, but actually they just mean that I am healthy!"

   Alice looked back down at his erection.  "You are so much bigger up
close!" she remarked.  Suddenly, she realized the incongruity of the
situation was ridiculous.  "I'm dreaming, aren't I?"

   Rupbert muttered something, but somehow Alice could not hear him.

   * * *

   Alice woke up and massaged her neck, which was sore from having slept on
the lumpy bag of potatoes.  She tried to lie still so she could fall back
asleep again, so she could go back to the dream possibly, but it was just
too uncomfortable.  She sat up and studied her surroundings, which looked
so different in the rays of the rising sun.  Suddenly, she remembered the
previous nights events.

   As she looked out the window into the street, it looked so
inappropriately quiet outside.  When she had first moved to Highbury, she
was thoroughly dazzled by the city, yet it was only a matter of time, a
short time, until Highbury so quickly lost its charm.  The city was so
cool, gray, and hard.  It so mismatched with herself, her inner passions
and ideals.  And so as she looked out the window of the store, that
perception of stark contrast between her inner and outer world was not new,
but very familiar; Her mind raced with thoughts of the previous night, her
stomach ached with fear, while outside, the city was in meditation.  A
silent drizzle came down, and Alice could see an old man with an obedient
old dog idling down the street.

   She felt fortunate she had woken up so early, such that she had the
opportunity to sneak back out of there without being found.  Alice decided
to go straight to the book store.

   As Alice approached the front door of the store, she briefly caught a
glimpse of Rupbert as he walked across the room.  On sighting him, she felt
a great feeling of dread.  What if he would be unhappy to see her?  She
thought that she might not be able to bear the sight of his handsome face
contorted in that look of revulsion men and women of his class gave her
when she dared to impose her existence upon their reality beyond her role
as paid servant.  What if he decided to kill her?  Perhaps he thought that
action might make the secret society consider taking him back, or perhaps
he was afraid whom she would tell about what she had seen.  These thoughts
did just the opposite of easing her mind, but she just shook her head and
decided to set such anxieties aside.

   She opened the door and stepped inside.  He stood up and stared at her
silently while she approached his desk.

   "Please, have a seat," he said.

   She was surprised at his reaction upon seeing her, she expected him to
be avoidant or hostile, instead he was contritely polite and appeared to
dread her even more than she had dreaded him.  "I'm surprised to see you
here in your store as usual," she said.

   "Well," he said, "I figured that here on a busy street no one would try
to harm me.  I tried going to my friend's house, but he would not answer
his door, I had nowhere else to go.  I decided to sleep in the vault here,
which is very secure.  What do you think we should do?"

   She was once again taken aback by how he was looking to her, of all
people, for advice.  She decided that the thought of him plotting to murder
her was ridiculous indeed; he was far too lacking in initiative.

   "I don't know, why are you asking me, as if I know anything about how
the society works?" she said.  "Anyhow, I think I believe the guy when he
said that he would not get rid of us.  There are always pundits who purport
to expose such secret societies, but the public at large just sees them as
demented bedlamites.  It makes sense that we would pose no threat to them,
if we spoke out about them we would just be seen as having read too many
Milton Pelley pamplets.

   "Milton Pelley?  Who is that?" asked Rupbert.

   "You've never heard of him?  He's the one who writes about how a shady
secret society is supposedly controlling the government."

   "Well, I suppose I do confine my readings to more reputable materials."
Rupbert said, smirking.

   "It's so strange, all of the things he wrote could be actually true, and
most people just laugh at them!" Alice mused.

   "Perhaps we could go to him for advice." he said.

   "That would be great idea," she said thoughtfully, "but that's not his
real name.  His true identity is a secret."

   Just then their conversation was interrupted when the door bell rang and
tall, gaunt blonde lady walked into the store.

   Rupbert continued in a hushed tone: "Wait one moment while I take care
of her."

   The lady eyed Alice suspiciously, who could only wonder what the lady
suspected, having seen her talking to him in such a hushed, intense
conversation.

