Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Series Title: Highbury Tales By: Alexander Sunshine Episode 5: Alice's Past

   ---------------- Author's note: Forgive me, I did purloin some quotes
from a certain popular movie.  ----------------

   Late the next morning, Alice sat in the back-room of Rupbert's store
among the piles of unorganized books.  She absent-mindedly went through the
endless columns of dusty tomes, looking at their titles but barely reading
them.  She reflected on the previous night's events with ambivalence.  Part
of her felt giddy and mischievous.  When she had walked down the street
earlier, she secretly hoped and feared someone could just look at her and
know about her sexual adventures.  When she spoke to a customer she felt
like blurting, "Guess what I did last night!" and then admitting nothing,
but she did resist the urge.

   Yet another part of her was uneasy about the situation.  She feared that
Rupbert would eventually regret what had happened after he remembered and
reflected upon it soberly.  However, so far that morning, he had not even
alluded to the previous night's events.  A proper gentleman should be
ashamed, jealous, embarrassed-her thoughts stopped on a dime as she came
across a book titled "Sex Magic".  Seeing its title emblazoned in such
large, bold, golden letters on the cover of the brown-leather book shocked
her and struck her with a visceral fear.

   Just then, Rupbert opened the door and entered the room.  Her heart
pounding, Alice swiftly put the book face down to hide the title from him.

   "Hello." he said.

   "Ruby..." she said, affectionately.

   "How are you doing back here?" he said.

   "Fine..."

   "Find any interesting books?"

   "No.  I mean, nothing in particular...  they are all so interesting...
to me."

   "I just wanted to let you know that I'd prefer that you put the
art-history books with the art books.  You have been putting them with the
history books.  The same goes with other kinds of history books.  History
is a vague category, a more specific category is usually more useful and
appropriate."

   "Oh, that's a good idea.  That makes more sense.  I suppose I did not
give it enough thought."

   Rupbert smiled and then moved closer to her.  He sat down and kissed her
on her fore-head.  Alice, feeling in need of comfort, (even though the need
was from a fear of him and what he might do,) put her arms around him and
leaned her head against his chest.  For a moment, she just took in his
warmth, and then thought 'Let's just get this over with...'.  She pulled
away from him and then said:

   "About the other night...  with Jeremy...  you know..."

   Rupbert grinned and blushed.  He looked up at ceiling as he spoke. 
"Last night was a strange night.  I don't know what to make of it.  So,
what about it?" he said.

   She spoke slowly and hesitantly: "I was just wondering...  don't you
mind?  Don't you feel jealous?"

   He smiled again, but then his countenance grew thoughtful.  "No,
actually, not really.  Now that you mention it, I guess I am supposed to
get jealous.  But, I don't know why...  I don't feel any jealousy.  Perhaps
it makes more sense not to feel that way, I mean, why should I feel
threatened by Jeremy?  It is not as if you are going to leave me for him.
Last night was...  unique.  We just drank too much and I suppose we got
carried-away, and no harm came from it."

   Alice refrained from mentioning that she had consumed neither wine nor
spirit the previous night.  "Oh...  well....  besides that, I hope you do
not think less of me." she said.

   "Yes, I guess I'm supposed to do that too.  Society always teaches us
that a girl is supposed to be up-tight and priggish.  And often times...  I
must admit, I get so caught up in worrying of what everyone else might say
or think that I confuse it with what I myself believe in my own mind.  But
when it came to this sort of thing, I always had my own private opinion.  I
never really agreed with that notion of how a girl should be sexually-pure.
Deep down, I think unconsciously I've always wanted a girl who's brave and
independant-minded...  like you." He took her face in his hands.  "I must
admit though, I never wanted a girl as pretty as you, I would have settled
for much less!"

   "Oh..." Alice could only say.  She was stirred by his loving, heart-felt
words.

   "Well," he said, putting his hand on his lap and standing up.  "I have
to get back to what I was doing."

   Rupbert left and she eagerly went back to the book she had hid.  She
nervously stared at the title for a moment, but then questioned her fear,
for obviously there was no reason for it.  She realized that she had
instinctually thought that if Rupbert saw her with the book, there would be
negative consequences for her.  But the book was not hers, she had just
found it here.  Perhaps she could be concerned about how Rupbert would
react to seeing it, perhaps he would want to throw it away.  She realized
that even that made little sense.

