Author Description

"Charles Beaumont was one of the seminal influences on writers of the fantastic and macabre." -Dean R. Koontz Mary was a misfit. She didn't want to be beautiful. And she wasted time doing mad things--like eating and sleeping. Originally published in If Worlds of Science Fiction, September 1952. MARY sat quietly and watched the handsome man's legs blown off; watched further as the great ship began to crumple and break into small pieces in the middle of the blazing night. She fidgeted slightly as the men and the parts of the men came floating dreamily through the wreckage out into the awful silence. And when the meteorite shower came upon the men, gouging holes through everything, tearing flesh and ripping bones, Mary closed her eyes. "Mother." Mrs. Cuberle glanced up from her magazine. "Hmm?" "Do we have to wait much longer?" "I don't think so. Why?" Mary said nothing but looked at the moving wall. "Oh, that." Mrs. Cuberle laughed and shook her head. "That tired old thing. Read a magazine, Mary, like I'm doing. We've all seen that a million times." "Does it have to be on, Mother?" "Well, nobody seems to be watching. I don't think the doctor would mind if I switched it off."