"Pink Bells, Tattered Skies" A Short Story adapted from HUNTERS AT THE EDGE OF NIGHT

This short story was published in FORBIDDEN LINES #10 (May/June 1992). It was adapted from a chapter in my unpublished novel, HUNTERS AT THE EDGE OF NIGHT. Sort of NSFW due to language.

Illustrated by Gene Gryniewicz. Though he didn't specify, I always thought the woman on p. 47 & 49 is Sandra, p. 48 & 50 is Monica, and the guy on p. 51 is Ed. Keith, the narrator, is not pictured.

This is just an interlude in the novel, which is why I could adapt it fairly easily to a stand-alone story. Ghosts and phantom hitchhikers have nothing else to do with the novel. 

Next: Solid Gold Asteroids?

The Invisible Surrealist: HUNTERS AT THE EDGE OF NIGHT

This is Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte's 1928 painting, "Hunters at the Edge of Night" (Les chasseurs au bord de la nuit): 

I have always been fascinated by obscure and strange visual images. As a child I used to hunt through our set of grocery store encyclopedias looking for interesting illustrations to pour over. Among the early eye-catchers that later became deeper interests of mine were Ancient Egypt, alchemy, and surrealist art. Over time I've thought a lot about what attracted me to such esoteric images, and I believe it is the appearance of strangeness in the midst of what seems normal. 

From the Papyrus of Ani, better known as 

The Book of the Dead. Ani is the normal

looking guy at the far left, holding

hands with Anubis.

From the alchemical art book "Splendor Solis" (1535)

This depicts the Hermaphrodite holding an egg, which 

is supposed to represent the union of opposites

and the new substances thus made.

I later discovered the works of the Surrealists painters (Miro, Max Ernst, Salvador Dali, Man Ray, Tanguy, et. al.)

Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for its visual artworks and writings. Artists painted unnerving, illogical scenes with photographic precision, created strange creatures from everyday objects, and developed painting techniques that allowed the unconscious to express itself. Its aim was to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality into an absolute reality, a super-reality" (Andre Breton) [from Wikipedia]

It's not my intention to delve into the philosophy of surrealist art here. Suffice it to say as a Rationalist, I found selective irrationalism a interesting and challenging departure. In writing fiction, surrealism has for me acted like a key, unlocking certain ideas and plots, and providing direction and development in existing stories. Science fiction and fantasy in particular have an affinity with surrealism, as the abnormal or super-normal events of genre fiction need a context in which to be understood. 

Someone once declared there were only two plot mechanisms in all of fiction:

1. An ordinary person is confronted with extraordinary events;

2. An extraordinary person is confronted with ordinary events.

There is a third possibility, extraordinary person/extraordinary events, which is the form most superhero tales take. Mythology and religion routinely use the third option. An unwanted (by me) fourth option, ordinary person/ordinary events is the basis of much so-called mainstream fiction, which is as boring as it sounds.

Around 1991 or so, while I was deeply immersed in producing and publishing FORBIDDEN LINES, I decided to develop a novel idea I'd been toying with. It centered on a new form of human invisibility. The concept of invisibility is very old. The ancient Greeks told of a cap or helmet owned by Hades that made its wearer unseen. Perseus was loaned the cap and used it when he killed the Gorgon Medusa. Norse, Welsh, and medieval legends all contain tales of invisibility, usually conferred by an enchanted ring, hat, or cloak. Sauron's ring, fiction's most self-aware piece of jewelry, also makes its wearer invisible. 

Invisibility:

How Perseus got ahead

H. G. Wells' 1897 novel, The Invisible Man, set the pattern for science fiction invisibility for a century. Wells' mad scientist, Griffin, injects himself with chemicals that ostensibly change the refractive index of his body to that of air.

