OCR Text |
Show 83. "What if he doesn't come out of it?" Stephanie asked. Her voice was small, like the eleven Chic remembered, though she looked like a woman now, sure enough. "He'll come out of it." Chic took off his sweater and threw it over a dusty vacuum cleaner nearby. "And he'll feel good. No ill effects. I promise you that." Chic found a chrome hubcap under the work bench and held it on his knees in front of him. "I want you to stare at this. Keep your eyes on it until you get very tired. As I talk you'll be getting very, very sleepy and you'll soon be so drowsy you'll have to close your eyes. When you fall asleep you'll answer my questions and afterwards, on the count of three, you'll wake up." "First, take five or six real deep breaths. Get all the old air out of your lungs." JD did as he was told. "Now, look right at the light reflecting off the metal. The light means sleep. Deep, wonderful, relaxing sleep. You're getting very tired now, very drowsy. You want nothing more than sleep. Deep, deep sleep. Keep your eyes on the shining reflection. When your eyes close, you'll see the light in your mind. And the reflecting light means sleep. In your subconscious, the light means sleep." His voice droned on, repeating the same phrases. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Chic caught a strange movement from Stephanie. He glanced at her just in time to see her head nod to one side, then down on her chest. Her arms had turned limp and she slumped forward on the stool. "Oh, no," he thought, "I've put Stephanie under." JD was still staring at the shiny metal, still cooperating like mad, but perfectly conscious. Chic put down the hubcab and motioned for JD to see. "Look at that, would you?" He moved quickly over to Stephanie. He hated to interrupt the session, but she was hanging on the edge of the stool like Raggedy Anne already. "On the/count of three you'll wake up, Stephanie, and you'll feel rested and relaxed. Now I'm going to count," he said again. For some reason, dealing with her unexpected hypnosis made him nervous. On the count of three she opened her eyes and straightened up. Chic could see by her blank expression that she hadn't the foggiest notion of |