   "Hey Linda, what can I do for you?" Rupbert asked with affected cheer.

   "Why, good morning Rupbert." the lady said.  "What a nice morning, eh?
They just opened up a new cafe down on Mayberry Street.  I was wondering if
you would accompany me there for brunch?"

   He looked at Alice and then back at Linda.  "Oh, I would love to but I'm
busy here in the store right now.  Perhaps some other time."

   Linda glared at Alice suspiciously.  She looked at her up and down.  Her
gaze seared her from her ashy dirt-caked shoes, to her unkempt wiry
onyx-black hair.  "Oh, Rupee, you do work to hard.  Oh well, don't worry, I
won't hassle you anymore.  Perhaps some other day." She seemed to leave in
a hurry, being upset at being turned down.

   Alice watched her as she left, feeling nervous.  She had a feeling that
this Linda lady would cause her trouble in the future.  Alice guessed the
next thing she would do is find a friend to gossip with, to tell all about
the strange girl that was in Rupbert's store.

   Rupbert did not give Linda another thought, and just picked up their
conversation where they had left off: "Perhaps you are right," he said. 
"Perhaps we can go on as if nothing had happened."

   "I'm not sure if I'm right," Alice said with a shrug.  "We should still
be careful.  How about this, if you observe something suspicious, or if
something should happen outright, contact me, all right?  And if I see
something, or if something happens to me, I'll let you know about it.  Is
it a deal?"

   "That sounds like a decent plan for now," Rupbert said.

   -------------

   Later, in the afternoon, Alice came back to the store looking very
upset. She was carrying a large bag now that was overflowing with books. 
Being a stoic girl, she was not in tears, but there such a hard, grave
expression on her face.  Her countenance was a thick slab of stone for a
dam; what is required to hold back the wild stream of fear and despair in
her heart.

   When Rupbert saw her, he instantly perceived the gravity of the
situation.  "What's wrong?" He asked.

   "Something terrible has happened.  My employer has fired me.  From what
was said, it was made very clear to me that I am finished in this city, and
that no one else will surely hire me.  After this disturbing event, I
decided to go back to my rented room in order to sit and think, only to
find that my meager possessions were out in the alley-way." Her voice
turned higher and strained on that last sentence, she paused for a second,
barely able to keep from breaking down.  "I don't know what to do, Rupbert!
I have nowhere to go.  They have spread some terrible rumor about me."

   "There, there," he said.  He could not bear to see a young lady so
upset. "Don't worry, you can stay here for now."

   "Really?" she asked.  She was pleasantly surprised to see him so
nurturing and kind.  She would have expected someone like him to try to
separate himself from her, she was surprised to see him treating her as an
equal.

   "If they have gone out of their way to ruin you, it is only a matter of
time before they go after me.  You have been harmed first only because it
is so much easier to get to you.  Well, it has gone far enough!  We must go
to the police, I'm not going to sit around and wait and see what they have
in store for me.  I'll lock up and close the store early, right now, and we
shall go straight to the police station and tell them our story."

   She was heartened to see his response.  Before she had seen him being so
indecisive and helpless, but she saw now he could also take on a dynamic
and proactive attitude if the situation called for it.

   And so Rupbert led the way to the police station.  They walked a few
blocks and stepped through the front door into the lobby.  There, a lady
receptionist sat at a desk, while a few police officers in uniform,
complete with their bulky hats and batons, loitered about.  The
receptionist regarded them with a bored expression on her face.

   "Hello, sir." She said, looking at Rupbert.  "What can I help you with?"

   Rupbert spoke to the receptionist loudly and clearly: "Hello," he began.
"I am here on a very serious and urgent matter.  Last night, we, this young
lady and I," he said indicating towards Alice, "witnessed a, actually,
probably several, bizarre and disturbing crimes."

