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diff --git a/old/60935.txt b/old/60935.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4530013..0000000 --- a/old/60935.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,889 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Don't Think About It, by William W. Stuart - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Don't Think About It - -Author: William W. Stuart - -Release Date: December 16, 2019 [EBook #60935] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DON'T THINK ABOUT IT *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - _It isn't much of a secret, but - it's the only one. The trick is ..._ - - Don't Think About It - - By WILLIAM W. STUART - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Worlds of If Science Fiction, November 1960. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Tommy wasn't really a timid child. Sometimes he didn't understand -things and was puzzled. More often, grown-ups couldn't or wouldn't -understand things that were perfectly clear to him and he was more -puzzled. Occasionally such things worried and even upset him a little. -Then Momma and sometimes Daddy would translate bafflement into silly -adult terms and think that he was afraid. - -It was that way about the hole in the closet when Tommy was just a bit -over three. Tommy wasn't really afraid. Mr. Bear was afraid and the -thing did puzzle Tommy. So he asked about it, but he never did get any -sensible or satisfactory answers, and that did worry and perhaps even -upset him a little. - -But he wasn't afraid, even before Daddy finally told him, "Now, Tommy, -boy. Don't think about it and it won't scare you. Really, there is -nothing there to hurt you, if you just don't think about it. So don't -you think about it any more--there's Daddy's big boy." - -This certainly was not any sort of explanation. But still Tommy did try -hard not to think about it, as Daddy said. And now he really doesn't -think about it at all any more. Or about Aunt Martha, either. - -The hole was in the closet in Tommy's room. Tommy and Momma and Daddy -lived in a not very big, not very new frame house on the edge of the -city and Aunt Martha lived with them. Tommy didn't--at least not yet, -although there were promises--have any brothers or sisters. But he -did have his own room and a family of his own, too. It was the extra -bedroom and it had a closet that was cramped and with no light. Tommy -liked his room. It was small, with a small bed, and it belonged to -him, along with his family of Mr. Bear and Old Rabbit and Kokey Koala. -It was also in easy crying range of Momma and Daddy's room and Aunt -Martha's room, so if Mr. Bear, who was the timid one, got frightened in -the night, Tommy could cry--purely in Mr. Bear's behalf--to bring help. -Or at least company. - -Tommy and his family all liked the closet well enough too, except for -the shelf that was out of reach even from the "don't climb" stool. The -closet was good to hide in or play bear cave or rabbit hole and fine -for finding missing toys after Momma had a spell of playing cleaning -house. - -The day Tommy found the hole in the closet was the week after his -third birthday. Daddy was at work. Momma was out shopping. It was a -rainy afternoon. Aunt Martha was sitting with Tommy and the afternoon -television. - - * * * * * - -He was in his room with his family and they all agreed as soon as they -heard the television coming on strong that it would be a very poor -afternoon to waste on a nap. Besides, Mr. Bear's feelings had been -hurt by having been somewhat left out of things recently in favor of -new birthday presents, now largely broken or tiresome. To make it up -to him, Tommy and Old Rabbit and Kokey all agreed to play bear cave in -the closet. It was a nice game and going well enough, except for some -grumbling from Kokey Koala, who always wanted to argue and claimed that -bears lived in trees, not caves. - -But then--and it was Mr. Bear's fault for wanting it darker, so he -could hibernate--the closet door shut tight. That didn't seem so -serious at first. It would only mean a scolding for being out of bed -when Aunt Martha would come to open it after Tommy hollered loud -enough. And then there was the hole in the closet, back in the corner -next to the broken drum. They all saw