The Barrens & Others (55 page)

Carl awakens and stumbles from his cot.

CARL: Wha? Who's got–?

ELLIOT: (fumbling with the window catch) That Thing! That monster! It's got Amy!

Carl pulls Elliot away from the window and grabs him by the shoulders.

CARL: Only one thing to do! Blow the ugly bastard away! You still think this was all an accident?

ELLIOT: (still frantic) No! Give me a gun! I've got to go after her!

Carl picks up an automatic and gives it to Elliot.

CARL: Here. Now help me move those crates and we'll –

ELLIOT: No! There's no time! It's doing something to her now! Oh, God! (turning) Come on!

He starts to climb through the basement window.

CUT TO:

INT: THE LIBRARY FRONT DOORS – NIGHT

The doors SLAM open as Carl and Elliot rush in. They skid to a halt.

CUT TO:

REVERSE ANGLE – GLIM-GLIM

Glim-Glim stands before the charge desk, WARBLING, his tentacles writhing. A piece of PAPER is clutched in one tentacle. Behind him, the doors to the rear section of the library are closed.

REVERSE ANGLE

Elliot and Carl raise their pistols.

ELLIOT: (teary and raging) Where's Amy? What have you done with her?

REVERSE ANGLE

Glim-Glim's tentacles wave about frantically in a pathetic attempt to invite them toward the rear of the library.

REVERSE ANGLE

In a rage, Elliot points his pistol into the camera.

ELLIOT: Give her back!

He fires once.

REVERSE ANGLE

Glim-Glim's body jolts with the impact of the bullet.

REVERSE ANGLE

Elliot fires twice more.

REVERSE ANGLE

Glim-Glim jolts and totters back against the charge desk. He sags and his tentacles go limp as green fluid spurts from three holes. Finally he collapses.

INT: THE LIBRARY – FRONT SECTION – NIGHT

A WIDE ANGLE. Elliot is horrified. He drops the gun and looks toward the rear of the library.

ELLIOT: Amy!

He runs past the charge desk. With a last look at the dead alien, Carl follows.

CUT TO:

INT: THE LIBRARY MAIN FLOOR – REAR SECTION – NIGHT

The lighting is subdued, with faint reds and greens reflecting off the polished surfaces of the closed doors. Elliot and Carl rush in and stop dead in their tracks as the soft red and green lights flash on their faces. They react with silent, open-mouthed awe.

ELLIOT: (hoarsely) Amy!

ELLIOT'S P.O.V.: A brightly lit Christmas tree, strung with garland and blinking lights, stands between two of the stacks. Amy is before it, her face concerned.

AMY: Daddy, were those shots?

REVERSE ANGLE:

ELLIOT: (shocked, stammering) Amy! You're all right? What–?

REVERSE ANGLE: Amy grins as she stands before the tree.

AMY: I just plugged it in. Glim-Glim made it to show us he's our friend.

REVERSE ANGLE:

Elliot swallows convulsively and looks at his watch, then back at the tree.

ELLIOT: It's the 24th! Christmas Eve! With all that's happened, I...we...forgot!

REVERSE ANGLE

AMY: (craning her neck as if to look around them) Where is he, Daddy? Where's my friend, Glim-Glim?

INT: ELLIOT & CARL – MED. TWO-SHOT – NIGHT

Elliot buries his face in his hands. Carl's mouth works but he is still too stunned to speak.

AMY: (v.o.) Daddy? You didn't hurt him, did you?

SLOW DISSOLVE TO:

INT: THE LIBRARY – FRONT SECTION – NIGHT

The camera MOVES IN slowly on Glim-Glim's still form lying in a pool of dark green liquid at the base of the charge desk. His green has faded. His tentacle has uncurled from the piece of PAPER which now lays open on the ground.

AMY: (v.o. – teary) Please tell me you didn't hurt Glim-Glim!

We linger a moment on the dead alien, then CLOSE IN on the PAPER, a sheet of child's writing tablet, and the crude letters spelling: "MERRY CHRISTMAS"… then we...

FADE OUT.

COPYRIGHTS

"Feelings" © 1988 by F. Paul Wilson. First published in NIGHT VISIONS 6 (Dark Harvest, 1988).

"Tenants" © 1988 by F. Paul Wilson. First published in NIGHT VISIONS 6 (Dark Harvest, 1988).

"Faces" © 1988 by F. Paul Wilson. First published in NIGHT VISIONS 6 (Dark Harvest, 1988).

"A Day in the Life" © 1989 by F. Paul Wilson. First published in STALKERS, edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg (Dark Harvest, 1989).