   His words caught the attention of the police officers nearby.  The
receptionist said nothing else, as an officer approached them.  "Please,
come into the office here," the uniformed man said.  Alice and Rupbert
followed him inside, where he motioned for them to sit down.  He closed the
door behind them and sat too, behind a desk.

   "I'm officer Paul Yeardley, pleased to meet you.  Please, tell me in
detail what you have come here to report."

   Rupbert began once again: "Hello, officer Yeardley, pleased to meet you
too.  Although, it would have been if it had not been under these
circumstances.  My name is Rupbert Greenleaf."

   "Ah yes, Greenleaf," said the officer, recognizing the name.

   "This lady and I witnessed a truly bizarre and disturbing crime the
other night.  We were at the Saint Mother's Cathedral, and there we saw a
group of men having some sort of a heathenish gathering.  I must admit, it
was so disturbing, it would feel immoral to recount of such events."

   "You went to the Cathedral at night?  What time was it?"

   "It was around midnight when we were there."

   "Why were you there at such an hour?"

   Rupbert sighed.  "I am also loathe to admit, I went there on invitation,
a friend of mine told me there would be a gathering there."

   "A 'gathering'?"

   "Well, you see, there is a secret society, and I was invited to join,
and that was my first meeting."

   "Oh, how interesting," the officer said.  "Please, say no more.  Come
right this way."

   "Where are we going?" asked Alice, finally speaking.

   "What you are speaking of, I have heard of such things before.  This is
a delicate matter, even in privacy here is not the right place for you to
relate what you have witnessed.  We shall go to...  someplace else, where
more appropriate authorities can deal with this serious issue."

   "By all means, let us go immediately," said Rupbert.

   They went behind the police station and were led to a carriage.  Alice
grew suspicious at the turn of events, she suspected that the police seemed
had been expecting them.  She looked to Rupbert who did not appear to hold
any suspicions.  To her, he seemed so naively optimistic.  As they sat in
the carriage, Alice noted and was unsettled by how the inside was dark and
had blocked windows to make it suitable for transporting prisoners.

   Rupbert, in contrast, was smiling and he said, "This is turning out
better than we expected.  They are already taking us to higher authorities
to tell them our story."

   "I don't know..." said Alice, skeptically.  "Something doesn't seem
right."

   "I understand, it is perfectly natural to still be afraid after what we
saw last night.  I'd wager that by the end of the day, you will feel much
more at ease."

   They sat in silence as the carriage started to move.  Alice looked down
at her lap and then her gaze drifted towards Rupbert.  She silently
thrilled at the opportunity to sit so close to him, despite the
circumstances.  She looked at his hands which lay primly one on top of the
other on his lap.  "Look at his hands," she thought to herself.  "They are
so smooth, surely he has never worked with his hands for a day in his
entire life.  I think I like them.  I think I think too much." She dared to
look up at him, at his face, with premeditated casualness.  He turned to
look at her back and suddenly a thought came to him.

   "May I ask you a personal question?" he asked Alice.

   "Yes, go ahead."

   "Do you happen to be from the far east?  Perhaps from Vindhya?  Or at
least have some Vindhyan ancestry?"

   "Oh, yes, I was born there." Alice tried not to sound too annoyed.  She
thought that was stupid question, and that it was very obvious from her
physical appearance that she was Vindhyan.  She had pure-black hair and a
her tan complexion was not from working long hours in the sun.  She was
also short and small framed, like Vindhyan women often were.

   "I used to live in Vindhya," he said, "in the Chennai province, I lived
there for several years working in the art trade.  That's why, if you have
noticed, my friends call me 'Rupee', which of course, as you know, is the
name of the currency there.  At first I did not like it there, both the
weather and the food more hot than I was accustomed, but now I miss it
sometimes.  You remind me of young ladies there."

   "My mother was Vindhyan, and my father was a white man," she stated,
impatient with the rhetorical-hippopotamus in the room.  She was surprised
that he would allude to such a matter so idly, as such unions were without
exception considered distasteful by high society, especially since they
were hardly ever made in the context of marriage, even more distasteful if
they were.

