Чужак в чужой стране

           Youaresleepingonabedofclouds.Youarefloatingawayonclouds–"Thesheet-coveredformraisedslowlyupaboutafoot."Wups!Don’tgettoolight.Wedon’twanttoloseyou."

           Inthecrowd,aboyinhislateteensexplainedinaloudwhisper,"She’snotunderthesheetnow.Whentheyputthesheetoverher,shewentdownthroughatrapdoor.That’sjustalightframework,doesn’tweighasmuchasthesheet.Andinaminutehe’llflipthesheetawayandwhilehedoes,theframeworkwillcollapseanddisappear.It’sjustagimmick–anybodycoulddoit,"

           Dr.Apolloignoredhimandwentontalking."Alittlehigher,MadameMerlin.Higher.There–"Thedrapedformfloatedaboutsixfeetabovetheplatform.

           Thesmartyoungsterwhisperedtohisfriends,"There’saslendersteelrodbutyoucan’tseeittooeasily.It’sprobablywhereonecornerofthesheethangsdownthereandtouchesthecot."

           Dr.Apolloturnedandrequestedhisvolunteerstoremovethecotandputitbackundertheplatform."Shedoesn’tneeditnow.Shesleepsonclouds."Hefacedthefloatingformandappearedtobelistening."What?Louder,please.Oh?Shesaysthatshedoesn’twantthesheet–it’stooheavy."

           ("Here’swheretheframeworkdisappears.")

           Themagiciantuggedonecornerofthesheet,snatcheditaway;theaudiencehardlynoticedthatthesheetdisappearedwithouthisbotheringtogatheritin;theywerelookingatMadameMerlin,stillfloating,stillsleeping,sixfeetabovetheplatform.