   She opened the book and skimmed some of it.  She was not very surprised
when she found a section describing the ritual she had witnessed in the
cathedral.  When she closed the book, she thought long and hard about what
to do with it.  She decided to keep it in the desk in the room, which had
mostly-empty drawers.

   As she did so, she had epiphany, she realized that perhaps she had
caused Brian to appear, magically.  She knew that sexual activity was
supposed to raise some kind of energy, that could be directed for some
magical purpose, and while having sex she had wished for basically, a
younger version of Rupbert, and then he had appeared.  But perhaps it was
just a coincidence.  After all, the young man had not been suddenly
teleported to their door-step; he had arrived at his own volition.  The
series of events leading him to ring the door-bell at that moment had begun
long before Alice had wished for it.  However, she realized that if magic
works, it works in mind-boggling ways.

   Alice also realized she had been in denial about Brian.  When he had
started mentioning past lives, she had shut down.  She felt repelled from
him.  He seemed to have such a gentle soul.  He was also, she had to admit,
strikingly handsome behind his unfashionable glasses.  More than handsome,
he was also very cute, like a young puppy or a stuffed-animal.  Upon
noticing him one should find him very approachable, and want to hug and
squeeze and pet him.

   If she had unconsciously used sex-magic to make him appear though, then
they were meant to have a romantic relationship.  His idea that they were
together in a past life seemed to be in line with that purpose.  Something
was not right though, she could not consider pursuing him in that way.  He
was too neurotic, emotionally fragile - that was it.  Alice did not want
the responsibility of taking care of his precarious heart.

   Nevertheless, the turn of events was interesting and exciting to her. 
Alice decided she would go back to reading the book sometime when she had
some better privacy.

   *****************************

   The rest of the week past by quickly.  Alice had a desire to make amends
with Brian, but he was out the house all of the time when he was not
asleep, on the college campus presumably.  But at the same time, in a way,
Alice was relieved she was not forced to interact with him.

   When Sunday came around, it was an unseasonably warm day, even for early
spring-time.  Tired of being indoors among the dusty books, Alice went out
to the back-yard, and decided explore the wooded area there.  There was a
path that went through the thick wood.  Soon, the path led to a small pond.
It was oval in shape except that a narrow strip of land snaked into the the
middle of it and then expanded into a tiny island.  It looked so
delightfully peaceful and secluded there, as it had a medium-sized tree
that provided shade and was surrounded by brush.  Alice made her way around
the pond and to that island.  She was pleased to find that the area was
appreciated, this was apparent for it had two wooden benches and small
table installed.

   Alice sat down on the bench that faced the water.  She leaned back into
the bench and relaxed.  She looked up into the trees, which were just
beginning to burst with new green leaves.  She admired how the leaves and
branches danced with the breeze and the sunlight.  But then, all of a
sudden, she became aware of someone moving nearby.  She considered perhaps
it was just an animal, but soon she realized it was a man.  He was very
close when he finally noticed her.  "Brian." she said, as he came into
view.

   "Alice," he replied.  "I'm sorry, I did not know you were here." he said
gently.  "I just thought this looked like a nice place to sit and read."

   "It's all right, I am glad you are here.  Please stay." she gently
pleaded.

   Brian was pleasantly surprised at this pronouncement.  "For sure, I'll
stay if that is what you would like." He slowly sat down on the opposite
bench, and carefully rested the two books he was carrying on the floor by
his feet.

   "I have been meaning to speak with you..." Alice began.  "Brian, I
apologize, whole-heartedly, for the deplorable way I behaved the other
night, the way we all treated you.  Can you forgive me?"

   "Yes, of course I forgive you." he stated.  "The bible says we should
forgive all those who tresspass against us."

   "Can we be friends?"

   Brian hesitated.  The thought of being only friends made his heart sink,
but he said, stiffly: "Yes, what could I want more?"

   Alice gazed past Brian, into the trees.  "I look back on how I treated
you, and it seemed so unlike myself.  I realize now that deep down, I was
trying to compensate for something."

   "Compensate for what?"