   "I apologize," said Rupbert.  "I did not mean to make you
uncomfortable."

   "It's all right."

   There was an awkward silence.  Rupbert seemed to be considering his
words very carefully for a moment, and then he said: "You are apparently a
very handsome and intelligent young lady," he said to Alice, who was taken
aback by his bluntness.  "And even if you were not, you should not be
ashamed of your ancestry."

   Alice found what he said patronizing at first, "I'm not ashamed..." she
almost said, but she realized that would sound too defensive and encourage
more awkward discussion.  "Oh...  thank you," she said instead, staring
down at her shoes.  After she said that, her gratitude grew genuine as she
realized his meaning was in fact very pure.  She realized that what he was
saying was: "Please don't think I am as snobby as everyone else!"

   Soon the two of them felt the carriage turn and then come to a stop. 
Someone opened the carriage door for them and they stepped out of the
carriage and found themselves facing several tall, strong-looking women
dressed in white.  They looked around and saw that they were behind a large
plain, boxy building, and were surrounded by long, tall stone walls.

   "What are we doing here?" Alice exclaimed, her fear heightened.

   "Everything is all right, just come this way!" said a very tall man,
also dressed in white with affected friendliness.  He seemed to appear out
of thin air.  His friendliness was belied by the brusque sturdy nurses who
grabbed both her and Rupbert by the arms and led them forcefully inside of
the building.

   Alice panicked and recoiled from the hospital-like atmosphere.  It was
so plain, cold, and white, the air smelling of disinfectant.  She said:
"How can you just drag us in here automatically?  We know what we saw, we
both saw it.  Just look at us, talk to us, it is obvious that we are
perfectly sane!"

   "Calm down," said Rupbert, walking along obediently.  "They probably
just want to talk to us here."

   "How can you assume that?  Look at the way these goons are pushing us
around!"

   Soon they were lead into a room and the door was locked behind them.

   "Now, now, relax, said the man who had met them at the carriage.  He was
a young man who looked to be no older than thirty.  He had deep-brown hair
and friendly eyes that seemed small and thoughful under his dark, thick
brows.  Even sitting down, it was apparent that he was extraordinarily
tall. "We understand how you feel.  That is the nature of mental illness,
the sufferer finds it difficult or impossible to admit that there is
something wrong."

   Finally, the reality of the situation hit Rupbert.  His mouth was agape
for a moment in disbelief.  "We were just reporting a crime.  What evidence
is there that we have any kind of mental illness?"

   The man spoke slowly and earnestly: "From your story it is clear you are
both suffering from Spitzer-Leonhard syndrome, your story illustrates the
classic symptoms of this debilitating disease."

   Rupbert looked at Alice, who brooded silently as if this situation was
all too familiar to her.  "Spitzer-Leonhard syndrome, what's that?" he
asked.

   "Spitzer-Leonhard syndrome is an increasingly common delusional
disorder. The symptoms of the disease include paranoid fantasies of being
controlled by secret societies, or witnessing civilized, everyday people
performing superstitious rituals, particularly sacrifices, among some other
mental abnormalities."

   "That's ridiculous!  That's what we saw!  Both of us!  If it was a
delusion both of us would not have seen the same thing!" insisted Alice.

   "Please, do not yell.  Stay calm, and I will explain the nature of your
illness.  Just think about what you are claiming.  It's impossible.  If
some group of people were sacrificing children, where would all of these
children come from?  Wouldn't someone notice that all of these children are
missing?  And why would the greatest minds and the most powerful figures in
society be performing some barbaric rituals?  We do not live in a society
where people humor such superstitious nonsense at all.  You do know that
magic isn't real...  right?" He asked slowly and condescendingly.

   "Of course!  Of course!" said Alice earnestly.

   "That's a strange question." said Rupbert.  "Are there people who
actually believe magic is real?"

   "Good.  Well then, thinking logically and critically, you can realize
that you did not see what you think you saw!"

