An Autobiography of Moon

I know you are very curious to know about me. I have often noticed you looking at me with eager eyes. Now listen to my life story. I belong to a very large family, the solar family. My grandfather is called the Sun and he has nine daughters. My mother is the Earth. I am her darling as I am her only child. Imagine my aunt Uranus has fifteen children! I am so found of my mother that I always go around her day and night. I am 4600 million years old. Yet the bond between me and my mother continues without any change. Whenever I look at you human beings, I am very happy. I know that you praise me as a beauty. You compose a lot of poems and songs in praise of me. You are scared of my grandfather but are fond of me. However, I too have my problems. A lot of stones from the space fall on me and cause injuries to my body. Moreover, my health also fluctuates. Today as you see me I am very bright. I grow weaker and weaker. But there is no consolation! For the next fourteen days I will gather my brightness and glow. You know what my most memorable day is my life was? It was July 21st of year 1967. On that day. I remember, I was just getting out of my bed and I found something tickling my face. I looked at it. Oh! It was a human being. You know how happy I was then. I did not disturb him. Thereafter, more than twenty human beings landed on me. I wish thousand and thousands of you come to me and play in my garden. Then I shall not feel lonely, you know.

Black House Chapter Twenty-three

23 â€Å"ONE MORE !† says the guy from ESPN. It sounds more like an order than a request, and although Henry can't see the fellow, he knows this particular homeboy never played a sport in his life, pro or otherwise. He has the lardy, slightly oily aroma of someone who has been overweight almost from the jump. Sports is perhaps his compensation, with the power to still memories of clothes bought in the Husky section at Sears and all those childhood rhymes like â€Å"Fatty-fatty, two-by-four, had to do it on the floor, couldn't get through the bathroom door.† His name is Penniman. â€Å"Just like Little Richard!† he told Henry when they shook hands at the radio station. â€Å"Famous rock ‘n' roller from back in the fifties? Maybe you remember him.† â€Å"Vaguely,† Henry said, as if he hadn't at one time owned every single Little Richard had ever put out. â€Å"I believe he was one of the Founding Fathers.† Penniman laughed uproariously, and in that laugh Henry glimpsed a possible future for himself. But was it a future he wanted? People laughed at Howard Stern, too, and Howard Stern was a dork. â€Å"One more drink!† Penniman repeats now. They are in the bar of the Oak Tree Inn, where Penniman has tipped the bartender five bucks to switch the TV from bowling on ABC to ESPN, even though there's nothing on at this hour of the day except golf tips and bass fishing. â€Å"One more drink, just to seal the deal!† But they don't have a deal, and Henry isn't sure he wants to make one. Going national with George Rathbun as part of the ESPN radio package should be attractive, and he doesn't have any serious problem with changing the name of the show from Badger Barrage to ESPN Sports Barrage it would still focus primarily on the central and northern areas of the country but . . . But what? Before he can even get to work on the question, he smells it again: My Sin, the perfume his wife used to wear on certain evenings, when she wanted to send a certain signal. Lark was what he used to call her on those certain evenings, when the room was dark and they were both blind to everything but scents and textures and each other. Lark. â€Å"You know, I think I'm going to pass on that drink,† Henry says. â€Å"Got some work to do at home. But I'm going to think over your offer. And I mean seriously.† â€Å"Ah-ah-ah,† Penniman says, and Henry can tell from certain minute disturbances in the air that the man is shaking a finger beneath his nose. Henry wonders how Penniman would react if Henry suddenly darted his head forward and bit off the offending digit at the second knuckle. If Henry showed him a little Coulee Country hospitality Fisherman-style. How loud would Penniman yell? As loud as Little Richard before the instrumental break of â€Å"Tutti Frutti,† perhaps? Or not quite as loud as that? â€Å"Can't go till I'm ready to take you,† Mr. I'm Fat But It No Longer Matters tells him. â€Å"I'm your ride, y'know.† He's on his fourth gimlet, and his words are slightly slurred. My friend, Henry thinks, I'd poke a ferret up my ass before I'd get into a car with you at the wheel. â€Å"Actually, I can,† Henry says pleasantly. Nick Avery, the bartender, is having a kick-ass afternoon: the fat guy slipped him five to change the TV channel, and the blind guy slipped him five to call Skeeter's Taxi while the fat guy was in the bathroom, making a little room. â€Å"Huh?† â€Å"I said, ? ®Actually, I can.' Bartender?† â€Å"He's outside, sir,† Avery tells him. â€Å"Pulled up two minutes ago.† There is a hefty creak as Penniman turns on his bar stool. Henry can't see the man's frown as he takes in the taxi now idling in the hotel turnaround, but he can sense it. â€Å"Listen, Henry,† Penniman says. â€Å"I think you may lack a certain understanding of your current situation. There are stars in the firmament of sports radio, damned right there are people like the Fabulous Sports Babe and Tony Kornheiser make six figures a year just in speaking fees, six figures easy but you ain't there yet. That door is currently closed to you. But I, my friend, am one helluva doorman. The upshot is that if I say we ought to have one more drink, then â€Å" â€Å"Bartender,† Henry says quietly, then shakes his head. â€Å"I can't just call you bartender; it might work for Humphrey Bogart but it doesn't work for me. What's your name?† â€Å"Nick Avery, sir.† The last word comes out automatically, but Avery never would have used it when speaking to the other one, never in a million years. Both guys tipped him five, but the one in the dark glasses is the gent. It's got nothing to do with him being blind, it's just something he is. â€Å"Nick, who else is at the bar?† Avery looks around. In one of the back booths, two men are drinking beer. In the hall, a bellman is on the phone. At the bar itself, no one at all except for these two guys one slim, cool, and blind, the other fat, sweaty, and starting to be pissed off. â€Å"No one, sir.† â€Å"There's not a . . . lady?† Lark, he's almost said. There's not a lark? â€Å"No.† â€Å"Listen here,† Penniman says, and Henry thinks he's never heard anyone so unlike â€Å"Little Richard† Penniman in his entire life. This guy is whiter than Moby Dick . . . and probably about the same size. â€Å"We've got a lot more to discuss here.† Loh more t'dishcush is how it comes out. â€Å"Unless, that is† Unlesh â€Å"you're trying to let me know you're not interested.† Never in a million years, Penniman's voice says to Henry Leyden's educated ears. We're talking about putting a money machine in your living room, sweetheart, your very own private ATM, and there ain't no way in hell you're going to turn that down. â€Å"Nick, you don't smell perfume? Something very light and old-fashioned? My Sin, perhaps?† A flabby hand falls on Henry's shoulder like a hot-water bottle. â€Å"The sin, old buddy, would be for you to refuse to have another drink with me. Even a blindman could see th â€Å" â€Å"Suggest you get your hand off him,† Avery says, and perhaps Penniman's ears aren't entirely deaf to nuance, because the hand leaves Henry's shoulder at once. Then another hand comes in its place, higher up. It touches the back of Henry's neck in a cold caress that's there and then gone. Henry draws in breath. The smell of perfume comes with it. Usually scents fade after a period of exposure, as the receptors that caught them temporarily deaden. Not this time, though. Not this smell. â€Å"No perfume?† Henry almost pleads. The touch of her hand on his neck he can dismiss as a tactile hallucination. But his nose never betrays him. Never until now, anyway. â€Å"I'm sorry,† Avery says. â€Å"I can smell beer . . . peanuts . . . this man's gin and his aftershave . . .† Henry nods. The lights above the backbar slide across the dark lenses of his shades as he slips gracefully off his stool. â€Å"I think you want another drink, my friend,† Penniman says in what he no doubt believes to be a tone of polite menace. â€Å"One more drink, just to celebrate, and then I'll take you home in my Lexus.† Henry smells his wife's perfume. He's sure of it. And he seemed to feel the touch of his wife's hand on the back of his neck. Yet suddenly it's skinny little Morris Rosen he finds himself thinking about Morris, who wanted him to listen to â€Å"Where Did Our Love Go† as done by Dirtysperm. And of course for Henry to play it in his Wisconsin Rat persona. Morris Rosen, who has more integrity in one of his nail-chewed little fingers than this bozo has got in his entire body. He puts a hand on Penniman's forearm. He smiles into Penniman's unseen face, and feels the muscles beneath his palm relax. Penniman has decided he's going to get his way. Again. â€Å"You take my drink,† Henry says pleasantly, â€Å"add it to your drink, and then stick them both up your fat and bepimpled ass. If you need something to hold them in place, why, you can stick your job up there right after them.