The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Calm Man, by Frank Belknap Long

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Title: The Calm Man

Author: Frank Belknap Long

Release Date: April 21, 2009 [EBook #28583]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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_Dip the pen of a Frank Belknap Long into a bottle of ink and the
result is always bound to be a scintillating piece of brilliant
imaginative science fiction. And he's done it again in the tortured
story of Sally._

the
calm
man

_by ... Frank Belknap Long_

Sally watched the molten gold glow in the sky. Then knew she
would not see her son and her husband ever again on Earth.

Sally Anders had never really thought of herself as a wallflower. A girl
could be shy, couldn't she, and still be pretty enough to attract and
hold men?

Only this morning she had drawn an admiring look from the milkman and a
wolf cry from Jimmy on the corner, with his newspapers and shiny new
bike. What if the milkman was crowding sixty and wore thick-lensed
glasses? What if Jimmy was only seventeen?

A male was a male, and a glance was a glance. Why, if I just primp a
little more, Sally told herself, I'll be irresistible.

Hair ribbons and perfume, a mirror tilted at just the right angle, an
invitation to a party on the dresser--what more did a girl need?

"Dinner, Sally!" came echoing up from the kitchen. "Do you want to be
late, child?"

Sally had no intention of being late. Tonight she'd see him across a
crowded room and her heart would skip a beat. He'd look at her and
smile, and come straight toward her with his shoulders squared.

There was always one night in a girl's life that stands above all other
nights. One night when the moon shone bright and clear and the clock on
the wall went _tick tock, tick tock, tick tock_. One night when each
tick said, "You're beautiful! Really beautiful!"

Giving her hair a final pat Sally smiled at herself in the mirror.

In the bathroom the water was still running and the perfumed bath soap
still spread