   Alice scoffed.  She began to despise this doctor with a burning
intensity.  His friendlines was utter hypocrisy.  "You call us mad, but
this!" she said.  "This!" she banged on the table with her fist, "is
madness!  What you are doing to us is unjust!"

   "I insist that you calm down." The man said, never losing his coolness.
"Let's step back for a moment.  Let me introduce myself: my name is Dr. 
Pacey Lee.  What is your name?" he asked, reaching out his hand to Alice.

   "My name," she began, eyeing his hand untrustfully, "is Alice Baker."
She shook his hand reluctantly.

   "I am Rupbert Greenleaf." He also shook the Doctor's hand.

   "Now, let us try to proceed in a calm, and reasonable manner.  I am here
to help you.  Now I'm going to make a proposal: How about you two stay here
in the hospital for just one day of treatment, and then after that we may
discuss what to do next?"

   "What are you going to do?  Strap us down and pass electricity through
our brains until we are vegetables?" quipped Alice.

   "No.  Obviously you two are very fearful.  We just want to provide you
two with a quiet, safe, environment where you can talk to people who care
about you, and help educate you about your situation so that you can leave
here and continue on with your normal lives."

   Rupbert and Alice looked at each other.  "That sounds fair enough," said
Rupbert.

   Alice was not so quick to agree.  She sensed that the situation was a
trap.  If she did not agree to stay, she suspected they would ask her why
not, and if she said what she thought, they would accuse her of being
paranoid, and then use that as an excuse to keep her there indefinitely. 
"Fine," she said.

   "Good," said Doctor Lee.

   ---------------------------

   Rupbert and Alice were separated, and then Alice realized just how much
security she was drawing from him.  He was a rich man, assumedly with
connections and influence.  Nothing bad could happen to him, and by his
side, nothing would happen to her.  But now they were separated.

   One of the large nurses led her to a small bedroom.  The floor and the
walls were pure white and padded.  The bed, instead of being a regular bed
with a frame, spring, and mattress, was a plain, two-part bed with a
minimal but padded frame, bolted to the floor and a cushion.

   "Here is where you may sleep, if you want to take a nap right now." The
nurse said casually.

   "I'm not tired." she said.

   Just then she noticed Dr.  Lee was nearby observing them.  "Hello,
Alice." he said.  "How would like you see a moving-picture?"

   "A moving picture?" asked Alice incredulously.  "I've never seen one of
those, you show them to your patients here?"

   "Yes, we do all the time." he said.  "Come right this way."

   Alice eagerly followed him, very curious to see what a moving-picture
was like, in spite of the circumstances.  She was led to a small theatre
that had at least 10 long couches lined up in rows facing a pure-white
tapestry that hung on the wall.  It was very dark in the room, as it had no
windows, and was lit only by a single oil-lamp.  In the front and center of
the seats was a strange contraption.

   "Please, have a seat." he said courteously.

   Alice sat on a couch in the front row and watched him as he fiddled with
the machine.  She realized that the reason she had such burning hatred for
him was that she found him so attractive, but she did not want to.  There
was something uniquely irresistable about his absurd tall-ness, his sultry
hazel eyes, framed by his dark brows and lashes, and the cool, deep tone of
voice with which he always spoke.

   "So, what kind of moving picture are we going to watch?" she asked.

   "I am going to show a moving picture that is for helping patients like
you, with Spitzer-Leonhard Syndrome."

   Alice frowned at that pronouncement.

   He smiled and looked into her eyes, and she felt as if a thunderbolt had
hit her heart.  He was so very charming.  He seemed to be a good man, but
not just like an ordinary honest man is good, but like an angel is good. 
For someone like him to be working in such a miserable place seemed
fantastical.

   "Don't worry, Alice." he said warmly.  "I'm just showing you a video,
just try to enjoy it.  You are always safe here, I would never let any harm
come to you."

   She said nothing to that, but only considered, in her mind, that he
seemed to speak in an inexplicably knowing manner, he spoke as if he knew
many things she did not.