   "I guess...  living here with Rupbert, and having a relationship with
him, and depending on him so much, I feel powerless.  I feel like...  a
prostitute." she said, continuing to avoid eye contact.  "So when you moved
in here, and immediately began expecting...  something from me, I felt like
I had to make it stop, that it was time to take a stand.  I thought this
was my opportunity to put my foot down and show that no, I won't sleep with
every man that wants me to." Alice winced at the frankness of her own
words.

   'So you slept with Jeremy?' Brian felt like saying, but he realized the
error that would be.  Instead he said: "Alice...  I am so sorry!  I had no
idea!" Yet Brian did feel very guilty.  He had not considered until that
moment that he might be imposing his will on her with no regard to her own.
He realized he had been arrogant and presumptuous.

   After all of her gushing, Alice felt eager to change the subject a
little.  "So," she began.  "Tell me about our past life together." she
said, eyeing him coyly and smiling.

   Brian laughed uncomfortably.  "Do you believe me?"

   "I will believe anything, as long as it is consistent."

   "Well, to be honest, I don't remember our past life too well.  I just
have a few memories, but they are as clear and real to me as any other
memory.  When I was a child, I remembered more and better, but by the time
I was old enough to appreciate these incongruous memories, they were mostly
gone.  I am sure they are real though!  I can remember living in a house
with a thatched roof.  At first, I thought that was evidence that the
memory was not real, I thought only very primitive peoples had such houses.
But then, one day, I was traveling through the country-side and I saw that
there were some old-fashioned houses with thatched roofs, just like I
remembered!"

   "Wow...  That's interesting.  But, what do you remember about us?  About
you and me?"

   "Not as much as I'd like.  I remember we were humble farmers and we
worked very hard growing lots of potatoes.  I can remember that we had no
children.  As I said before, I was the wife...  I got pregnant once but the
baby was still-born, and I was injured by the birthing.  I was bed-ridden
for months, and then I died."

   "Oh, that sounds like an unhappy life we had.  Skeptics of past-life
memories always complain that such supposed memories are always of being
someone famous or important or glamorous.  Obviously, they could not use
that criticism on you."

   "Tell me, Alice, be honest...  Do you actually believe me?  Do you
believe that one can remember a past life?"

   "As I said, Brian, I will believe anything.  I have seen enough strange
things, even in my short life-time, that nothing is too wonderful to be
true."

   "What do you mean?  What have you seen?"

   Alice looked up and considered for a moment whether she could be open
with him, and then told Brian, in detail, about the day and night she met
Rupbert, and the strange events that transpired.

   "Wow...  what an adventure!  Yet, how frightening!" said Brian.

   Alice sighed in frustration.  "I don't understand the world.  Everything
I know does not quite fit together sensibly.  I know something, but what I
know I can't explain, but I feel it.  I've felt it my entire life, that
there's something wrong with the world.  I don't know what it is, but it's
there, like a splinter in my mind, driving me mad.  Do you know what I'm
talking about?"

   Brian's eyes lit up as he listened to Alice speak.  "I know *exactly*
what you mean!" he said excitedly.  He sat up and continued: "Believe it:
The lies are everywhere.  The lies are all around us, even now - especially
now, in these supposedly open and enlightened times.  You can see it when
you read a book or when you open the newspaper.  I can feel it when I go to
class...  when I go to church...  It is the world itself that has been
pulled over our eyes to blind us from the truth.  I believe you Alice, when
you tell about what you saw in the cathedral that fateful night."

   "I mean, take the subject of magic for instance." Alice continued on her
steady train of thought, as if Brian had not interrupted.  "When I was
growing up, magic was a part of everyday life.  But then, when I moved all
of tens of miles away, from the country-side and into a city, everyone
acted like it did not exist.  So many years have passed that I had almost
convinced myself that what I had personally experienced did not happen. 
But then there was the incident at the cathedral.  I don't understand, why
do people believe it is silly, or even insane to believe in magic, when
people practice it and it produces observable results?  There are so many
books on the subject, sometimes, - for instance - even in ordinary
bookstores.  It is all out there...  in plain sight, yet most people take
no note of it whatsoever!"