There are some problems with this concept. In order to be invisible, Griffin has to be naked. In many climates (especially England) this imposes a handicap. Wells uses this problem as part of the plot, but worse is the fact that a truly, optically invisible person would be totally blind. Without normal retinas, light would not be caught on the back of the eye--no vision. It's been a long time since I read The Invisible Man, but I don't recall if Wells tries to get around the blindness issue by having Griffin's pallid retinas floating around . . . talk about a surreal image.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Claude Rains

Later technological notions of invisibility like light bending or optical camouflage face the same problem. If you bend light around your Invisible Person (IP), how are they supposed to see?

I wanted a way around all this for my invisibility story. Optical methods I rejected as trite or physically improbable. Technical methods don't seem to answer the blindness problem. How else to make an IP?

There are actually invisible people all around us. We don't see them because we don't want to see them. Some of them are the homeless, the panhandlers, the deformed, the morbidly obese. In their case, their appearance makes the viewer so uncomfortable they check out, trying not to see anything so unpleasant. What if this reaction could be induced artificially? Suppose there was a way to transmit 'don't look at me!' signals to anyone within a significant radius?

Psychological invisibility.

This was the basis of my next novel, titled after Magritte's painting, HUNTERS AT THE EDGE OF NIGHT. It deals with an artist (living in Chapel Hill, N.C.) who is a Photorealist. He tries to paint images as exact and as real as a high resolution photograph. Keith (the artist) believes in object permanence and defines reality as what can be sensed. While out and about one November day, he spots an extraordinary looking young woman. Wanting to paint her portrait, he follows her, intending to introduce himself and asking her to pose. Strangely, her presence does not register with anyone else. She walks into a bank on Franklin Street (the main drag in Chapel Hill) walks behind the tellers' counter, helping herself to wads of cash. When Keith protests, the theft is noticed and Keith is blamed. The woman appears and urges him to flee before they're arrested. Confused, and more than a little fascinated, he goes with the woman, who calls herself 'Monica Griffin.'

Griffin, of course, is the name of Wells' invisible man. Monica is obviously an old film buff, as she later uses the pseudonym 'Illona Massey,' the name of the actress who appeared in the 1942 film, The Invisible Agent.

Illona Massey (1910-1974)

Definitely worth seeing.

My use of the name Monica is more esoteric. I will explain the significance behind the name here to demonstrate the adage that anything a writer experiences is grist for his artistic mill.

Back in 1981 I was in graduate school, working on a Master of Arts Teaching degree in history. As a grad student, I was entitled to a carrel in the main library. I could check out books relevant to my studies and store them in the carrel for much longer than the standard checkout period. In fact, the books I stored there reflected my private interests rather than any scholarly need. A casual perusal of my carrel titles in those days would find books like Vampires of the Slavs, Japanese warplanes, or Oscar Parkes magnificent opus, British Battleships. In short, Carrel 1098 was a nerd's book cache.

Sometime in the spring of '81 (don't recall the exact date), I found a handwritten note stuck to the shelf of my carrel. It purported to be from two undergrad girls, Ashley and Monica, who were curious to meet me and get to know me intimately, etc., etc. (And you thought this kind of stuff originated in spam email). There was a phone number I was supposed to call.

Now I was lonely and horny, but I wasn't stupid. This was somebody's idea of a joke, but I decided to find out who owned the phone number. At that time, the dorm rooms at UNC Chapel Hill each had a landline phone installed. With so many rooms to service, the phone company actually allotted phone numbers in consecutive number blocks. To find the location the phone number, I had to ID the dorm and floor using that block of numbers. A few minutes' study of the campus phone book (remember those?) pinpointed it in Avery Dorm, not far from where I lived. By counting rooms and numbers I soon identified the exact room where that phone number was located. 

I know, too much trouble, but it wasn't hard to track the culprits down. Nothing spoils a prank like a counter-prank. I called the number. A girl answered. I asked for Ashley or Monica.

How are things in Avery Dorm?

No one here by that name, I was told. She hung up. Not five minutes later I got a call from one of my 'admirers' in a poor impression of a sultry voice.