† Henry turns and walks briskly toward the door, orienting himself with his usual neat precision and holding one hand out in front of him as an insurance policy. Nick Avery has broken into spontaneous applause, but Henry barely hears this and Penniman he has already dismissed from his mind. What occupies him is the smell of My Sin perfume. It fades a little as he steps out into the afternoon heat . . . but is that not an amorous sigh he hears beside his left ear? The sort of sigh his wife sometimes made just before falling asleep after love? His Rhoda? His Lark? â€Å"Hello, the taxi!† he calls from the curb beneath the awning. â€Å"Right here, buddy what're you, blind?† â€Å"As a bat,† Henry agrees, and walks toward the sound of the voice. He'll go home, he'll put his feet up, he'll have a glass of tea, and then he'll listen to the damned 911 tape. That as yet unperformed chore may be what's causing his current case of the heebie-jeebies and shaky-shivers, knowing that he must sit in darkness and listen to the voice of a child-killing cannibal. Surely that must be it, because there's no reason to be afraid of his Lark, is there? If she were to return to return and haunt him she would surely haunt with love. Wouldn't she? Yes, he thinks, and lowers himself into the taxi's stifling back seat. â€Å"Where to, buddy?† â€Å"Norway Valley Road,† Henry says. â€Å"It's a white house with blue trim, standing back from the road. You'll see it not long after you cross the creek.† Henry settles back in the seat and turns his troubled face toward the open window. French Landing feels strange to him today . . . fraught. Like something that has slipped and slipped until it is now on the verge of simply falling off the table and smashing to pieces on the floor. Say that she has come back. Say that she has. If it's love she's come with, why does the smell of her perfume make me so uneasy? So almost revolted? And why was her touch (her imagined touch, he assures himself) so unpleasant? Why was her touch so cold? After the dazzle of the day, the living room of Beezer's crib is so dark that at first Jack can't make out anything. Then, when his eyes adjust a little, he sees why: blankets a double thickness, from the look have been hung over both of the living-room windows, and the door to the other downstairs room, almost certainly the kitchen, has been closed. â€Å"He can't stand the light,† Beezer says. He keeps his voice low so it won't carry across to the far side of the room, where the shape of a man lies on a couch. Another man is kneeling beside him. â€Å"Maybe the dog that bit him was rabid,† Jack says. He doesn't believe it. Beezer shakes his head decisively. â€Å"It isn't a phobic reaction. Doc says it's physiological. Where light falls on him, his skin starts to melt. You ever hear of anything like that?† â€Å"No.† And Jack has never smelled anything like the stench in this room, either. There's the buzz of not one but two table fans, and he can feel the cross-draft, but that stink is too gluey to move. There's the reek of spoiled meat of gangrene in torn flesh but Jack has smelled that before. It's the other smell that's getting to him, something like blood and funeral flowers and feces all mixed up together. He makes a gagging noise, can't help it, and Beezer looks at him with a certain impatient sympathy. â€Å"Bad, yeah, I know. But it's like the monkey house at the zoo, man you get used to it after a while.† The swing door to the other room opens, and a trim little woman with shoulder-length blond hair comes through. She's carrying a bowl. When the light strikes the figure lying on the couch, Mouse screams. It's a horribly thick sound, as if the man's lungs have begun to liquefy. Something maybe smoke, maybe steam starts to rise up from the skin of his forehead. â€Å"Hold on, Mouse,† the kneeling man says. It's Doc. Before the kitchen door swings all the way shut again, Jack is able to read what's pasted to his battered black bag. Somewhere in America there may be another medical man sporting a STEPPENWOLF RULES bumper sticker on the side of his physician's bag, but probably not in Wisconsin. The woman kneels beside Doc, who takes a cloth from the basin, wrings it out, and places it on Mouse's forehead. Mouse gives a shaky groan and begins to shiver all over. Water runs down his cheeks and into his beard. The beard seems to be coming out in mangy patches. Jack steps forward, telling himself he will get used to the smell, sure he will. Maybe it's even true. In the meantime he wishes for a little of the Vicks VapoRub most LAPD homicide detectives carry in their glove compartments as a matter of course. A dab under each nostril would be very welcome right now. There's a sound system (scruffy) and a pair of speakers in the corners of the room (huge), but no television. Stacked wooden crates filled with books line every wall without a door or a window in it, making the space seem even smaller than it is, almost cryptlike. Jack has a touch of claustrophobia in his makeup, and now this circuit warms up, increasing his discomfort. Most of the books seem to deal with religion and philosophy he sees Descartes, C. S. Lewis, the Bhagavad-Gita, Steven Avery's Tenets of Existence but there's also a lot of fiction, books on beer making, and (on top of one giant speaker) Albert Goldman's trash tome about Elvis Presley. On the other speaker is a photograph of a young girl with a splendid smile, freckles, and oceans of reddish-blond hair. Seeing the child who drew the hopscotch grid out front makes Jack Sawyer feel sick with anger and sorrow. Otherworldly beings and causes there may be, but there's also a sick old fuck prowling around who needs to be s topped. He'd do well to remember that. Bear Girl makes a space for Jack in front of the couch, moving gracefully even though she's on her knees and still holding the bowl. Jack sees that in it are two more wet cloths and a heap of melting ice cubes. The sight of them makes him thirstier than ever. He takes one and pops it into his mouth. Then he turns his attention to Mouse. A plaid blanket has been pulled up to his neck. His forehead and upper cheeks the places not covered by his decaying beard are pasty. His eyes are closed. His lips are drawn back to show teeth of startling whiteness. â€Å"Is he † Jack begins, and then Mouse's eyes open. Whatever Jack meant to ask leaves his head entirely. Around the hazel irises, Mouse's eyes have gone an uneasy, shifting scarlet. It's as if the man is looking into a terrible radioactive sunset. From the inner corners of his eyes, some sort of black scum is oozing. â€Å"The Book of Philosophical Transformation addresses most current dialectics,† Mouse says, speaking mellowly and lucidly, â€Å"and Machiavelli also speaks to these questions.† Jack can almost picture him in a lecture hall. Until his teeth begin to chatter, that is. â€Å"Mouse, it's Jack Sawyer.† No recognition in those weird red-and-hazel eyes. The black gunk at the corners of them seems to twitch, however, as if it is somehow sentient. Listening to him. â€Å"It's Hollywood,† Beezer murmurs. â€Å"The cop. Remember?† One of Mouse's hands lies on the plaid blanket. Jack takes it, and stifles a cry of surprise when it closes over his with amazing strength. It's hot, too. As hot as a biscuit just out of the oven. Mouse lets out a long, gasping sigh, and the stench is fetid bad meat, decayed flowers. He's rotting, Jack thinks. Rotting from the inside out. Oh Christ, help me through this. Christ may not, but the memory of Sophie might. Jack tries to fix her eyes in his memory, that lovely, level, clear blue gaze. â€Å"Listen,† Mouse says. â€Å"I'm listening.† Mouse seems to gather himself. Beneath the blanket, his body shivers in a loose, uncoordinated way that Jack guesses is next door to a seizure. Somewhere a clock is ticking. Somewhere a dog is barking. A boat hoots on the Mississippi. Other than these sounds, all is silence. Jack can remember only one other such suspension of the world's business in his entire life, and that was when he was in a Beverly Hills hospital, waiting for his mother to finish the long business of dying. Somewhere Ty Marshall is waiting to be rescued. Hoping to be rescued, at least. Somewhere there are Breakers hard at work, trying to destroy the axle upon which all existence spins. Here is only this eternal room with its feeble fans and noxious vapors. Mouse's eyes close, then open again. They fix upon the newcomer, and Jack is suddenly sure some great truth is going to be confided. The ice cube is gone from his mouth; Jack supposes he crunched it up and swallowed it without even realizing, but he doesn't dare take another. â€Å"Go on, buddy,† Doc says. â€Å"You get it out and then I'll load you up with another hypo of dope. The good stuff. Maybe you'll sleep.