
Transcriber's Note:
A seasoned contractor named Bennett finds his life upended by relentless headaches and vivid hallucinations of a towering city called Thone, where a single, perfect woman haunts his dreams. His visits to neurologist Dr. Hall reveal no physical cause, only the unsettling suggestion that a deep‑seated fantasy may be fueling his pain. As the visions grow clearer, Bennett’s ordinary world begins to feel like a thin veneer over something far stranger.
The story follows Bennett’s uneasy journey between clinical explanations and the pull of an imagined reality that seems to promise answers. With each episode, the line between memory, desire, and possible otherworldly dimensions blurs, forcing him to confront whether his mind is merely escaping, or if it has stumbled upon something truly alien. The opening act sets a tense, introspective tone, inviting listeners to ponder how far the brain will go to fill the gaps left by unfulfilled longing.
Language
en
Duration
~34 minutes (33K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Release date
Apr 24, 2010
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1911–1997
A mid-century science fiction writer with a gift for sharp ideas and imaginative alien encounters, Charles V. De Vet created more than fifty short stories for the era’s leading magazines. His best-known novel, Cosmic Checkmate, was co-written with Katherine MacLean and earned a 1959 Hugo Award nomination.
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