   Brian smiled knowingly.  "It is as you suspect: a conspiracy.  Now, that
word has a negative connotation, but conspiracy is an integral part of how
the world operates."

   "There is no need to qualify your words so much, Brian.  I have seen
enough incongruity in the world, even in the most ordinary, every-day
things, that I can believe anything.  To me, nothing is too absurd to be
true, for the truth claimed by common society and academy is most the
absurd in my view.  But still, I admit to some skepticism on my part: How
can all of this be due to conspiracy?  There would be so many individuals
involved, so much cooperation and organization."

   "Yes, it would and it does.  But as you have seen, the individuals in
power have magic on their side.  They skillfully use it to accomplish what
we can barely imagine."

   "So, how do you know of all this?" asked Alice.

   "Oh..." Brian paused, "...from reading books.  Like you have said, books
on such subjects are hidden in plain sight.  Wait a second...  you said
when you were growing up, magic was a part of everday life.  What do you
mean?  What did you see?"

   Alice sighed hesitantly, once again.  "That's a long story."

   "Please, tell me!  I am anxious to hear.  It is a beautiful Sunday
afternoon, and it is so nice sitting out here on the pond with you.  I have
no obligations for today, I will listen for as long as it takes."

   "All right, all right.  I will tell you.  Perhaps it will do me some
good to tell someone about what has happened to me, to tell someone for the
first time.  All of my life, I have had no one to tell." Alice then took a
deep breath, thinking of where to begin, and she went on to tell Brian
about her past:

   "First of all, understand that I was born into a cult that was based
down in the southern province in Vindhya.  The leader of the cult, my
father, was named Tobias Kendall, although I did not learn that until years
after the dissolution of the cult.  Everyone there just called him "Master"
or "the master".

   "I don't know who my mother was.  He impregnated many of the women in
the cult and after they gave birth, their children were all shared equally
amongst the adults.

   "The cult had about 200 people in it.  Most of the members were young
eunuchs but there were many women too.

   "I don't remember finding it particularly pleasant or unpleasant to live
there.  My few memories of the place seem so remote that they are devoid of
emotions or judgements.  I just remember my mothers trying to get me to eat
more.  Much of what I was fed was just unpolished rice, which I did not
like the taste of, and sometimes had grit in it.  There was polished rice
which I preferred but it was reserved for the adults that had some special
rank.

   "I also remember how the adults would put me to work peeling vegetables
or counting money.  Why was there so much money to count?  I still do not
know, but I definitely remember sitting for hours counting mountains of
coins.  I think many of the adults could not do arithmetic, nor could they
read nor write.  I remember many of the adults would often praise me for
being very intelligent, and they would try to teach me things.

   "Anyway, as I had mentioned, magic was a part of every-day life for us.
Every week we performed rituals, led by my father.  We would gather-round a
fire, sing, play instruments, dance, all sorts of things to work up a
frenzy.  Then, my father, in the midst of it all, would perform the most
fantastic of miracles.  He would make ghosts appear, perhaps of our
long-dead ancestors...  and although misty and ethereal, they would dance
and sing along with us.  He would also cause himself and other people or
objects to levitate in mid air!  Oh, come to think of it, I thought those
times were fun.  I had a good time then.  However, being raised in that
atmosphere, I did not realize how miraculous it was."

   "Did they use magic at other times, for everyday, practical matters?"
Brian asked.

   "Oh yes.  We had seers who could separate their own spirit from their
body, at-will, and in this state they could travel far away at unlimited
speeds, and observe conditions at a distance.  They could also communicate
with associates who were far away using this ability.  Different members of
the cult had all kinds of abilities: some of them could use telekinesis
outside of ritual against small objects.  The farmers would use charms and
rituals to help the crops grow.  Magic was applied to anywhere it was
practical."

   "Wow, I would have loved to live in such a magical place!" said Brian.

   "No, probably not, it was not a paradise, you see.  All of us had to
work from dusk until dawn.  We had very little freedom.  Besides, if you
lived there as a boy, they would have made you into a eunuch!"

   "Oh." he said flatly.  "You are right, I would not have enjoyed that."