† Mouse pays no heed. His mutating eyes hold Jack's. His hand holds Jack's, tightening still more. Jack can almost feel the bones of his fingers grinding together. â€Å"Don't . . . go out and buy top-of-the-line equipment,† Mouse says, and sighs out another excruciatingly foul breath from his rotting lungs. â€Å"Don't . . . ?† â€Å"Most people give up brewing after . . . a year or two. Even dedicated . . . dedicated hobbyists. Making beer is not . . . is not for pussies.† Jack looks around at Beezer, who looks back impassively. â€Å"He's in and out. Be patient. Wait on him.† Mouse's grip tightens yet more, then loosens just as Jack is deciding he can take it no longer. â€Å"Get a big pot,† Mouse advises him. His eyes bulge. The reddish shadows come and go, come and go, fleeting across the curved landscape of his corneas, and Jack thinks, That's its shadow. The shadow of the Crimson King. Mouse has already got one foot in its court. â€Å"Five gallons . . . at least. You find the best ones are in . . . seafood supply stores. And for a fermentation vessel . . . plastic water-cooler jugs are good . . . they're lighter than glass, and . . . I'm burning up. Christ, Beez, I'm burning up!† â€Å"Fuck this, I'm going to shoot it to him,† Doc says, and snaps open his bag. Beezer grabs his arm. â€Å"Not yet.† Bloody tears begin to slip out of Mouse's eyes. The black goo seems to be forming into tiny tendrils. These reach greedily downward, as if trying to catch the moisture and drink it. â€Å"Fermentation lock and stopper,† Mouse whispers. â€Å"Thomas Merton is shit, never let anyone tell you different. No real thought there. You have to let the gases escape while keeping dust out. Jerry Garcia wasn't God. Kurt Cobain wasn't God. The perfume he smells is not that of his dead wife. He's caught the eye of the King. Gorg-ten-abbalah, ee-lee-lee. The opopanax is dead, long live the opopanax.† Jack leans more deeply into Mouse's smell. â€Å"Who's smelling perfume? Who's caught the eye of the King?† â€Å"The mad King, the bad King, the sad King. Ring-a-ding-ding, all hail the King.† â€Å"Mouse, who's caught the eye of the King?† Doc says, â€Å"I thought you wanted to know about â€Å" â€Å"Who?† Jack has no idea why this seems important to him, but it does. Is it something someone has said to him recently? Was it Dale? Tansy? Was it, God save us, Wendell Green? â€Å"Racking cane and hose,† Mouse says confidentially. â€Å"That's what you need when the fermentation's done! And you can't put beer in screw-top bottles! You â€Å" Mouse turns his head away from Jack, nestles it cozily in the hollow of his shoulder, opens his mouth, and vomits. Bear Girl screams. The vomit is pus-yellow and speckled with moving black bits like the crud in the corners of Mouse's eyes. It is alive. Beezer leaves the room in a hurry, not quite running, and Jack shades Mouse from the brief glare of kitchen sunlight as best he can. The hand clamped on Jack's loosens a little more. Jack turns to Doc. â€Å"Do you think he's going?† Doc shakes his head. â€Å"Passed out again. Poor old Mousie ain't getting off that easy.† He gives Jack a grim, haunted look. â€Å"This better be worth it, Mr. Policeman. ‘Cause if it ain't, I'm gonna replumb your sink.† Beezer comes back with a huge bundle of rags, and he's put on a pair of green kitchen gloves. Not speaking, he mops up the pool of vomit between Mouse's shoulder and the backrest of the couch. The black specks have ceased moving, and that's good. To have not seen them moving in the first place would have been even better. The vomit, Jack notices with dismay, has eaten into the couch's worn fabric like acid. â€Å"I'm going to pull the blanket down for a second or two,† Doc says, and Bear Girl gets up at once, still holding the bowl with the melting ice. She goes to one of the bookshelves and stands there with her back turned, trembling. â€Å"Doc, is this something I really need to see?† I think maybe it is. I don't think you know what you're dealing with, even now.† Doc takes hold of the blanket and eases it out from beneath Mouse's limp hand. Jack sees that more of the black stuff has begun to ooze from beneath the dying man's fingernails. â€Å"Remember that this happened only a couple of hours ago, Mr. Policeman.† He pulls the blanket down. Standing with her back to them, Susan â€Å"Bear Girl† Osgood faces the great works of Western philosophy and begins to cry silently. Jack tries to hold back his scream and cannot. Henry pays off the taxi, goes into his house, takes a deep and soothing breath of the air-conditioned cool. There is a faint aroma sweet and he tells himself it's just fresh-cut flowers, one of Mrs. Morton's specialties. He knows better, but wants no more to do with ghosts just now. He is actually feeling better, and he supposes he knows why: it was telling the ESPN guy to take his job and shove it. Nothing more apt to make a fellow's day, especially when the fellow in question is gainfully employed, possessed of two credit cards that are nowhere near the max-out point, and has a pitcher of cold iced tea in the fridge. Henry heads kitchenward now, making his way down the hall with one hand held out before him, testing the air for obstacles and displacements. There's no sound but the whisper of the air conditioner, the hum of the fridge, the clack of his heels on the hardwood . . . . . . and a sigh. An amorous sigh. Henry stands where he is for a moment, then turns cautiously. Is the sweet aroma a little stronger now, especially facing back in this direction, toward the living room and the front door? He thinks yes. And it's not flowers; no sense fooling himself about that. As always, the nose knows. That's the aroma of My Sin. â€Å"Rhoda?† he says, and then, lower: â€Å"Lark?† No answer. Of course not. He's just having the heebie-jeebies, that's all; those world-famous shaky-shivers, and why not? â€Å"Because I'm the sheik, baby,† Henry says. â€Å"The Sheik, the Shake, the Shook.† No smells. No sexy sighs. And yet he's haunted by the idea of his wife back in the living room, standing there in perfumed cerements of the grave, watching him silently as he came in and passed blindly before her. His Lark, come back from Noggin Mound Cemetery for a little visit. Maybe to listen to the latest Slobberbone CD. â€Å"Quit it,† he says softly. â€Å"Quit it, you dope.† He goes into his big, well-organized kitchen. On his way through the door he slaps a button on the panel there without even thinking about it. Mrs. Morton's voice comes from the overhead speaker, which is so high-tech she might almost be in the room. â€Å"Jack Sawyer was by, and he dropped off another tape he wants you to listen to. He said it was . . . you know, that man. That bad man.† â€Å"Bad man, right,† Henry murmurs, opening the refrigerator and enjoying the blast of cold air. His hand goes unerringly to one of three cans of Kingsland Lager stored inside the door. Never mind the iced tea. â€Å"Both of the tapes are in your studio, by the soundboard. Also, Jack wanted you to call him on his cell phone.† Mrs. Morton's voice takes on a faintly lecturing tone. â€Å"If you do speak to him, I hope you tell him to be careful. And be careful yourself.† A pause. â€Å"Also, don't forget to eat supper. It's all ready to go. Second shelf of the fridge, on your left.† â€Å"Nag, nag, nag,† Henry says, but he's smiling as he opens his beer. He goes to the telephone and dials Jack's number. On the seat of the Dodge Ram parked in front of 1 Nailhouse Row, Jack's cell phone comes to life. This time there's no one in the cab to be annoyed by its tiny but penetrating tweet. â€Å"The cellular customer you are trying to reach is currently not answering. Please try your call again later.† Henry hangs up, goes back to the doorway, and pushes another button on the panel there. The voices that deliver the time and temperature are all versions of his own, but he's programmed a random shuffle pattern into the gadget, so he never knows which one he's going to get. This time it's the Wisconsin Rat, screaming crazily into the sunny air-conditioned silence of his house, which has never felt so far from town as it does today: â€Å"Time's four twenty-two P.M.! Outside temperature's eighty-two! Inside temperature's seventy! What the hell do you care? What the hell does anyone care? Chew it up, eat it up, wash it down, it aaall â€Å" comes out the same place. Right. Henry thumbs the button again, silencing the Rat's trademark cry. How did it get late so fast? God, wasn't it just noon? For that matter, wasn't he just young, twenty years old and so full of spunk it was practically coming out of his ears? What That sigh comes again, derailing his mostly self-mocking train of thought. A sigh? Really? More likely just the air conditioner's compressor, cutting off. He can tell himself that, anyway. He can tell himself that if he wants to. â€Å"Is anyone here?