Hi, I said. How are things in Avery Dorm, room XXXX? Loud gasps, and the phone was slammed down. I laughed until my sides ached. Needless to say, I never heard from Ashley or Monica again.

Ten years later, Monica became my Invisible Woman. In my novel HUNTERS Monica does the classic mad scientist thing and experiments on herself. She works in a research center, developing a device to help blind people see electronically. She discovers the software they're working on can work backward--in addition to telling the wearer what they can see, it can also tell them what they cannot see. The signal blots out entire objects. Monica sees an opportunity and inverts the seeing device into an 'invisifyer' and has it implanted in her body by a talented but unscrupulous surgeon. Problem: the device needs large amounts of energy to operate, and after surgery Monica finds she can't turn it off. It drains her of energy--body fat--and she has to eat enormous quantities of high calorie food to stay alive and keep the invisifyer working. She could go back under the knife and have it removed, but she gets off on the power and freedom invisibility confers. Monica builds two screening devices, small, coin-size transmitters that block the "I am invisible" signal and allow her to be seen. Unknown to Keith, she slips one in his pocket when he first sees her. She keeps the other to allow herself to be seen when she wants to be seen.

Monica's device made her clothes invisible too.

Sorry, Hollywood.

Fleeing the FBI and many local cops, Monica and Keith travel west on I-40. Monica has a mysterious errand in California, and she basically kidnaps Keith for company. She also has this meta-idea of having her portrait painted by a leading photorealist (Keith) while she is invisible . . . it gets pretty surreal by that point.

HUNTERS AT THE EDGE OF NIGHT was also deeply informed by the works of Rene Magritte. Each chapter title was also the title of a Magritte painting. Though I did not find a publisher for the entire novel, I adapted one chapter as a short story which was published in the tenth issue of FORBIDDEN LINES as "Pink Bells, Tattered Skies."

"Pink Bells, Tattered Skies,"

by Rene Magritte

One of these days I'll rewrite and update HUNTERS and try it out again. It's a good concept, and with some work I can bring it up to standard.

Next: "Pink Bells, Tattered Skies" 

The Index to FORBIDDEN LINES, 1990-1994

Here's the index to all articles, stories, artwork, reviews, and whatever else was published in FORBIDDEN LINES Magazine, 1990-1994. This index does not include the 1989 anthology of the same name. This index first appeared at the end of issue #16, dated Summer 1994. That was the last issue of the magazine.

Any errors in the list are my own. Corrections and additions are welcome.

INDEX TO FORBIDDEN LINES 1990-1994

Issue #1: October/November 1990

Cover: "Lone Guitarist of the Apocalypse." Photo by David C. Ball

Fiction:

Tonya R. Carter, "Blue Mountains"

F. Brett Cox, "Love is All You Need"

Andrew Snee, "Maintenance"

D. Trull, "Jailbreak Over the Fourth Wall"                

Shannon Turlington, "Dark Eyes"

Joanne Wyrick, "Through a Glass Darkly"

Poetry:

Yeaton Clifton, "Uncounter," "Stellar Binding"

Jon Carson, "Echo," "Venus Bright"

Will Hooper, "Tantalus"

Joanne Wyrick, "Countess Anastasia to Her Lover," "Madoc by the Sea"

Comics:

Charles Overbeck, "Comhex"

Miscellaneous:

Charles Overbeck, "Ask the Count"

Issue #2: December/January 1991

Cover: "Eye for a Head." Clipart by Charles Overbeck

Fiction:

Tonya R. Carter, "The Creek"

Charles Overbeck, "Escape from the Dinosaur Hospital"

Charles Ozar, "Death of an American Family"

Angeli Primlani, "Orpheus"

Andrew Snee, "Fish"

Shannon Turlington, "Witches' Circle"

Paul B. Thompson, "Sodalis" [part 1 of 3]

Heather Valli, "Caffiend"

Poetry:

Amy Griswold, "Colonial Dreams," "nuclear nights with halo"

Joanne Wyrick, "Atlantic Crossing, 1942," "Sheldon Place"