   "Anyhow, allow me to continue: I barely remember it, but later I was
told that I was 7 years old when I was taken away from the cult.  The
organization there was deemed to be a threat to the well-being of the
nation.  We were raided by the military.  They burned our houses to the
ground, and many were killed.  The remaining adults were put into prison,
and the children, including me, were put into an orphanage.

   "I did not live in the orphanage for more than a month when I was
adopted by a well-meaning married couple that was unable to have children
of their own.  They were well-to-do and lived in the city.  One would
think, from then on, my life would be ordinary, but not so.  I would not
blame you if you disbelieve me, but when I was younger, I could see ghosts.
Usually they did not trouble me, actually.  Occasionally though, they would
appear all of a sudden, or in such a monstrous and gruesome form, that I
would run and scream.  This made my adoptive parents force me to see a
psychiatrist.  I tried to explain that I was all right, that sometimes the
ghosts caught me by surprise but did not truly scare me, but speaking of
ghosts and such things only made them more sure I needed some kind of
medical treatment.

   "They tried to force me to take some kind of drugs, but I hated taking
them.  It dulled my mind and made me feel very lethargic.  I stopped taking
them and instead when they would give me a dose in the morning, I would
slip them into my shoes when they were not looking.  Then, I would walk to
the school-house by myself and on the way, I would throw them into the
gutter.

   "Meanwhile, as I got older, I found books by people like me on abilities
like mines, and others.  With practice, I learned how to see into the
future, and even to move objects by way of tele-kinesis.

   "Incredible!  Can you still do those things?" said Brian, mouth agape.

   "No, I can't." Alice said with a sigh.  "Let me continue:

   "With such abilities, I thought I should show them to my parents, to
make them see that there are such incredible abilities as seeing ghosts. 
That was a huge mistake!  They only insisted that it was a trick of some
kind, although simultaneously, they became utterly terrified of me.

   "They eventually realized I was not taking the pills, and after a great
struggle, they decided to force me to live in a sanitorium until I was old
enough to finally have rights over my own medical care.  That was a most
trying, difficult experience.

   "Oh, well, you do not need to tell me of it, if it would cause you
pain." Brian insisted.

   "No, in fact, I would like to tell you of it.  I think it would be
therapeutic actually."

   "All right," Brian said, nodding.

   "Let me tell you, the sanitorium was a terrible place, it was like a
purgatory.  I was all alone there.  The other patients were so irrational,
if not violent and ill-tempered, that I had no way of relating to them nor
enjoying their company.  And the staff was not much better.  They treated
me as if I were not a person.  Even if I spoke of ordinary things, they did
not believe me, and they, as a matter of policy, never told me the truth.
If I said, 'I don't belong here!  I am sane!' they would just say.  'Oh,
yes, we know that.  Calm down.' and then proceed to force drugs into me by
way of injection."

   Alice stopped talking for a moment.  She was hesistant to tell Brian
more about living in the sanitorium.  Her mind wandered, and she noted that
he had mentioned the bible and going to church earlier.  Looking into his
eyes, thinking of his overall demeanor, she could see that he was almost
certainly a pious young man.  She was charmed by the idea that he was
probably still a virgin.  How scandalized he must have been by the night
they had dinner with Mr.  Hammond!  There are so many voluptuous things
that he had probably never even imagined, she thought, smiling.

   "What is it?" said Brian.

   "I just hesitate to go on.  Let me warn you, at the sanitorium, there
were shocking conditions.  I am afraid to disturb you."

   "Oh." he folded his hands together neatly on his lap.  "Don't worry
about me.  I can be as stoic as the next man." he said, unconvincingly. 
"If it would be therapy for you tell me about what happened, please go
ahead."

   "Well, let me warn you, at that hospital it was like one big sex-orgy!"
she blurted and laughed.

   "Oh."

   She smiled again, and went on: "Let me tell you, I had never felt so
lucky to be a female, there in the sanitorium.  The director of the
facility there used the male patients as his own personal boy-harem.

   "One day I walked in on the most shocking sight.  In one of the
recreational rooms the director himself was there with five or six boys,
all of them completely naked.  He was buggering one of them while another
boy had his penis in the director's mouth, while yet another had his mouth
on the penis of the boy being buggered, and so on.  It was confusing
arrangement of all-male carnal pleasures.  The director also enjoyed
beating and whipping the boys, it gave him a prurient kind of satisfaction.