   He continued to work on the machine.  Part of it seemed to be a record
player, and he replaced the record on the phonograph with a new one, along
with the reel of film.  Meanwhile Alice noticed a bizarre statue in the
corner of the room by the projector-screen.  The statue was of a naked man
with two coiled snakes that were wrapped around his body and then continued
on to his arms, one snake coiled around each arm.  Alice was reminded of
the dream she had had the previous night.

   Dr.  Lee noticed her staring at the statue and chuckled.  "Yes, I know
the statue with the snakes looks weird.  Actually, it is an old,
traditional symbol of health."

   Alice turned at stared at Dr.  Lee now, incredulously.

   "Well, I'm going to start the movie now.  Look at that wall over there"
he said, pointing to the white tapestry.  He turned the machine on and sat
by it as the movie played:

   The screen was dark, and then opening credits faded into view as some
dramatic music began to play.  "Spitzer-Leonhard Syndrome" it said. 
"Produced by the Alexander Graves Company"

   A balding, intellectual-looking middle-aged man in a suit appeared. 
"Hello," he said.  The audio was grainy and flat, but still perfectly
intelligible.  "My name is Dr.  Karl Spitzer.  I am here today to teach the
viewer about Spitzer-Leonhard Syndrome, named after myself and my colleague
Dr.  Robert Leonhard, who will speak later on in this film.  First of all,
let me define, what is Spitzer-Leonhard Syndrome?"

   "What is Spitzer-Leonhard Syndrome?" a different voice said, as the text
was displayed on the screen.

   Alice scoffed as the film went on to list symptoms.  It was as Dr.  Lee
had described, the main symptoms were 'delusions' about secret society's
performing strange, sexual rituals.  On top of that were other symptoms
such as paranoia, aggression, depression, and anxiety.  Dr.  Leonhard
claimed that the cause of the disease, since it was more prevalent in urban
areas, was probably pollution.  The screen faded to darkness and then a new
man appeared.

   "At it's root," began the snowy-haired, bespectacled Dr.  Robert
Leonhard, pausing thoughfully for a moment.  (One could see that was his
name because as he spoke the name appeared in jittery letters superimposed
above his head.) "At it's root this disease is a sexual fantasy turned into
delusion.  Sufferers, because of chance chemical imbalances in the brain,
are sexually perverted such that normal, healthy sexuality is shunned and
replaced by bizarre fantasies that incorporate everything that is not
normal and healthy: homo-sexuality, pedo-philia, voyeurism, sadism and
masochism.  The sufferer, subconsciously realizing their own perversion,
and how others would see it, defend their ego by incorporating paranoid
ideation into their fantasies.  This paranoid ideation allows them to be
the victims in their fantasies, and thereby blameless."

   "So, how do we treat Spitzer-Leonhard Syndrome?" said a small voice that
seemed to come from across the room from Dr.  Leonhard, who thought for a
moment before speaking:

   "In my professional opinion, to treat a psychological problem, it works
best to attack it at the root, or as close to the root as possible.  The
root of the problem appears to be sexual perversion, and so the first line
of treatment should be to correct this sexual perversion.  We do this by
working to re-allign the patient with the normal and healthy sexual
orientation."

   To Alice's shock and amazement, the video next faded to a scene where a
man, stark naked, sat at the edge of the bed.  At the edge of the screen
Dr. Leonhard could be seen standing, holding a clipboard and taking down
notes as a woman walked into view, also naked.  The man and the woman
immediately began kissing and pawing at each other while the doctor
continued to observe them.  Alice was dumbfounded as the scene continued on
for several minutes, the man and the woman moaning and gasping as the woman
straddled her partner and bounced up and down.  Alice looked at Dr.  Lee to
see his reaction, who only stared at the screen dispassionately.

