An excerpt from alfred Bester is alivE and well

I open my eyes in the gray room. A fat pasty man sits in front of me frowning.

"There you are Buchanan. We lost you for a minute," he says.

"Who are you?"

"Dr. Lennox, remember? Think back. We were talking, but there was interference in our connection."

"But you're not Lennox. I remember." He's so different. This man looks more like the man identified by Lennox as Henry Hassel. I look over the fat man's shoulder, but this time there's no one else in the gray room.

"I'm sorry Mr. Buchanan, but your memory has become extremely corrupted. I'm doing my best to help you, but..."

"Wait a minute," I say. "Who was that kid? He shot at me! Am I all right?"

"Mr. Buchanan, stay calm. I think it may be possible that you are, in the words of your daughter, skipping files."      I look down. The icons are all back, but at the far right there's a new one. Lennox begins talking again.

"Tell me about yourself, Mr. Buchanan. What kind of man are you?"

"What kind of man?" I ask. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"A lot. You must be with us. It helps if you're focused. Talking."

I think about this some, wondering if I'm in any position to do anything else. I reach out a hand and try to touch Lennox, but he's somehow just out of reach. I look at the new icon, and looking at it say, "I'm the kind of man who dies alone. The kind of man who specializes in mistakes." Then I open the icon.

Bret Bertholf is an artist, writer, and musician who grew up in Texas, studied in Italy, and currently lives in Denver, Colorado. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, his paintings have been included in numerous group and solo exhibitions in Denver and Aspen, where he was artist in residence at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center (1994-1995). He began, after many years of abstinence, writing short stories almost three years ago and is working on a history of country music for children, an effort aided by his double life as the yodeling singer/songwriter for Halden Wofford & the HiBeams, an acclaimed traditional country/western band which performs throughout Colorado. He has also been the Coordinator of Children’s Events at the Tattered Cover Book Store for the past two years, where his resemblance to Harry Potter has been a distinct advantage.