† Henry asks. There is a tremble in his voice that he hates, an old man's palsied quaver. â€Å"Is anyone in the house with me?† For a terrible second he is almost afraid something will answer. Nothing does of course nothing does and he swallows half the can of beer in three long gulps. He decides he'll go back into the living room and read for a little while. Maybe Jack will call. Maybe he'll get himself a little more under control once he has a little fresh alcohol in his system. And maybe the world will end in the next five minutes, he thinks. That way you'll never have to deal with the voice on those damned tapes waiting in the studio. Those damned tapes lying there on the soundboard like unexploded bombs. Henry walks slowly back down the hall to the living room with one hand held out before him, telling himself he's not afraid, not a bit afraid of touching his wife's dead face. Jack Sawyer has seen a lot, he's traveled to places where you can't rent from Avis and the water tastes like wine, but he's never encountered anything like Mouse Baumann's leg. Or, rather, the pestilential, apocalyptic horror show that was Mouse Baumann's leg. Jack's first impulse once he's got himself back under something like control is to upbraid Doc for taking off Mouse's pants. Jack keeps thinking of sausages, and how the casing forces them to keep their shape even after the fry pan's sizzling on a red-hot burner. This is an undoubtedly stupid comparison, primo stupido, but the human mind under pressure puts on some pretty odd jinks and jumps. There's still the shape of a leg there sort of but the flesh has spread away from the bone. The skin is almost completely gone, melted to a runny substance that looks like a mixture of milk and bacon fat. The interwoven mat of muscle beneath what remains of the skin is sagging and undergoing the same cataclysmic metamorphosis. The infected leg is in a kind of undisciplined motion as the solid becomes liquid and the liquid sizzles relentlessly into the couch upon which Mouse is lying. Along with the almost insupportable stench of decay, Jack can smell scorching cloth and melting fabric. Poking out of this spreading, vaguely leglike mess is a foot that looks remarkably undamaged. If I wanted to, I could pull it right off . . . just like a squash off a vine. The thought gets to him in a way the sight of the grievously wounded leg hasn't quite been able to, and for a moment Jack can only bow his head, gagging and trying not to vomit down the front of his shirt. What perhaps saves him is a hand on his back. It's Beezer, offering what comfort he can. The rowdy color has completely left the Beez's face. He looks like a motorcyclist come back from the grave in an urban myth. â€Å"You see?† Doc is asking, and his voice seems to come from a great distance. â€Å"This ain't the chicken pox, my friend, although it looked a little like that while it was still getting cranked up. He's already exhibiting red spots on his left leg . . . his belly . . . his balls. That's pretty much what the skin around the bite looked like when we first got him back here, just some redness and swelling. I thought, ? ®Shit, ain't nothin' to this, I got enough Zithromax to put this on the run before sundown.' Well, you see what good the Zithro did. You see what good anything did. It's eating through the couch, and I'm guessing that when it finishes with the couch, it'll go right to work on the floor. This shit is hungry. So was it worth it, Hollywood? I guess only you and Mouse know the answer to that.† â€Å"He still knows where the house is,† Beezer says. â€Å"Me, I don't have a clue, even though we just came from there. You, either. Do you?† Doc shakes his head. â€Å"But Mouse, he knows.† â€Å"Susie, honey,† Doc says to Bear Girl. â€Å"Bring another blanket, would you? This one's damn near et through.† Bear Girl goes willingly enough. Jack gets to his feet. His legs are rubbery, but they hold him. â€Å"Shield him,† he tells Doc. â€Å"I'm going out to the kitchen. If I don't get a drink, I'm going to die.† Jack takes on water directly from the sink, swallowing until a spike plants itself in the center of his forehead and he belches like a horse. Then he just stands there, looking out into Beezer and Bear Girl's backyard. A neat little swing set has been planted there in the weedy desolation. It hurts Jack to look at it, but he looks anyway. After the lunacy of Mouse's leg, it seems important to remind himself that he's here for a reason. If the reminder hurts, so much the better. The sun, now turning gold as it eases itself down toward the Missis-sippi, glares in his eyes. Time hasn't been standing still after all, it seems. Not outside this little house, anyway. Outside 1 Nailhouse Row, time actually seems to have sped up. He's haunted by the idea that coming here was as pointless as detouring to Henry's house; tormented by the thought that Mr. Munshun and his boss, the abbalah, are running him around like a windup toy with a key in its back while they do their work. He can follow that buzz in his head to Black House, so why the hell doesn't he just get back in his truck and do it? The perfume he smells is not that of his dead wife. What does that mean? Why does the idea of someone smelling perfume make him so crazy and afraid? Beezer knocks on the kitchen door, making him jump. Jack's eye fixes on a sampler hung over the kitchen table. Instead of GOD BLESS OUR HOME, it reads HEAVY METAL THUNDER. With a carefully stitched HARLEY-DAVIDSON beneath. â€Å"Get back in here, man,† the Beez says. â€Å"He's awake again.† Henry's on a path in the woods or maybe it's a lane and something is behind him. Each time he turns to see in this dream he can see, but seeing is no blessing there's a little more of that something back there. It appears to be a man in evening dress, but the man is frightfully elongated, with spike teeth that jut over a smiling red lower lip. And he seems is it possible? to have only one eye. The first time Henry looks back, the shape is only a milky blur amid the trees. The next time he can make out the uneasy dark swim of its coat and a floating red blotch that might be a tie or an ascot. Up ahead of him is this thing's den, a stinking hole that only coincidentally looks like a house. Its presence buzzes in Henry's head. Instead of pine, the woods pressing in on either side smell of heavy, cloying perfume: My Sin. It's driving me, he thinks with dismay. Whatever that thing back there is, it's driving me like a steer toward the slaughterhouse. He thinks of cutting off the lane to his left or right, of using the miracle of his new sight to escape through the woods. Only there are things there, too. Dark, floating shapes like sooty scarves. He can almost see the closest. It's some sort of gigantic dog with a long tongue as red as the apparition's tie and bulging eyes. Can't let it drive me to the house, he thinks. I have to get out of this before it can get me there . . . but how? How? It comes to him with startling simplicity. All he has to do is wake up. Because this is a dream. This is just a â€Å"It's a dream!† Henry cries out, and jerks forward. He's not walking, he's sitting, sitting in his very own easy chair, and pretty soon he's going to have a very wet crotch because he fell asleep with a can of Kingsland Lager balanced there, and But there's no spill, because there's no can of beer. He feels cautiously to his right and yep, there it is, on the table with his book, a braille edition of Reflections in a Golden Eye. He must have put it there before first falling asleep and then falling into that horrible nightmare. Except Henry's pretty sure he didn't do any such thing. He was holding the book and the beer was between his legs, freeing his hands to touch the little upraised dots that tell the story. Something very considerately took both the book and the can after he dropped off, and put them on the table. Something that smells of My Sin perfume. The air reeks of it. Henry takes a long, slow breath with his nostrils flared and mouth tightly sealed shut. â€Å"No,† he says, speaking very clearly. â€Å"I can smell flowers . . . and rug shampoo . . . and fried onions from last night. Very faint but still there. The nose knows.† All true enough. But the smell had been there. It's gone now because she's gone, but she will be back. And suddenly he wants her to come. If he's frightened, surely it's the unknown he's frightened of, right? Only that and nothing more. He doesn't want to be alone here, with nothing for company but the memory of that rancid dream. And the tapes. He has to listen to the tapes. He promised Jack. Henry gets shakily to his feet and makes his way to the living-room control panel. This time he's greeted by the voice of Henry Shake, a mellow fellow if ever there was one. â€Å"Hey there, all you hoppin' cats and boppin' kitties, at the tone it's seven-fourteen P.M., Bulova Watch Time. Outside the temp is a very cool seventy-five degrees, and here in the Make-Believe Ballroom it's a very nifty seventy degrees. So why not get off your money, grab your honey, and make a little magic?