it and they heard the Ugly Thing -talking or thinking at them. It stretched out a part of itself at Mr. -Bear, who was the closest. - -It didn't grab Mr. Bear, but he was terrified just the same. And none -of them liked it. They didn't like it at all. The Ugly Thing couldn't -come out of the hole because the hole wasn't big enough yet, but it -tried and it was making the hole bigger. And it kept thinking at them, -red thoughts, and hungry, as it tore at the edges of the hole. The -family all looked to Tommy, so Tommy cried and yelled. - -Finally Aunt Martha heard him and came to open the door. Then the -afternoon sunlight streamed across the floor into the closet and the -ugly red thoughts from the Thing pulled back, far back, so you could -barely notice them, and you couldn't see the hole any more, even though -you knew it was still there. At least Tommy and Mr. Bear and Old Rabbit -and Kokey Koala knew. - -After she opened the closet door and carried Tommy from the closet to -the living room, Aunt Martha scolded. She wasn't really mad because -she had waited until a commercial interrupted her television program -before answering the cries from the closet. But she scolded because she -was Aunt Martha and scolding was what Aunt Martha did. A really good -cry, even one worked up strictly as a service for a companion, takes a -little time to turn off. Then, after a few settling gulps, Tommy tried -to explain. - -"Auntie. Aunt Martha, there's a hole in the cave--in the closet--and -there's a Thing inside of it." - -He looked at Mr. Bear whom he was holding by one foot and at Kokey, -dropped by Aunt Martha on the sofa, for confirmation. Then, quickly, he -wriggled down from Auntie's lap. Old Rabbit! - - * * * * * - -Bravely, Tommy ran to the closet and was relieved. The door was open -and, in the gray afternoon light, the hole was still not to be seen. -Old Rabbit, who always had a bad temper, was annoyed and snappish at -having been left behind. But he was there and all right. Tommy rescued -him and ran back to Aunt Martha. - -"It was hungry," he continued his explanation. - -Aunt Martha, as always, was difficult. "Who is hungry? You shouldn't be -hungry, Tommy. You just had your lunch an hour ago. Do you want a glass -of milk?" - -"Not me hungry." Tommy was impatient. Aunt Martha never seemed able to -grasp any idea more complex than a glass of milk or wet pants. Little -boys, in her mind, nearly always either wanted the one or had the -other. Such things she could and did attend to with a virtuous sense of -duty done. But anything else was beyond her. - -"Tommy! Are your pants wet?" - -Tommy sighed in resignation and wet his pants. It was the only thing -to do. Otherwise Auntie would fuss and fume, accomplishing nothing, -understanding nothing, for the rest of the afternoon. - -Ten minutes later, in dry pants, he finished an unwanted glass of milk. -Aunt Martha, conscience appeased, returned to soap opera. Tommy and his -family, nap safely forgotten, played away the afternoon--but not in the -closet or even, as was usual on rainy days, in Tommy's room. Instead, -finding Daddy's old briefcase full of papers, they played office in the -family room, with Old Rabbit grumbling about having to be Miss Wicksey, -who drove the electric typewriter in Daddy's office. - -Momma and Daddy came home together at a bit after five. Tommy took his -scolding about messing up Daddy's papers in good part. He had expected -it. But Aunt Martha was angry about the scolding she got for letting -him, mild though it was. - -In retaliation, she said, "Tommy, you were a naughty, naughty boy. -And for being so naughty you must take your big bear and your rabbit -and the little bear or whatever the thing is and put them away in the -closet. And leave them there till tomorrow." - -"No! No, no, no, I won't! It isn't fair. They weren't bad. And the Ugly -Thing is in the hole and it might come out and it's hungry and--and my -family is all afraid." - -"Tommy!" Aunt Martha's voice was sharp. "You stop that nonsense and put -your toys--" - -"Wait. Wait up now," said Daddy, who also lived in the grown-up world, -but who sometimes tried to understand things. "What is this about a -hole in the closet? What about something being hungry?" - -"That's all," said Tommy. "The Ugly Thing in the hole in the closet. It -_is_ hungry." - -There