   Alice had to restrain herself from laughing more at the color that
spread in his cheeks.  She continued: "But the despite the abuse, the boys
seemed to like being chosen by the director.  They practically competed for
his attention.  None of them seemed to even think of resisting him."

   Brian was visibly taken aback by her lurid description, but he said
nothing.

   Alice, determined to get a more spectacular reaction out of him,
continued:
"The girls there seemed to be affected as well by the atmosphere, their
behavior was most perverse.  I cannot count how many times I avoided the
advanced sexual advances of my own female peers." She looked to Brian and
followed each nuance of emotion that he let show in his eyes.  "Almost
every night, I fell asleep hearing the feminine moans of my female
room-mates.  I wondered if they slept at all, all night all they seemed to

do is frig one another."

   Brian shifted uncomfortably in his seat and rubbed behind his ear.

   "The worst part of the day was when it was bathing-time.  Some of the
other girls would do their best grope at me while I tried to bathe.  They
would try to grab my behind or my breasts.  I expressed my disapproval but
it did not stop them.  I had no interest in taking part of their
perversions.  I tried to report their improper behavior, but those mean,
thick, stoic nurses always stood by and did nothing even has it happened
before there eyes at bathing-time.  Let me tell you, I did not like it
there at the sanitorium!  Even if those perverted girls had left me alone,
I was disgusted to watch them in full-light as they shamelessly would kiss,
and lick, and finger at each other in the bath.  One could not avoid seeing
it.

   Brian scratched his head in an unconvincing show of nonchalance.

   "One day, they went too far, I regret to admit that one day I lashed out
at one of them.  I was in the showers when three naked girls accosted me
and pinned me against the wall.  They wrestled me down to the tile floor.
One of them got behind me and pinned my arms back while the other two held
my legs.

   "'You think you are better than us.' A fourth girl said, I think her
name was Judith.  She watched me squirm on the ground and kicked me.  She
bent down and I then I saw she had a hair-brush in her hand.  I was afraid
she would hit me with it but instead she penetrated me with its handle.

   Alice took note of Brians expression, but he seemed determined to remain
quite stoic.

   "I yelled and screamed and made as much noise as I could.  I called out
to the nurses who always stood nearby and watched us bathe, but they did
not make a move to stop them.  I did my best to try bite or scratch them
but I was helpless against so many of them, who were mostly bigger and
stronger than me anyway.

   "Anyway, Judith worked the handle into and out of me, and then even put
the handle of the hair-brush into my bottom.  Meanwhile other girls stood
all around, fingering themselves or each other, enjoying the sight of my
torment.  One girl was so bold as to pinch at my nipples painfully as she
fingered herself.  The other girls cheered Judith on and then she fingered
and licked me until, in spite of myself, I reached a climax."

   "Oh!" said Brian, it seemed almost involuntary on his part.

   "When it was over, I was just glad it was over, and I was eager to leave
the situation.

   "But then, 'There, now you are one of us!' Judith said.  I was so
insulted by that pronouncement, as I found the other girls so disgusting
and dim-witted, I punched her square in the face with all of my might.  She
slipped on the wet floor and hit her head on the edge of a bench.  She
ended up with a broken nose and a concussion.  A great deal of blood came
out of her nose.

   "At this point, the nurses finally intervened.  They moved to separate
myself from the girl although I did not intend to hit her again anyway."

   Alice stopped for a moment and almost laughed out loud at Brian.  He
looked most uncomfortable and scandalized.  She did realize she was giving
excessive detail to her story.  She loved the way Brian reacted to her
words.  He blushed profusely and fidgeted with a pen, while making a
poor-show of being unfazed by her stories.

   "Umm, what is it?  Please go on..." he said.

   Propelled by the momentum of her story, she said informatively: "That
led to their eventually forcing me to get a labotomy."

   "A labotomy!"

   "Yes, they operated on my brain, removing a small part of it."

   "I would have never guessed, you seem to be perfectly sensible."

   "Despite the stereo-type, most lobotomy patients are not like vegetables
afterward.  For a long time I was insensible, however.  I was just
fortunate enough to recover.  But there are years of my life I have
absolutely no recollection of.

