From: VINCE RIFICI

You step into the house.  The stranger motions to you to follow, and
you reluctantly walk ten steps behind in order to bolt back to the
front door if necessary.

The house is very dark, but you can see the outline of the stranger
in front of you and a faint light glowing in the distance.  The
hallway is long, so long that the stranger is now way ahead of you.
You don't know whether to quicken your pace or to turn back toward
the front entry door.

Abruptly, you hear a loud voice coming from the far end of the hall.
"This way please"....  The voice startles you into speeding up in an
attempt to catch the figure in front of you.  You suddenly feel the
need to be close to someone, anyone!

The hat you were clutching is gone, silently dropped somewhere in
the dark along with the stuffed bunny inside of it.  You feel
something slide across your arm.  As you recoil in fear it touches
your face.  Ugghh....  it's slimy and cold like some sort of a
lizzard or reptile.  There is no light; you cannot make out what is
touching you.  You want to turn and run but you don't know which way
to go.  There is no more light...  it's pitch dark!  "Lord, where am
I, what shall I do?  Please help me!  Helpppp...!" Your legs are
jelly.  You feel faint, and you are beginning to collapse to the
floor.  Desperately you reach out for something to grab, but it's
too late.  The hall is already spinning and you're quickly losing
reality.  You slump to the floor and sink beneath the veil of
consciouness.

When you awake you are in bed.  Your mother is by your side.  Your
dad is sitting by the window in the hospital room.  There is an
intravenous tube attached to your arm.  You feel the grip of an
oxygen mask on your face.  There is a nurse adjusting the valve
leading to your mask....  "How do you feel, she asks?" "Uh, well, ok
I guess.  What happened?" My mind was a complete blank.  The last
thing I remembered was falling in that hallway.

What DID happen to me?  How did I get here?  What was I doing in the
hallway?  Who was the stranger who motioned me to follow him?  What
is going on here??

Tune in next week folks for the continuation of this startling
episode of Marty the Magician and the hallway of evil!  Heh, heh,
heh....