was more to it than that, of course, but how could a thing like -that be explained through a wall of grown, closed minds? There was -the hole in the closet. You couldn't exactly see it. You could only -sort of feel seeing it and the hairy Thing--at least it seemed hairy -and shapeless, or having many different shapes and a mouth and sharp -teeth--and it had reached out with something and touched Mr. Bear and -would have eaten him too, if he had blood. But then it had pulled back -from Mr. Bear and red hunger thoughts came stronger and stronger. Even -now, stretching out from the hole where it was hidden there in the -closet, Tommy could feel the reaching, greedy thoughts. But he couldn't -explain all that. - -"There is a hole in the closet," Tommy said again. - - * * * * * - -But he knew that not even Daddy would understand. Of course Momma -wouldn't. Not Momma, who was loving but very busy and just sat so -often, dreaming or listening to baby sister that they said was in her -stomach, so big and fat now as to leave little lap room. Momma was -too occupied looking inward to look out much at Tommy. Daddy, to give -him credit, was nearly always willing to look, but there were so many -things he couldn't see. Still Tommy had to try. - -"The Ugly Thing in the hole. It wants something to eat." - -"Oh, Tommy! Such horrible nonsense!" That was Momma. She wasn't even -going to think about it. It is a question sometimes whether baby -sisters are worth all the bother and trouble. - -"Now, Tommy." Daddy was being helpful. "You say there is a hole in your -closet? And that there is something in the hole?" - -"Well-ll. Sort of." Really, the Ugly Thing wasn't so much in the hole -as on the other side of it. But that was close enough. - -"All right then, Tommy. Suppose you show it to me." - -"What?" - -"Show me the hole, Tommy." - -"Now?" - -"Yes." - -"The hole in the closet?" - -"Tommy!" - -"Yes, Daddy." This wasn't going to work out to anything good and Tommy -didn't want to go back to the closet and close the closet door anyway. -The Thing didn't eat Mr. Bear because Mr. Bear didn't have blood. But -Daddy had and ... "Tommy!" - -They went to the closet. At least, if he was risking a Daddy, Tommy -thought, he was protecting Mr. Bear and the others. - -"Now where is this hole, Tommy?" - -"Over there by the corner." Tommy pointed. - -Daddy went into the closet to look. Tommy started to close the door. In -the black dark, Daddy would see what Tommy meant about the Thing in the -hole. From the outside, Tommy started to close the door. It was a small -closet and hardly big enough for both of them. - -"Tommy! What are you trying to do? Open that door." - -"But--" After all, the hole wasn't there, or scarcely seemed to be -there, except in the dark. - -"Open it up wider. Hm-m. I believe I do see. Wait till I get my -lighter.... Say, by George, I believe you're right. There _is_ a little -hole there. Looks like a mouse hole." - -There it was, as Tommy might have known. Grown-ups will always avoid -seeing the important things. Of course there was a mouse hole there, -the home of the little old Mr. Mouse with the wiggly nose and the gray -whiskers. He had been nice. But he wasn't there any more and Tommy had -a pretty clear idea of what had happened to him. That poor little old -Mr. Mouse had had blood. - -"But, Daddy--" - -It was hopeless. "Dorrie! Martha!" Daddy's hunting instinct was -aroused. "Have we got a mouse trap? Any cheese? There is a hole in that -closet, a little old mouse hole and I'm going to--" - -Well, perhaps this would be better than if he hadn't found anything. - -Tommy followed Daddy about as he finally located a mouse trap. No -cheese? He cut a little piece of meat for bait. Of course Tommy knew no -trap would catch the Ugly Thing. - -"What in the world happened to my lighter?" Daddy wanted to know. Tommy -didn't answer that. But at least everybody, even Aunt Martha, had -forgotten about shutting Tommy's family up in the closet. For now that -was enough. - -But later, after supper, after bath, after the shooting picture on the -TV, it was time for bed. - -"Daddy?" - -"Get on to bed now, son. Past bedtime. Hop to it." - -"Daddy, I want to sleep with you and Momma tonight." - - * * * * * - -Well, it was a mighty dark night. The afternoon rain had built up into -a real storm. Mr. Bear was