o is pushing 60, I'm in pretty good shape except for my
sacroiliac. Just my luck, I thought. Here I am, plastered to the
ceiling, and that thing has to start acting up. In moving a bit
though, I heard a scraping sound and found I had more than one pain in
my back. Feeling carefully under me, I found that it wasn't the
sacroiliac at all, but a cigarette lighter, two gloves, a pack of
cigarettes, and two golf balls. I tried to toss the balls down to the
floor and all they did was go almost down then curve right back up and
bounce on the ceiling, where they settled. I tried the same thing with
the gloves and back they came too. So I lit one of the cigarettes,
even without my morning coffee.

Mary had been silent for awhile, but apparently she had the same
thought. "Ralph, aren't you coming down for breakfast?" she asked,
pleadingly.

"I don't know, honey. But I do know I'm sure getting hungry, even in
this position." And turning so I could see her better, if you can turn
while lying on the ceiling looking down, I said, "Do you suppose you
could whip up something to eat? And maybe put it on a pole so you
could hand it up?" She allowed as how she could, but Jim, who had been
in one of his brown studies again spoke up; "I don't believe we'll
need a pole, Dad. Now that the plastic plate's been turned off and
moved, everything's all right."

"Everything's all right!" I growled. "If everything's so all right,
why don't we come down? How long's it going to take, anyway?"

* * * * *

"Well, it's hard to say," Jim shrugged. "In fact, I've been thinking
maybe I ought to call Professor Jordan up at school and ask him what
to do."

"Is he an expert?"

"Well, I'd call him that. The trouble is, I don't know what I did, so
I certainly don't know how to un-do it. Maybe he'll have an idea."

"Does he know about anti-gravity?"

"I don't imagine so, but he's the head of electronics and I know he's
been working on the unified field theory just as a hobby. He's the
fellow who got me to wondering about energized metal particles in
colloidal suspension. Think I'd better call him?"

"Son," I said, trying to retie my bathrobe belt, "You not only call
him, but if it's possible, get him to come here.... I've got to get
down. Hell, I haven't even shaved yet this morning, and I've got to
be at work in about two hours."

"You may not get down from there that soon, but I'll go call him right
now."

Jim lef