† Seven-fourteen! When was the last time he fell asleep for almost three hours in the daytime? For that matter, when was the last time he had a dream in which he could see? The answer to that second question, so far as he can remember, is never. Where was that lane? What was the thing behind him? What was the place ahead of him, for that matter? â€Å"Doesn't matter,† Henry tells the empty room if it is empty. â€Å"It was a dream, that's all. The tapes, on the other hand . . .† He doesn't want to listen to them, has never wanted to listen to anything any less in his life (with the possible exception of Chicago singing â€Å"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?†), but he has to. If it might save Ty Marshall's life, or the life of even one other child, he must. Slowly, dreading every step, Henry Leyden makes his blind way to his studio, where two cassettes wait for him on the soundboard. â€Å"In heaven there is no beer,† Mouse sings in a toneless, droning voice. His cheeks are now covered with ugly red patches, and his nose seems to be sinking sideways into his face, like an atoll after an undersea earthquake. â€Å"That's why we drink it here. And when . . . we're gone . . . from here . . . our friends will be drinking all the beer.† It's been like this for hours now: philosophical nuggets, instructions for the beginning beer-making enthusiast, snatches of song. The light coming through the blankets over the windows has dimmed appreciably. Mouse pauses, his eyes closed. Then he starts another ditty. â€Å"Hundred bottles of beer on the wall, one hundred bottles of beer . . . if one of those bottles should happen to fall . . .† â€Å"I have to go,† Jack says. He's hung in there as well as he can, convinced that Mouse is going to give him something, but he can wait no longer. Somewhere, Ty Marshall is waiting for him. â€Å"Hold on,† Doc says. He rummages in his bag and comes out with a hypodermic needle. He raises it in the dimness and taps the glass barrel with a fingernail. â€Å"What's that?† Doc gives Jack and Beezer a brief, grim smile. â€Å"Speed,† he says, and injects it into Mouse's arm. For a moment there's nothing. Then, as Jack is opening his mouth again to tell them he has to go, Mouse's eyes snap wide. They are now entirely red a bright and bleeding red. Yet when they turn in his direction, Jack knows that Mouse is seeing him. Maybe really seeing him for the first time since he got here. Bear Girl flees the room, trailing a single diminishing phrase behind her: â€Å"No more no more no more no more â€Å" â€Å"Fuck,† Mouse says in a rusty voice. â€Å"Fuck, I'm fucked. Ain't I?† Beezer touches the top of his friend's head briefly but tenderly. â€Å"Yeah, man. I think you are. Can you help us out?† â€Å"Bit me once. Just once, and now . . . now . . .† His hideous red gaze turns to Doc. â€Å"Can barely see you. Fuckin' eyes are all weird.† â€Å"You're going down,† Doc says. â€Å"Ain't gonna lie to you, man.† â€Å"Not yet I ain't,† Mouse says. â€Å"Gimme something to write on. To draw a map on. Quick. Dunno what you shot me with, Doc, but the stuff from the dog's stronger. I ain't gonna be compos long. Quick!† Beezer feels around at the foot of the couch and comes up with a trade-sized paperback. Given the heavy shit on the bookcases, Jack could almost laugh the book is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Beezer tears off the back cover and hands it to Mouse with the blank side up. â€Å"Pencil,† Mouse croaks. â€Å"Hurry up. I got it all, man. I got it . . . up here.† He touches his forehead. A patch of skin the size of a quarter sloughs off at his touch. Mouse wipes it on the blanket as if it were a booger. Beezer pulls a gnawed stub of pencil from an inside pocket of his vest. Mouse takes it and makes a pathetic effort to smile. The black stuff oozing from the corners of his eyes has continued to build up, and now it lies on his cheeks like smears of decayed jelly. More of it is springing out of the pores on his forehead in minute black dots that remind Jack of Henry's braille books. When Mouse bites his lower lip in concentration, the tender flesh splits open at once. Blood begins dribbling into his beard. Jack supposes the rotted-meat smell is still there, but Beezer had been right: he's gotten used to it. Mouse turns the book cover sideways, then draws a series of quick squiggles. â€Å"Lookit,† he says to Jack. â€Å"This the Mississippi, right?† â€Å"Right,† Jack says. When he leans in, he starts getting the smell again. Up close it's not even a stench; it's a miasma trying to crawl down his throat. But Jack doesn't move away. He knows what an effort Mouse is making. The least he can do is play his part. â€Å"Here's downtown the Nelson, Lucky's, the Agincourt Theater, the Taproom . . . here's where Chase Street turns into Lyall Road, then Route 35 . . . here's Libertyville . . . the VFW . . . Goltz's . . . ah, Christ â€Å" Mouse begins to thrash on the couch. Sores on his face and upper body burst open and begin leaking. He screams with pain. The hand not holding the pencil goes to his face and paws at it ineffectually. Something inside Jack speaks up, then speaks in a shining, imperative voice he remembers from his time on the road all those years ago. He supposes it's the voice of the Talisman, or whatever remains of it in his mind and soul. It doesn't want him to talk, it's trying to kill him before he can talk, it's in the black stuff, maybe it is the black stuff, you've got to get rid of it Some things can only be done without the mind's prudish interference; when the work is nasty, instinct is often best. So it is without thinking that Jack reaches out, grasps the black slime oozing from Mouse's eyes between his fingers, and pulls. At first the stuff only stretches, as if made of rubber. At the same time Jack can feel it squirming and writhing in his grip, perhaps trying to pinch or bite him. Then it lets go with a twang sound. Jack throws the convulsing black tissue onto the floor with a cry. The stuff tries to slither beneath the couch Jack sees this even as he wipes his hands on his shirt, frantic with revulsion. Doc slams his bag down on one piece. Beezer squashes the other with the heel of a motorcycle boot. It makes a squittering sound. â€Å"What the fuck is that shit?† Doc asks. His voice, ordinarily husky, has gone up into a near-falsetto range. â€Å"What the fuck â€Å" â€Å"Nothing from here,† Jack says, â€Å"and never mind. Look at him! Look at Mouse!† The red glare in Mouse's eyes has retreated; for the moment he looks almost normal. Certainly he's seeing them, and the pain seems gone. â€Å"Thanks,† he breathes. â€Å"I only wish you could get it all that way, but man, it's already coming back. Pay attention.† â€Å"I'm listening,† Jack says. â€Å"You better,† Mouse replies. â€Å"You think you know. You think you can find the place again even if these two can't, and maybe you can, but maybe you don't know quite so much as you . . . ah, fuck.† From somewhere beneath the blanket there is a ghastly bursting sound as something gives way. Sweat runs down Mouse's face, mixing with the black poison venting from his pores and turning his beard a damp and dirty gray. His eyes roll up to Jack's, and Jack can see that red glare starting to haze over them again. â€Å"This sucks,† Mouse pants. â€Å"Never thought I'd go out this way. Lookit, Hollywood . . .† The dying man draws a small rectangle on his makeshift scribble of map. â€Å"This â€Å" â€Å"Ed's Eats, where we found Irma,† Jack says. â€Å"I know.† â€Å"All right,† Mouse whispers. â€Å"Good. Now look . . . over on the other side . . . the Schubert and Gale side . . . and to the west . . .† Mouse draws a line going north from Highway 35. He puts little circles on either side of it. Jack takes these to be representations of trees. And, across the front of the line like a gate: NO TRESPASSING. â€Å"Yeah,† Doc breathes. â€Å"That's where it was, all right. Black House.† Mouse takes no notice. His dimming gaze is fixed solely on Jack. â€Å"Listen to me, cop. Are you listening?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Christ, you better be,† Mouse tells him. As it always has, the work captures Henry, absorbs him, takes him away. Boredom and sorrow have never been able to stand against this old captivation with sound from the sighted world. Apparently fear can't stand against it, either. The hardest moment isn't listening to the tapes but mustering the courage to stick the first one in the big TEAC audio deck. In that moment of hesitation he's sure he can smell his wife's perfume even in the soundproofed and air-filtered environment of the studio. In that moment of hesitation he is positive he isn't alone, that someone (or something) is standing just outside the studio door, looking in at him through the glass upper half. And that is, in fact, the absolute truth. Blessed with sight as we are, we can see what Henry cannot. We want to tell him what's out there, to lock the studio door, for the love of God lock it now, but we can only watch. Henry reaches for the PLAY button on the tape deck. Then his finger changes course and hits the intercom toggle instead. â€Å"Hello? Is anyone out there?