   "Now, I hate sanitoriums.  They force all of these troubled people
together, creating a hellish atmosphere that just makes everyone worse. 
They force medical procedures on unwilling patients that do them no good.
While I was under anaesthesia for my lobotomy, they even sterilized me such
that I will never be able to bear my own children."

   "How terrible!"

   "There was never anything wrong with me to begin with.  I just had
abilities and senses that most people do not, that is all!  I cannot count
how many times I have lain awake in bed at night, lamenting of what they
have stripped from me."

   "There, there, Alice." said Brian, putting a hand on her shoulder.  "Do
not lament it too much.  No one can take anything important from you.  So
they cut out part of your brain, so what?"

   "So what?!" she said incredulously.

   "Yeah!  So what?  The powers you had, they did not come from your brain,
they came from your spirit, and they have no means of ever touching your
spirit.  As one gets older, actually, it is common for individuals like you
to lose such abilities naturally, if they are not actively developed.  I
should also mention that when I was a child, I could see ghosts too."

   "Didn't you ever get in trouble for it?" said Alice.

   "No, not at all.  When I spoke of such things the adults would just
dismiss what I said or claimed to have seen as figments of a childish,
over-active imagination.  Soon I was discouraged and did not speak of them
anymore, and then I almost forgot of them myself."

   Brian paused for a moment thoughtfully, and then said: "Alice, how about
this: How about we agree to work together, to develop our magical abilities
back to what they used to be, and perhaps even beyond?"
"I don't know," Alice said immediately.  "I'm sure it would be a great

deal of work."

   "It is a great deal of work, especially for a person working by
themselves, but together, it would be so much easier!"

   "There was a time when there was nothing I wanted to practice more.  But
now I am older and more cynical.  Now I think, what is the point?  What
would we use such abilities for?  In today's society, no-one appreciates
such abilities, one cannot easily make money or help others with such
abilities.  The other day I read in the newspaper about psychics being
arrested for fraud-"

   "That is a very practical way of thinking of it" Brian interrupted. 
"But your life is different now.  You have Rupbert...  and me too.  You
don't have to worry about money anymore, we have the time and the
potential. It would be work, but it would be fun too.  There are so many
wonderful things we can experience together!"

   "You're right...  I guess.  I'll think about it.  In any case, do you
want me to go on with my story?"

   "Oh, yes, please go on."

   "I suppose there is not much more to tell though.  I lived in the
hospital for a while longer.  As I thought about what I was going to do
with my life once I was out on my own, I became interested in science.  I
read countless books, and got into the more obscure works of Nicholas
Alset. I learned that he lived in Highbury, and so I decided to move here.
I had a very vague hope that I could meet him.  To my disappointment
however, I found that he had died in the previous year."

   "Oh yes, he did die." Brian said ruefully.  "I have met him, actually. I
was not well-acquainted with him, but I did see him around Saxony, where I
grew up.  He was friends with the uncle of a friend of mine.  What were you
interested in doing, in particular?"

   "I had read somewhere, in an obscure tome, that he had some secret
inventions.  In particular, I was interested in a supposed device that
could be used to communicate with the spirits of the dead."

   "Really?  Incredible!"

   "I was so eager to talk to him in person about his inventions.  I
thought maybe I could work for him...  or something.  Since he was gone, I
ended up just taking whatever work I could find.  For a couple of years, I
worked odd-jobs, doing laundry, gardening, cleaning stables and kitchens,
that kind of work.  I still kept reading about science and technological
subjects, with some vague ambition that perhaps I could re-invent some of
Alset's inventions.  Then, I met Rupbert."

   "Wow, what a fascinating life you had led!" said Brian.

   Alice remained silent.  She did not think her life was very fascinating.
She could see how it seemed interesting when all the events were condensed
and summarized.  But when she looked back on her life, mostly she
remembered being trapped in the monotony of life: endless days of boring
work and feeling trapped.

   The silence was broken by the sound of the church-bell ringing six
times.

   "My, it's getting late." said Brian.

   "Yes, and it is getting chill out." she agreed.  "Let's go home."

   ********************************
   Next Episode: Bill Jager