"The Tenth Toe" © 1989 by F. Paul Wilson. First published in RAZORED SADDLES, edited by Joe R. Lansdale and Pat LoBrutto (Dark Harvest, 1989).

"Slasher" © 1993 by F. Paul Wilson. First published in PREDATORS, edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg (ROC, 1993).

"The Barrens" © 1990 by F. Paul Wilson. First published in LOVECRAFT'S LEGACY edited by Robert Weinberg and Martin H. Greenberg (Tor, 1990).

"Definitive Therapy" © 1990 by D.C Comics. First published in THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF THE JOKER, edited by Martin H. Greenberg (Bantam, 1990). Reprinted by permission.

"Topsy" © 1991 by F. Paul Wilson. First published in OBSESSIONS, edited by Gary Raisor (Dark Harvest, 1991).

"Rockabilly" © 1990 by Tribune Media Services, Inc. First published in DICK TRACY: THE SECRET FILES, edited by Max Allan Collins and Martin H. Greenberg (Tor, 1990). Reprinted by permission.

"Bob Dylan, Troy Jonson, and the Speed Queen" © 1992 by F. Paul Wilson. First published in SHOCK ROCK, edited by Jeff Gelb (Pocket Books, 1992).

"Pelts" © 1990 by F. Paul Wilson. First published in a Footsteps Press chapbook, 1990.

"Pelts" (stage adaptation) © 1998 by F. Paul Wilson. Published here for the first time.

"Glim Glim" © 1998 by F. Paul Wilson. Published here for the first time.

The Secret History of the World

The preponderance of my work deals with a history of the world that remains undiscovered, unexplored, and unknown to most of humanity. Some of this secret history has been revealed in the Adversary Cycle, some in the Repairman Jack novels, and bits and pieces in other, seemingly unconnected works. Taken together, even these millions of words barely scratch the surface of what has been going on behind the scenes, hidden from the workaday world. I've listed them below in chronological order. (NB: "Year Zero" is the end of civilization as we know it; "Year Zero Minus One" is the year preceding it, etc.)

The Past

"Demonsong" (prehistory)

"Aryans and Absinthe" (1923-1924)**

Black Wind
(1926-1945)

The Keep
(1941)

Reborn
(February-March 1968)

"Dat Tay Vao" (March 1968)***

Jack: Secret Histories
(1983)

Jack: Secret Circles
(1983)

Jack: Secret Vengeance
(1983)

"Faces" (1988)*

Year Zero Minus Three

Sibs
(February)

The Tomb
(summer)

"The Barrens" (ends in September)*

"A Day in the Life" (October)*

"The Long Way Home"****

Legacies
(December)

Year Zero Minus Two

"Interlude at Duane's" (April)**

Conspiracies
(April) (includes "Home Repairs")

All the Rage
(May) (includes "The Last Rakosh")

Hosts
(June)

The Haunted Air
(August)

Gateways
(September)

Crisscross
(November)

Infernal
(December)

Year Zero Minus One

Harbingers
(January)

Bloodline
(April)

By the Sword (May)

Ground Zero (July)

The Touch
(ends in August)

The Peabody-Ozymandias Traveling Circus & Oddity Emporium
(ends in

September)

"Tenants"*

Year Zero

"Pelts"*

Reprisal
(ends in February)

Fatal Error
(February) (includes "The Wringer")

The Dark at the End
(March)

Nightworld
(May)

* available in
The Barrens and Others

** available in
Aftershock and Others

*** available in the 2009 reissue of
The Touch

****available in
Quick Fixes – Tales of Repairman Jack

also by F. Paul Wilson

Repairman Jack

The Tomb

Legacies

Conspiracies

All the Rage

Hosts

The Haunted Air

Gateways

Crisscross

Infernal

Harbingers

Bloodline

By the Sword

Ground Zero

Fatal Error

The Dark at the End

Teen Jack

Jack: Secret Histories

Jack: Secret Circles

Jack: Secret Vengeance

The Adversary Cycle

The Keep

The Tomb

The Touch

Reborn

Reprisal

Nightworld

The LaNague Federation Series

Healer

Wheels Within Wheels

An Enemy of the State

Dydeetown World

The Tery

Other Novels

Black Wind

Sibs

The Select

Virgin

Implant

Deep As the Marrow

Mirage
(with Matthew J. Costello)

Nightkill
(with Steven Spruill)

Masque
(with Matthew J. Costello)

The Christmas Thingy

Sims

The Fifth Harmonic

Midnight Mass