† The figure standing in Henry's living room, looking in at him the way someone might look into an aquarium at a single exotic fish, makes no sound. The last of the sun's on the other side of the house and the living room is becoming quite dark, Henry being understandably forgetful when it comes to turning on the lights. Elmer Jesperson's amusing bee slippers (not that they amuse us much under these circumstances) are just about the brightest things out there. â€Å"Hello? Anyone?† The figure looking in through the glass half of the studio door is grinning. In one hand it is holding the hedge clippers from Henry's garage. â€Å"Last chance,† Henry says, and when there's still no response, he becomes the Wisconsin Rat, shrieking into the intercom, trying to startle whatever's out there into revealing itself: â€Å"Come on now, honey, come on now, you muthafukkah, talk to Ratty!† The figure peering in at Henry recoils as a snake might recoil when its prey makes a feint but it utters no sound. From between the grinning teeth comes a leathery old tongue, wagging and poking in derision. This creature has been into the perfume that Mrs. Morton has never had the heart to remove from the vanity in the little powder room adjacent to the master bedroom, and now Henry's visitor reeks of My Sin. Henry decides it's all just his imagination playing him up again oy, such a mistake, Morris Rosen would have told him, had Morris been there and hits PLAY with the tip of his finger. He hears a throat-clearing sound, and then Arnold Hrabowski identifies himself. The Fisherman interrupts him before he can even finish: Hello, asswipe. Henry rewinds, listens again: Hello, asswipe. Rewinds and listens yet again: Hello, asswipe. Yes, he has heard this voice before. He's sure of it. But where? The answer will come, answers of this sort always do eventually and getting there is half the fun. Henry listens, enrapt. His fingers dance back and forth over the tape deck's buttons like the fingers of a concert pianist over the keys of a Steinway. The feeling of being watched slips from him, although the figure outside the studio door the thing wearing the bee slippers and holding the hedge clippers never moves. Its smile has faded somewhat. A sulky expression is growing on its aged face. There is confusion in that look, and perhaps the first faint trace of fear. The old monster doesn't like it that the blind fish in the aquarium should have captured its voice. Of course it doesn't matter; maybe it's even part of the fun, but if it is, it's Mr. Munshun's fun, not its fun. And their fun should be the same . . . shouldn't i t? You have an emergency. Not me. You. â€Å"Not me, you,† Henry says. The mimicry is so good it's weird. â€Å"A little bit of sauerkraut in your salad, mein friend, ja?† Your worst nightmare . . . worst nightmare. Abbalah. I'm the Fisherman. Henry listening, intent. He lets the tape run awhile, then listens to the same phrase four times over: Kiss my scrote, you monkey . . . kiss my scrote, you monkey . . . you monkey . . . monkey . . . No, not monkey. The voice is actually saying munggey. MUNG-ghee. â€Å"I don't know where you are now, but you grew up in Chicago,† Henry murmurs. â€Å"South Side. And . . .† Warmth on his face. Suddenly he remembers warmth on his face. Why is that, friends and neighbors? Why is that, O great wise ones? You're no better'n a monkey on a stick. Monkey on a stick. Monkey â€Å"Monkey,† Henry says. He's rubbing his temples with the tips of his fingers now. â€Å"Monkey on a stick. MUNG-ghee on a stigg. Who said that?† He plays the 911: Kiss my scrote, you monkey. He plays his memory: You're no better'n a monkey on a stick. Warmth on his face. Heat? Light? Both? Henry pops out the 911 tape and sticks in the one Jack brought today. Hello, Judy. Are you Judy today, or are you Sophie? The abbalah sends his best, and Gorg says â€Å"Caw-caw-caw!† [Husky, phlegmy laughter.] Ty says hello, too. Your little boy is very lonely . . . When Tyler Marshall's weeping, terrified voice booms through the speakers, Henry winces and fast-forwards. Derr vill be morrr mur-derts. The accent much thicker now, a burlesque, a joke, Katzenjammer Kids Meet the Wolfman, but somehow even more revealing because of that. Der liddul chull-drun . . . havv-uz-ted like wheed. Like wheed. Havv-uz-ted like . . . â€Å"Harvested like a monkey on a stick,† Henry says. â€Å"MUNG-ghee. HAVV-us-ted. Who are you, you son of a bitch?† Back to the 911 tape. There are whips in hell and chains in Sheol. But it's almost vips in hell, almost chenz in Shayol. Vips. Chenz. MUNG-ghee on a stick. A stigg. â€Å"You're no better'n † Henry begins, and then, all at once, another line comes to him. â€Å"Lady Magowan's Nightmare.† That one's good. A bad nightmare of what? Vips in hell? Chenz in Shayol? Mung-ghees on sticks? â€Å"My God,† Henry says softly. â€Å"Oh . . . my . . . God. The dance. He was at the dance.† Now it all begins to fall into place. How stupid they have been! How criminally stupid! The boy's bike . . . it had been right there. Right there, for Christ's sake! They were all blind men, make them all umps. â€Å"But he was so old,† Henry whispers. â€Å"And senile! How were we supposed to guess such a man could be the Fisherman?† Other questions follow this one. If the Fisherman is a resident at Maxton Elder Care, for instance, where in God's name could he have stashed Ty Marshall? And how is the bastard getting around French Landing? Does he have a car somewhere? â€Å"Doesn't matter,† Henry murmurs. â€Å"Not now, anyway. Who is he and where is he? Those are the things that matter.† The warmth on his face his mind's first effort to locate the Fisherman's voice in time and place had been the spotlight, of course, Symphonic Stan's spotlight, the pink of ripening berries. And some woman, some nice old woman Mr. Stan, yoo-hoo, Mr. Stan? had asked him if he took requests. Only, before Stan could reply, a voice as flat and hard as two stones grinding together I was here first, old woman. had interrupted. Flat . . . and hard . . . and with that faint Germanic harshness that said South Side Chicago, probably second or even third generation. Not vass here first, not old vumman, but those telltale v's had been lurking, hadn't they? Ah yes. â€Å"Mung-ghee,† Henry says, looking straight ahead. Looking straight at Charles Burnside, had he only known it. â€Å"Stigg. Havv-us-ted. Hasta la vista . . . baby.† Was that what it came down to, in the end? A dotty old maniac who sounded a bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger? Who was the woman? If he can remember her name, he can call Jack . . . or Dale, if Jack's still not answering his phone . . . and put an end to French Landing's bad dream. Lady Magowan's Nightmare. That one's good. â€Å"Nightmare,† Henry says, then adjusting his voice: â€Å"Nahht-mare.† Once again the mimicry is good. Certainly too good for the old codger standing outside the studio door. He is now scowling bitterly and gnashing the hedge clippers in front of the glass. How can the blindman in there sound so much like him? It's not right; it's completely improper. The old monster longs to cut the vocal cords right out of Henry Leyden's throat. Soon, he promises himself, he will do that. And eat them. Sitting in the swivel chair, drumming his fingers nervously on the gleaming oak in front of him, Henry recalls the brief encounter at the bandstand. Not long into the Strawberry Fest dance, this had been. Tell me your name and what you'd like to hear. I am Alice Weathers, and . â€Å"Moonglow,† please. By Benny Goodman. â€Å"Alice Weathers,† Henry says. â€Å"That was her name, and if she doesn't know your name, my homicidal friend, then I'm a monkey on a stick.† He starts to get up, and that is when someone something begins to knock, very softly, on the glass upper half of the door. Bear Girl has drawn close, almost against her will, and now she, Jack, Doc, and the Beez are gathered around the sofa. Mouse has sunk halfway into it. He looks like a person dying badly in quicksand. Well, Jack thinks, there's no quicksand, but he's dying badly, all right. Guess there's no question about that. â€Å"Listen up,† Mouse tells them. The black goo is forming at the corners of his eyes again. Worse, it's trickling from the corners of his mouth. The stench of decay is stronger than ever as Mouse's inner workings give up the struggle. Jack is frankly amazed that they've lasted as long as they have. â€Å"You talk,† Beezer says. â€Å"We'll listen.† Mouse looks at Doc. â€Å"When I finish, give me the fireworks. The Cadillac dope. Understand?† â€Å"You want to get out ahead of whatever it is you've got.† Mouse nods. â€Å"I'm down with that,† Doc agrees. â€Å"You'll go out with a smile on your face.† â€Å"Doubt that, bro, but I'll give it a try.