Miscellaneous:

Charles Overbeck, "Ask the Count"

Issue #3: February/March 1991

Cover: "Love and Volts." Photo by Charles Overbeck

Fiction:

Angeli Primlani, "Transformation"

Tony Realini, "I Remember the Name of the Moon"

Paul B. Thompson, "Sodalis" [part 2 of 3]

Comics:

Alex de Grand, "A Rock 'n Roll Fairy Tale"

Interview:

Charles Overbeck, "Professor SF: An Interview with John Kessel"

Commentary:

Nathan Ballingrud, "The Writer as Mortal"

Reviews:

The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling

Maps in a Mirror, by Orson Scott Card

Issue #4: April/May 1991

Cover: "Tao and the Soldier." Photo by Charles Overbeck

Fiction:

Lawrence Barker, "Mr. Eager Gnaws His Way to Freedom"

Tom Lucas, "Love May Be Called Appetite"

Charlie Martin, "Wine of Other Days"

Paul B. Thompson, "Sodalis" [part 3 of 3]

D. Trull, "Ten Letters, Starts with 'C,' Stupid Waste of Time"

Poetry:

Joanne Wyrick, "Atlantic Crossing, 1990"

Essay:

Bruce Sterling, "New Maps of Bohemia"

Clipart:

Dykki Settle, "The Grays are Here"

Reviews:

Nicoji, by M. Shayne Bell

The Real Story, by Stephen Donaldson

Hour Past Midnight, by Stephen King

Issue #5: Summer 1991

Cover: "Crack Baby from Vulcan." Clipart by Charles Overbeck

Fiction:

Lawrence Barker, "Food Chain"

Brad Boucher, "Forbidden Seas"

Tonya R. Carter, "Cold Turkey"

M. F. Korn, "Letters from Skitzo"

Ron Massa, "Stiletto Vignettes"

Dan O'Keefe, "Test of the Cube"

Paul C. Schuytema, "Ice Skimmer"

Andrew Snee, "Devil's Advocate"

Poetry:

Yeaton Clifton, "Legacy of Babel"

John Grey, "On Watching a Cowboy Movie in Deep Space"

Amy Griswold, "Message in a Bottle"

David Hunter Sutherland, "Deck 5"

Comics:

Cindy Holtslag, "The Blue Light"

Interview:

Yeaton Clifton: "The Man Who Makes Stars and Sells Planets: An Interview with Sheridan Simon"

Reviews:

Bone Dance, by Emma Bull

The Witching Hour, by Anne Rice

Summer of the Night, by Dan Simmons

Issue #6: September/October 1991

Cover: "Memories of Rene." Photo by Paul B. Thompson and Jen Rourke

Fiction:

Michael Burris, "Pets"

Bill Dodds, "Fatal Peak"

Vic Fortezza, "The Power of Prayer"

Douglas Hewitt, "The Bait"

Leland Neville, "Human Communication"

Dan O'Keefe, "Nowhere to Go"

Michael C. Peralta, "Muse of Fire"

Comics:

J. Slaughter, "Love Damnation"

Poetry:

John Grey, "Visiting a Graveyard Planet"

Jacie Ragan, "The Boarder"

Elena Venero, "Five Toxic Events"

Interview:

Paul B. Thompson, "The First Lady of Horror: An Interview with Lisa Cantrell"

Reviews:

Fellow Traveler, by William Barton

Only Begotten Daughter, by James Morrow

Issue #7: November/December 1991

Cover: "Pinhead." Photo by Keith Payne

Fiction:

Lawrence Barker, "Ghost Witch and Brute Doctor"

D. Douglas Graham, "The Ward"

K. Huebner, "Vanishing Point"

Dan O'Keefe, "Tales of the Screeching Skull"

Angeli Primlani and Joanne Wyrick, "Desichado"

Paul C. Schuytema, "Waiting for the Blinding Sun"

Poetry:

John Grey, "Mechanic"

Paul Weinman, "Scaled Atrophy"

Article:

Charles Overbeck and Paul B. Thompson, "Raising Hell in High Point: On the Set with

Hellraiser III."