   Then that graphic scene faded away back to an image of Dr.  Spitzer.  He
spoke a few more words in closing.  He gave a very favorable prognosis for
most cases of the supposed Spitzer-Leonhard Syndrome, given that symptoms
were caught and treated early.  Soon some closing credits appeared and the
musical ditty that had played in the beginning was played again.

   Dr.  Lee turned off the machine and its whirring stopped.  Alice did not
notice all of the noise it made until it was turned off and the room became
eerily quiet in comparison.  The doctor came over and sat next to Alice.

   "So...  what did you think of the motion-picture?" he asked with a
friendly smile.

   "You must be joking!  If that moving-picture was created in all
seriousness, I must be insane, because I found it to be absolutely and
completely absurd.  If I did not believe you doctors took this seriously, I
would assume it was a satire of some sort."

   Dr.  Lee laughed.  "It's all right, you can disagree with us doctors. 
But I must insist that you consider submitting to a treatment."

   "What?"

   "Submit to a treatment, and then I think your opinion on this matter
will change."

   "What does this treatment consist of?"

   "It was explained in the picture."

   Alice paused for a moment, aghast.  "So, you expect me to agree to
submit to this ridiculous treatment!  So tell me, who would be
'administering' this treatment?"

   "I am licensed to administer this treatment, if you would prefer a
different doctor that could be arranged."

   "I think I would prefer you administer it over the other doctors," Alice
paused, remembering to be flabbergasted for a moment.  "But...  I don't
know..."

   Dr.  Lee shifted on the couch closer to her.  She looked into his eyes
and was mesmerized by how sultry and inviting his eyes were.  In the back
of her mind she was suspicious, he was just too charismatic such that it
seemed un-natural.  He was so tall he had to bend his neck down to kiss
her, and as he did, Alice decided to put such suspicions aside and enjoy
the moment.

   "Tell me, Miss Baker, have you ever been with a man?" he asked, pulling
away for a moment.

   "No..." she said, lying.

   "Oh, well that must be the root of your problem: simple lack of
experience in normal sexuality.  We can fix that, easily." He moved on top
of her and kissed her again, holding her body close to his.  She put her
arms around him and caressed the breadth of his back.

   He pulled away and in the most unstudied yet gentle manner lifted her
skirt up to her waist and pulled her panties down to her feet, and
unhooking them from her shoes, pulled them off and placed them thoughtfully
behind himself on the couch.  He stood up and unbuttoned his white coat,
and procured from his trousers his stiff, thick instrument of treatment.

   Alice wanted him to take off more of his clothes, even in the long,
draping doctor's coat it was apparent he had an inordinately sexy body, but
she did not get long to say anything, as he immediately went to work,
plunging himself between her legs.

   Alice gasped in surprise and pleasure.  He thrust into her hard but
steadily, exactly she way she liked it.  She had not made love to a man
since she had moved to Kingsland, such that the experience was almost new
again.  She felt herself running out of breath as she could not resist
moaning and crying out.

   "Are you enjoying this, Miss Baker?" Dr.  Lee murmured breathlessly yet
business-like.

   Alice tried to say yes but just then he thrust into her again and
instead she said, "Oh!" She saw that he continued to look into her eyes
expectantly and so she tried again and managed to say "Yeah."

   "Good.  Would you prefer that I do something different?" As he continued
to move back and forth, he held both of her bare legs up with his large
hands, which easily spanned her slender thighs.

   Alice, in response to his question, sat up and climbed on top of him. 
She sat on his lap facing him and kissed him hungrily, sucking on his
tongue as if to feed from it.  She lifted herself up and allowed him to
carefully guide his prick back inside of her.  She pulled his shirt up from
being tucked into his trousers, eager to feel his bare skin, but impatient,
she groped his chest and his back with her arms.

   He began to thrust in and out of her again as he said, "Miss Baker, I
must admit you are a very good patient.  You seem to be accepting this
treatment very well.  Do you think you might climax?"

   "Oh yes...  if you don't stop!" she said in an increasingly high voice.