† Mouse shifts his reddening gaze to Beezer. â€Å"When it's done, wrap me up in one of the nylon tents that're in the garage. Stick me in the tub. I'm betting that by midnight, you'll be able to wash me down the drain like . . . like so much beer foam. I'd be careful, though. Don't . . . touch what's left.† Bear Girl bursts into tears. â€Å"Don't cry, darlin',† Mouse says. â€Å"I'm gonna get out ahead. Doc promised. Beez?† â€Å"Right here, buddy.† â€Å"You have a little service for me. Okay? Read a poem . . . the one by Auden . . . the one that always used to frost your balls . . .† † ? ®Thou shalt not read the Bible for its prose,' † Beezer says. He's crying. â€Å"You got it, Mousie.† â€Å"Play some Dead . . . ? ®Ripple,' maybe . . . and make sure you're full enough of Kingsland to christen me good and proper into the next life. Guess there won't . . . be any grave for you to piss on, but . . . do the best you can.† Jack laughs at that. He can't help it. And this time it's his turn to catch the full force of Mouse's crimson eyes. â€Å"Promise me you'll wait until tomorrow to go out there, cop.† â€Å"Mouse, I'm not sure I can do that.† â€Å"You gotta. Go out there tonight, you won't have to worry about the devil dog . . . the other things in the woods around that house . . . the other things . . .† The red eyes roll horribly. Black stuff trickles into Mouse's beard like tar. Then he somehow forces himself to go on. â€Å"The other things in those woods will eat you like candy.† â€Å"I think that's a chance I'll have to take,† Jack says, frowning. â€Å"There's a little boy somewhere â€Å" â€Å"Safe,† Mouse whispers. Jack raises his eyebrows, unsure if he's heard Mouse right. And even if he has, can he trust what he's heard? Mouse has some powerful, evil poison working in him. So far he's been able to withstand it, to communicate in spite of it, but â€Å"Safe for a little while,† Mouse says. â€Å"Not from everything . . . there's things that might still get him, I suppose . . . but for the time being he's safe from Mr. Munching. Is that his name? Munching?† â€Å"Munshun, I think. How do you know it?† Mouse favors Jack with a smile of surpassing eeriness. It is the smile of a dying sibyl. Once more he manages to touch his forehead, and Jack notes with horror that the man's fingers are now melting into one another and turning black from the nails down. â€Å"Got it up here, man. Got it alll up here. Told you that. And listen: it's better the kid should get eaten by some giant bug or rock crab over there . . . where he is . . . than that you should die trying to rescue him. If you do that, the abbalah will wind up with the kid for sure. That's what your . . . your friend says.† â€Å"What friend?† Doc asks suspiciously. â€Å"Never mind,† Mouse says. â€Å"Hollywood knows. Don'tcha, Holly-wood?† Jack nods reluctantly. It's Speedy, of course. Or Parkus, if you prefer. â€Å"Wait until tomorrow,† Mouse says. â€Å"High noon, when the sun's strongest in both worlds. Promise.† At first Jack can say nothing. He's torn, in something close to agony. â€Å"It'd be almost full dark before you could get back out Highway 35 anyway,† Bear Girl says quietly. â€Å"And there's bad shit in those woods, all right,† Doc says. â€Å"Makes the stuff in that Blair Witch Project look fuckin' tame. I don't think you want to try it in the dark. Not unless you got a death wish, that is.† â€Å"When you're done . . .† Mouse whispers. â€Å"When you're done . . . if any of you are left . . . burn the place to the ground. That hole. That tomb. Burn it to the ground, do you hear me? Close the door.† â€Å"Yeah,† Beezer says. â€Å"Heard and understood, buddy.† â€Å"Last thing,† Mouse says. He's speaking directly to Jack now. â€Å"You may be able to find it . . . but I think I got something else you need. It's a word. It's powerful to you because of something you . . . you touched. Once a long time ago. I don't understand that part, but . . .† â€Å"It's all right,† Jack tells him. â€Å"I do. What's the word, Mouse?† For a moment he doesn't think Mouse will, in the end, be able to tell him. Something is clearly struggling to keep him from saying the word, but in this struggle, Mouse comes out on top. It is, Jack thinks, very likely his life's last W. â€Å"D'yamba,† Mouse says. â€Å"Now you, Hollywood. You say it.† â€Å"D'yamba,† Jack says, and a row of weighty paperbacks slides from one of the makeshift shelves at the foot of the couch. They hang there in the dimming air . . . hang . . . hang . . . and then drop to the floor with a crash. Bear Girl voices a little scream. â€Å"Don't forget it,† Mouse says. â€Å"You're gonna need it.† â€Å"How? How am I going to need it?† Mouse shakes his head wearily. â€Å"Don't . . . know.† Beezer reaches over Jack's shoulder and takes the pitiful little scribble of map. â€Å"You're going to meet us tomorrow morning at the Sand Bar,† he tells Jack. â€Å"Get there by eleven-thirty, and we should be turning into that goddamned lane right around noon. In the meantime, maybe I'll just hold on to this. A little insurance policy to make sure you do things Mouse's way.† â€Å"Okay,† Jack says. He doesn't need the map to find Chummy Burn-side's Black House, but Mouse is almost certainly right: it's probably not the sort of place you want to tackle after dark. He hates to leave Ty Marshall in the furance-lands it feels wrong in a way that's almost sinful but he has to remember that there's more at stake here than one little boy lost. â€Å"Beezer, are you sure you want to go back there?† â€Å"Hell no, I don't want to go back,† Beezer says, almost indignantly. â€Å"But something killed my daughter my daughter! and it got here from there! You want to tell me you don't know that's true?† Jack makes no reply. Of course it's true. And of course he wants Doc and the Beez with him when he turns up the lane to Black House. If they can bear to come, that is. D'yamba, he thinks. D'yamba. Don't forget. He turns back to the couch. â€Å"Mouse, do you â€Å" â€Å"No,† Doc says. â€Å"Guess he won't need the Cadillac dope, after all.† â€Å"Huh?† Jack peers at the big brewer-biker stupidly. He feels stupid. Stupid and exhausted. â€Å"Nothin' tickin' but his watch,† Doc says, and then he begins to sing. After a moment Beezer joins in, then Bear Girl. Jack steps away from the couch with a thought queerly similar to Henry's: How did it get late so early? Just how in hell did that happen? â€Å"In heaven, there is no beer . . . that's why we drink it here . . . and when . . . we're gone . . . from here . . .† Jack tiptoes across the room. On the far side, there's a lighted Kingsland Premium Golden Pale Ale bar clock. Our old friend who is finally looking every year of his age and not quite so lucky peers at the time with disbelief, not accepting it until he has compared it to his own watch. Almost eight. He has been here for hours. Almost dark, and the Fisherman still out there someplace. Not to mention his otherworldly playmates. D'yamba, he thinks again as he opens the door. And, as he steps out onto the splintery porch and closes the door behind him, he speaks aloud with great sincerity into the darkening day: â€Å"Speedy, I'd like to wring your neck.†

Evidence Law – Imposing Legal Burden of Defendant

Imposing a legal burden upon a defendant will negate the principle of presumption of innocence. If a defendant has to prove their innocence than it would automatically and unconsciously bring up the issue that they were never considered innocent until proven guilty. The presumption of innocence was first articulated in the case of Woolmington v DPP [1935] AC 462, 461 where Viscount Sankey LC stated that: ‘Throughout the web of English criminal law one golden thread is always to be seen, that it is the duty of the prosecution to prove the prisoner’s guilty subject to†¦No matter what the charge or where the trial, the principle that the prosecution must prove the guilt of the prisoner is part of the common law of England and no attempt to whittle it down can be entertained’ This statement of the nature of the legal burden of proof in criminal trial is basically a summary of the important presumption that highlights our criminal justice system, that a person is presumed innocent till proven guilty. In the case of McIntosh v Lord Advocate [2001] 3 WLR , Lord Bingham referred to the judgement of Sachs J in the case of State v Coetzee [1997] where the importance of the principle as explained.Lord Bingham explained that: The starting point of any balancing enquiry where constitutional rights are concerned must be that the public interest in ensuring that innocent people are not convicted†¦ Hence the presumption of innocence, which serves not only to protect a particular individual on trial, but to maintain public confidence in the enduring integrity and security of the legal system’. The presumption of innocence is supported by the European Convention of Human Rights; Article 6(2) states that ‘anyone charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law’.Furthermore the Human Rights Act 1998 supports the presumption of innocence as well as the European Convention