Reviews:

The Dark Tower III, by Stephen King

Jinx High, by Mercedes Lackey

Sexpunks and Savage Sagas, by Richard Sutphen

Issue #8: January/February 1992

Cover: "Ferret Rampage." Photo by Jon Fulbright

Fiction:

Lawrence Barker, "Basketball and the Naked Man"

Jennifer Bellak, "Seller of Dreams"

Michael Burris, "The Head"

Monica Eiland, "Anne's Pen"

Comics:

D. Trull and Cindy Holtslag, "The Cereal Murders"

Poetry:

Holly Day, "In Innocence"

Laura Gowdy, "Vertigo"

Sam Silva, "Dreaming Beyond Evening of the Dawn"

Reviews:

Tender Loving Rage, by Alfred Bester

Phantom, by Susan Kay

The Elvenbane, by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey

Issue #9: March/April 1992

Cover: "Number 32." Drawing by Blair Wilson

Fiction:

Lawrence Barker, "Heroes"

M. Leigh Martin, "Small Sacrifices"

Logan McNeil, "Carla the Chimp"

John Riley, "Rocket City"

Del Stone, Jr., "Verdor"

Poetry:

Holly Day, "Dreams"

John Grey, "Third Year in Space"

Laura Gowdy, "Airmail"

Sandra Rico, "Mechanics"

Interview:

Bob Burchette, "The Subversive Housewife: An Interview with Connie Willis"

Comics:

Blair Wilson and Sparrow, "My Presidential Teeth"

Reviews:

In the Blood, by Nancy A. Collins

Haroun, by Salman Rushdie

Issue #10: May/June 1992

Cover: "The Flower." Drawing by Mike Ehinger

Fiction:

Matt Ehinger, "Pilgrims to the Armageddon Flower"

Amy Griswold, "The Life of Julio Valdieza"

Jerry Holman, "Amber Waves of Grain"

Cindy Holtslag, "Jerry Kinlow and the IGA Gang"

Patrick Ryan, "Laredo"

Jon Schwartz, "They's a-Coming"

Paul B. Thompson, "Pink Bells, Tattered Skies"

Poetry:

Herb Kauderer, "The Foreman"

Errol Miller, "The Captain of the Ship," "The Gathering Kingdoms of Earth"

Interview:

Charles Overbeck, "Poppy, Bright and Dark: An Interview with Poppy Z. Brite"

Reviews:

Zombies of the Gene Pool, by Sharyn McCrumb

Sheltered Lives, by Charles Oberndorf

Thorn and Needle, by Paul B. Thompson

Issue #11: July/August 1992

Cover: "Grays' Anatomy," Drawing by Mike Ehinger

Fiction:

Lawrence Barker, "The Manual of Amatory Necromancy"

Michael Burris, "Melvin Moon and the Hairball"

Calvin Clawson, "The Torcher"

Matt Ehinger, "At the Hour of the Triumph of Death, a Murderer"

Fuzzy Somoza Haziz, "The Swineherd"

Richard Kostelanetz. "1,001 Contemporary Ballets"

J. Michael Major, "Afloat in the Sea of Knowledge"

David Niall, "The Manlan"

Poetry:

Danith McPherson Clausen, "I Saw"

Bobbie Saunders, "Sundown"

Interviews:

Paul B. Thompson, Bob Burchette, Dykki Settle, Charles Overbeck, "Where Right Angles Meet: Interviews with Philip Klass and Henry Miller"

Reviews:

Monsters--Three Tales, by Joseph A. Citro

Dark Dixie: Tales of Southern Horror, by Ronald Kelly

[These were books on tape, cassettes, not printed volumes]

Issue #12: Fall 1992

Cover: "Pope Poppy." Painting by Diego Marcial Rios

Fiction:

Nathan Ballingrud, "Memories of Green"

Lawrence Barker, "Wet-Soft-So-Old"

Richard Behrens, "The Patsy"

Bill Dodds, "Inside Job"

Michael J. Pakula, "Epistle from the Damned"

Jon Schwartz, "Fish Boy Blues"

Del Stone, Jr., "Mr. Dark"

Rod R. Vick, "The Jupiter Stone"

Tom Weber, "Dr. Sagoon's Revenge"

Interview:

Paul B. Thompson, "Only Begotten Doubter: An Interview with James Morrow"

Reviews:

The Sons of Noah & Other Stories, by Jack Cady

Xenocide, by Orson Scott Card

Issue #13: Winter 1993

Cover: "The Order." Engraving by Diego Marcial Rios.

Fiction:

Michael Burris, "O.B.E."

Lorin Emery, "Pink Velvet"

Richard Kostelanetz. "Openings"

James Loverde, "Francois Villon and the Jealous Poet"

Warren G. Rochelle, "Boys of Summer"

Eric Sasson, "Introduction to Being"

Joan Shields, "The Troll"

Del Stone, Jr., "Joey's Friends"

Lynne Taetzsch, "This Week at the Dental Clinic"

Ken Wisman, "Snowman"

Poetry:

Ace Boggess, "Unlocked"

Portfolio:

"The Art and Politics of Diego Marcial Rios"

Reviews:

Jellyfish Mask, by William Ramseyer

The Tale of the Body Thief, by Anne Rice

Issue #14:Summer 1993

Cover: "Roach Wars." Drawing by Frank Forte

Fiction:

Ace Boggess, "Ghost Writer's Fantasy Romance"

F. Brett Cox, "Wishing and Hoping"

Jerry I. Lawson, "Identity Crisis"

R. R. Mallory, "The Mark of Oman"

Gregg Palmer, "Darklands"

Brian Skinner. "Watching"

Rick Skinner, "Roach Wars"

Ken Wisman, "The Devil's Eye"

Poetry:

Richard Davignon, "Mother Love," "Notice"

Article:

Paul B. Thompson, Charles Overbeck, Shannon Wikle, Elizabeth Thompson, Bob Burchette, "Apparition Cancelled"

Charles Overbeck, "I Can't Stand It Anymore"

Reviews:

Blackburn, by Bradley Denton

The Multiplex Man, by James P. Hogan

Midnight's Lair, by Richard Layman

The Adult BBS Guidebook, by Billy Wildhack

Issue #15: Winter 1993 [So marked. It should have been 'Winter 1994']

Cover: "Kiss Me, You Fool." Engraving by Diego Marcial Rios

Fiction:

Andre LaPalme, "Heading Somewhere"

Rocco La Bosco, "Fireman Dreams"

Jeff Janoda, "Hands Across the Stars"

Jodie Mecanic, "The Neotenic"

Michael J. Pakula, "LAP Dogs of the Apocalypse"

Bob Rehak, "Spring Tapestry"

Robert Rhine, "My Brain Escapes Me"

Del Stone, Jr., "Kiss Me, You Fool"

Robert Sutter III, "The Crumb"

Reviews:

Jamie and Other Stories, by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Created By, by Richard Christian Matheson

Issue #16: Summer 1994

Cover: "Satan." Drawing by Frank Forte

Fiction:

Paul Alexander, "Enter Evil, as the Wolf"

Lawrence Barker, "The Testament of Gaius Drusus Hippero"

Richard Behrens, "Carnival"

William R. Eakins, "Samsara"

Michael Hemmingson, "Beguiling Malady"

D. W. Hill, "The Appetizers of the Gods"

Bob Rehak, "Dog's Walking Day"

Del Stone, Jr., "Town, Square"

Russell Underwood, "Dark Meat"

Portfolio:

Asylum Studios, "The Art of Asylum Studios"

Article:

Charles Overbeck, "Dealey Plaza, 30 Years Later"