   "Good," said Dr.  Lee.  He carefully stood up, raising his patient up
with himself, turned around, and kneeled onto the couch, pressing Alice up
against it.  She rested her legs over his shoulders as he began to thrust
into her again.  He closed his eyes and sighed as he fucked her faster and
faster.  Soon, Alice could feel her orgasm approaching, and she could see
that the doctor's was as well.  Alice felt as if electricity was discharged
into her body as he spent his manly fluid deep into her body.  Alice sat up
and and wrapped her arms around Dr.  Lee as they both caught their breaths.

   Sooner than she would have liked, the doctor pulled away and said:
"Well, Miss Baker, your sexuality seems to be quite normal, and so you are
well on your way to recovery." Alice reclined on the couch in mindless
bliss while the doctor took a handkerchief out of his pocket and
attentively wiped the glistening mixture that they had created that coated
part of himself and her.  He zipped up his pants and reached for a notebook
that he had left by the projector.  Alice sat up and watched him wistfully,
so satisfied and yet dreading the idea that such a thing would never happen
again.

   She did not know what to make of Dr.  Lee.  In some respects, he was
apparently very detached and business-like, yet there seemed to be such a
deep and genuine, loving care in his eyes.  Alice was so certain that the
two of them had some connection, that they could be in love, mutually, but
the doctor seemed to completely unconcerned about it.  Alice thought
perhaps he treated all of his patients that way, but then she disagreed
with herself and insisted that no, it was something just between him and
herself.  Alice slipped her panties back on and looked to Dr.  Lee, who
wrote thoughtfully into his note-book, silently begging him to acknowledge
the connection they must have, yet still basking in post-coital bliss.

   Dr.  Lee closed his notebook and said: "Well Miss Baker, I'd say this
treatment could not have gone better.  I think another one will not be
necessary." The doctor turned around and adjusted the projector, and so he
did not see the disappointed expression on Alice's face.  "You should go
back to your room, get some rest perhaps." With just those words, he walked
out of the theatre, leaving her there all alone.  After a few minutes of
collecting herself, she did go back to her room and took a nap.

   Later, dinner was served, and a nurse showed Alice to the dining hall.
As she entered it, she saw Rupbert there already, picking at a tray that
had sausage, turnips, bread, and potato.  He sat at one of the long wooden
tables that had benches on both sides.

   She was so relieved to see a relatively familiar face.  She rushed over
to him and sat beside him.  "These people are completely insane." she
declared.  "Did they make you watch that bizarre moving-picture and offer
some...  'treatment'?" she asked.

   "Moving-picture?  No." he replied.  "I just spent the day reading and
relaxing.  I was waiting for so long, and then a doctor came and spoke with
me briefly.  He quickly could perceive that I am perfectly sane, although
he did not say as much.  Soon he dismissed me and told me dinner was being
served.  I was shown nothing bizarre.  What was the motion-picture about?"

   "Nevermind the picture, there is not enough time to explain, we need to
get out of here.  In any case, what we have to do is just play along with
them.  Just say that you realize that what we saw was just a delusion, and
so will I.  We should just agree that it never happened?  Agree?"

   "Agreed." said Rupbert.  "This food is terrible," he said smiling,
finding the situation humorous.  "Let us go back to the house, and I will
treat you to a nice Sunday roast made by my expert cook, James.  He makes
the finest puddings in all of Highbury, I must say, you are sure to enjoy
it."

   "Yes, I think I would." said Alice, understatedly.  She was accustomed
to eating nameless, unsatisfying tablescraps and stale breads.  On his
mentioning a Sunday roast, her first instinct was to say, 'but it's not
Sunday!' before quickly realizing it was probably just the name of a dish.

   Alice and Rupbert were soon freed from the institution.  All Rupbert had
to do was briefly speak to a doctor while Alice stood by him nodding.  "Oh,
you doctors have worked a miracle on us.  We are completely cured now, we
realize that what we claimed to have seen was clearly a delusion.  We
behaved so absurdly, but now we have got our heads on straight." he had
ranted.