terrified. Kokey was scared and even tough -Old Rabbit didn't want to sleep in Tommy's room with the Ugly Thing in -the hole so hungry and waiting to rip its way out of the hole when it -got dark enough--and only the street light outside the room to keep -away the dark because they would never let Tommy keep his light on at -night. - -"My family and me don't want to sleep in my room tonight." - -"Now, Tommy, just because it's a little stormy--Daddy's big boy isn't -afraid of a little wind and rain?" - -"I'm not afraid, Daddy. It's my family. You know how families are. You -always say about Momma--" - -"Never mind that now. To bed. Your own bed." - -"But Daddy, there's the Ugly Thing in the hole! And it's hungry!" - -"The mouse?" - -Daddy went to look at his trap, switching on the light in Tommy's room. -He came back in a minute. - -"The little devil!" - -Did Daddy know? No. - -"The little devil got away with the bait, clean as a whistle. Only a -little plaster dust or something left in the trap where I put the meat." - -Mr. Bear shivered. "Now don't be foolish, Bear. You don't _have_ blood. -The Ugly Thing won't get you," Tommy told him softly. But Mr. Bear -wouldn't listen. He was a cry-baby, a scaredy-cat. But to tell the -truth--the real, honest truth--the whole family and even Tommy didn't -feel too good about it. - -"Tommy? What was that you were saying?" - -"Daddy! I wanna sleep with you and Momma. Me and my family. We're -scared of that Thing." Tommy knew it was no less than his duty to -protect them all. - -"Oh, now, Tommy! You don't mean to say you're afraid of a little old -mouse? A big boy like you?" - -"Well, Mr. Bear is--I don't--Daddy! It is there, honest it is, in that -hole and it's hungry and it'll come out in the dark and--" - -"Tommy! A little mouse! Get on into your room now and no more argument." - -Tommy's face began to crumple. If he had to, he would fight this one -out all the way--tears, tantrum, kick, scream, gasp, hold his breath -and turn blue-- - -"Now, now, Tommy-boy." Daddy did mean well and sometimes he was even -right and so Tommy always did try to do what Daddy said. "Tommy, you -mustn't let things like that bother you. If we can't catch the little -mouse, forget it. There's nothing more we can do, so just don't think -about it. You see?" - -Sniff. "No." - -"Don't think about it, that's all. There is nothing there that can hurt -you, if you just don't think about it. So don't think about it--that's -Daddy's big boy." - -"Well-ll.... And then can we sleep with you and Momma?" - -Aunt Martha rang in her nickel's worth. "A boy ought to be ashamed to -be afraid of a little mouse." - -"It's not--" - -"Not what?" - -"Uh--it's Mr. Bear that's afraid. Of the--" - -"And you just stop that nonsense about those ridiculous stuffed -animals, you hear me? Nobody should make such a fuss about a little -mouse." - -"Momma does. Momma!" Tommy let two fat tears trickle down his cheeks, a -warning, but he meant them too. "Momma-a-a, can't we--" - -"All right, all right! Stop this stupid wrangling! You know how it -gets on my nerves. For goodness' sake, let him sleep with us tonight. -Anyway, _I_ don't blame him. I wouldn't sleep a wink in the same room -with a mouse. Be sure you shut our door tonight. Tight." - -"You're spoiling the child," said Aunt Martha sourly. - -"Auntie," said Tommy, "I bet you're chicken to let your door stay open." - -"Well!" huffed Aunt Martha. "The impertinence! I certainly _shall_ keep -my door open. No mouse is going to keep me from getting good, fresh -air." - - * * * * * - -Tommy was a very bright little boy. Now, with the door shut in Momma -and Daddy's room, and Aunt Martha's door open, he wouldn't think about -the Ugly Thing in the hole--waiting for dark, real dark--to come -out--and eat. - -"All right, Tommy. This once you can sleep with your mother and me. Get -on to bed and mind you sleep quiet. And don't spread those stuff--your -family all over the bed either." - -"Yes, Daddy. And, Daddy--" - -"What?" - -"I won't think about it now, the Thing in the hole." - -Tommy said his good nights. Tonight he even kissed Aunt Martha as if -he meant it. And he took his family and he went to bed in Momma and -Daddy's room. - -He did not think about the Ugly Thing. He went right to sleep, lying at -the edge of the big, big bed. Tommy, and Old Rabbit, and Kokey Koala, -and even Mr. Bear went right to sleep. - -Outside the wind blew hard and harder and the rain drove down and it -was dark. The television reception was bad. Everyone went to bed early. -Good night. Lights out. - -In Tommy's room it was quite dark with only the faint, watery rays of -the street light on the corner swimming in through the rain. In the -closet there was a stirring, a fumbling, a tearing and the hole in the -blackness grew, was forced, bigger, wider, as the Thing pushed and -ripped at whatever was barring it from the warm, red, oozing food it -craved; it must have; it would have. - -And, in a sudden gust, the wind blew harder still. Somewhere in town, -blocks away, a wire fell and blue sparks flashed and crackled in -the dripping night. In Tommy's house the refrigerator went off, the -electric clocks stopped. The street light blinked once and was gone and -in Tommy's closet there was a sudden, mighty surge of effort, a break, -and something, not a sound, but something, a harsh and bloody sense or -feel of rending greed flowing outward from the closet in a wave. - -Aunt Martha, in her sleep, said, "No. Oh, no!" - -Daddy interrupted a snore with a strained grunt. Momma whimpered softly -and hugged to herself her swollen stomach. - -Tommy blinked and was awake. Soothingly, he patted Kokey and Old -Rabbit. He squeezed Mr. Bear's paw. Then he slipped his hand into the -opening in Mr. Bear's overalls and took out Daddy's cigarette lighter. -He knew how to work it. But first he waited. - -"Don't think about it," Daddy had told him and he didn't think about -it, really. But he couldn't help feeling it. The Ugly Thing was out, -clear out of the hole now, and moving. He could feel that and the awful -hunger moving with it. Aunt Martha's room was closest and her door was -open. Momma and Daddy's room was closed. The Ugly Thing moved fast, -faster, and reached out, thirsting, hungering.... - -From Aunt Martha's room came the quavering wail and from the Thing -there flowed a sense of vicious, evil joy. - -There it was, but was it enough? - -Tommy hugged Mr. Bear once, tightly, and slipped noiselessly from the -bed. He wasn't thinking about it, he couldn't, he wouldn't think about -it. But he knew what he had to do. He had the lighter. At the bedroom -door he worked it. Opened the door a crack; thrust it out. And then, in -a little rush, back to bed where he lay quietly, and he didn't think -about it, he and Mr. Bear and Old Rabbit and Kokey Koala. - - * * * * * - -After a little, the sense of feeding hunger was gone and the feel of -the Ugly Thing was gone, back into the hole in the closet, forced back -by the flickering yellow light of the flames started by the cigarette -lighter. Then, when the smell of smoke grew thick in the room and he -could hear the crackling of the fire burning the house, Tommy shook -Daddy awake. - -It wasn't hard to get out through the bedroom window, except for Momma. -But she made it all right. And Tommy had a little trouble holding -tightly to each member of his family as Daddy lifted him out of the -window, but they made it all right too. Of course Aunt Martha didn't -make it--how could she? But it was fun watching the firemen in the rain -from the Krausmeyer's porch next door as the house and the closet with -the hole in the closet all burned up together. - -Aunt Martha? - -"Funny thing," Tommy heard one fireman say to another the next day, in -the sunshine, as they looked over the smouldering ash, "the old bat -must have been as dry as dust inside. Twenty years in the department -and I never did see a body so completely consumed--teeth, a little -bone.... Hey, get on away from here, son! Get along on home with you!" - -Daddy and Momma said Aunt Martha had gone away on a trip. Tommy might -have known pretty well where she had gone, if he had thought about it, -but he didn't think about it. None of his family did. What for? Aunt -Martha had had to go away, sure. She went. All right, who missed Aunt -Martha? - -Anyway, there were lights in all of the closets in the new house they -moved to and lots of room for everyone, even baby sister. And there -were no holes, not even mouse holes, in any of the closets. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Don't Think About It, by William W. 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