of Human Right s. An issue that is faced by the court in respect of cases is whether imposing a legal burden of proof on the defendant will raise issues with article 6(2) of ECHR as well as the Human Rights Act 1998. In addition the same can be said about legislation that imposes a statutory defence for the defendant to use, and in order for them to use that defence they will bear the legal burden.Even at Common law Lord Viscount Sankey himself stated that it is upon the prosecution to prove guilty, but if a defendant uses the defence of insanity than he shall bear the legal burden of proof. Despite the rule in Woolmington v DPP, there are circumstances where the burden of proof does pass to the accused. This is known as the ‘reverse burden’ or reverse onus’. There are many express statutory exceptions to offences which place’s a legal burden upon the defendant and failure to do so could mean a potential conviction.The Homicide Act 1957, s2(2) imposes a burden of proof o n the accused in relation to suffering from diminished responsibility. It states: ‘On a charge of murder, it shall be for the defence to prove that the person charged is by virtue of this section not liable to be convicted of murder’. There is similar reverse burden on the accused to prove insanity under the common law rule in M’Naghten’s Case [1843] 10 CL & Fin 200. Furthermore the Magistrates Courts Act 1980 s101, places a burden on the defendant but impliedly.It states that ‘where a defendant relies for his defence on any exception, exception, exemption, proviso, excuse or qualification†¦ the burden of proving †¦. shall be on him’. In the case of R v Edwards [1975] QB 27, the defendant was convicted of selling alcohol without a license. The defendant tried to appeal on the grounds that prosecution had not produced any evidence in relation to him being granted a license. The Licensing Act 1964, section 160 clearly states ‘if any person sells†¦ any intoxicating liquor without holding a justices license †¦ hall be guilty of an offence’. The appeal was dismissed on the grounds that under common Law, where a statue forbids an act in certain situations, the court could interpret such that the burden of proving that situation, including granting of a license could like on the defendant. In addition to this s1(1) of Prevention of Crime Act 1953 clearly states that ‘Any Person who without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, the proof whereof shall lie on him, has with him in any public place any offensive weapon shall be guilty of an offence’.This is example of implied statutory exception which imposes a burden of proof upon the defendant. Another example of a case where it was impliedly stated by statue is the case of Gatland v Metropolitan Police Commissioner [1968] 2 AII ER 100 QB. A lorry driver drove into a builder’s skip which had been left in front of building were builders were working. The owners of the lorry claimed against the company which supplied the skip. It was held that the burden was on the rosecution to prove that the skip had been left outside the building and that it could have caused danger to the driver, the burden was on the defendant to prove that it was there with ‘lawful authority or excuse’, this was due to the Magistrates Court Act 1980 section 101. However the courts have imposed limitations on this principle and this was portrayed in the case of R v Hunt 1987 AC 352. This case involved the defendant being convicted of unlawful possession of Morphine in respect of section 5 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.The regulation provided that section 5 will have no effect if the morphine was less than 0. 2%. The defendant tried to appeal on the grounds that prosecution had failed to adduce enough evidence on the proportion of morphine. The trial judge at first instance upheld the conviction and stated that the legal burden fell on the defendant to prove. The defendant appealed by leave of court, and Lord Griffith gave a judgement in that since Woolmington v DPP [1935] a rule was not established that the burden of establishing a statutory defence lay on the defendant only where the statue expressly provides it.He also referred to the case of Nimmo v Alexander Cowan & Sons Ltd 1968 AC 107, where it was agreed that it was not clearly stated that the burden would like on the defendant, and that the courts should take into consideration what the intention was of the Parliament. Lord Griffith went onto say that section 5 of the Act only made it an offence to carry the illegal substance in possession. So therefore it was up to the prosecution to prove that the substance was carried in an illegal form. The burden was on the prosecution to prove that the substance was unlawful and also that the morphine was not in a legal form and not under 0. %. The appeal was allowed and the defendant’s convic tion was quashed. This case illustrates that the courts are not always willing to place the legal burden on the defendant especially when statue is not clear as to the intention of who would bear the burden. Following the performance of the Human Rights Act 1998 section 3 the courts have been required to consider whether the imposition of the burden of proof on the defendant is incompatible with the right to a fair trial under Article 6 ECHR. It also should employ the attitude that all reverse burdens f proof should be viewed as evidential burdens rather than legal, at least for offences with an identified guilt and rigorous sentences. In the case of R v Lambert [2001] 2 Cr App R 511, HL, the defendant was convicted under section 5 of The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 for possession of cocaine with intent to supply and was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. He relied on section 28(3)(b)(i) of the Act as a defence that he did not believe or suspect, or have reason to suspect that he w as carrying the cocaine.The judge directed the jury in agreement to the law that the prosecution only had to prove that he had and knew that he had possession of cocaine in his bag. The Act imposed a reverse burden on him in relation to this defence. On appeal against the conviction, the defendant tried to argue that the reverse burden that he carried contravened Art 6(2) even though the HRA 1998 was not yet to come into force. The court of appeal held that because the Act had not come into force he could not rely on the convention rights.The result of s28 of the Act was to impose only an evidential burden on the accused, as imposing a legal burden on the defendant would contravene Article 6 of ECHR. It was addressed that imposing a legal burden on a defendant would require a high level of explanation to be actually compatible with Article 6. Lord Steyn said that the burden is on the state to show that the legislative means adopted where not greater than necessity. He also went to e xplain that there must be a ‘pressing necessity’ for a legal burden to be placed upon the defendant.However in the case of R v Johnstone [2003] UKHL 28 HL, the defendant as charged with an offence under s92 of the Trade Marks Act 1994, in relation to production and sale of counterfeit CD’s involving reproducing the trademarks of the various artists. The defence that could be relied on was under s92(5) which claimed: ‘It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to show that he believed on a reasonable grounds that the use of the sign in the manner in which it was used, or was to be used, was not an infringement of the registered trade mark’.It was held that the placing of a legal burden of proof on the accused was compatible with article 6 of ECHR. Lord Nichollos gave the judgment that ‘Given the importance and difficulty of combating counterfeiting, and given the comparative ease with an accused can raise and issue a bout his honesty, overall it is fair and reasonable to require a trader, should need arise, to prove on the balance of probability that the honestly and reasonably believed the goods were genuine’. This clearly indicates that in certain circumstances the ECHR article 6 can be infringed upon if the crime is detrimental in society as well as raising issues of honesty.It can be inferred that the decisions made in Lambert and Johnstone have caused friction as both offences have given way to a defence through statutory exceptions. In Johnstone it was only an evidential burden that was placed in the defendant whereas in Lambert a legal burden was placed. However a common ground which both cases have come to is that a case would have to have great justification to go against article 6 of ECHR and the Human Rights Act 1998. An issue that arises is what would constitute as having great justification and that there is a lack of clarity in this.It can be said that judges have not interp reted properly statutes that impose a burden of proof on the defendant, and therefore cases are resulting in different outcomes. Furthermore this can be seen again in the case of Sheldrake v DPP; Attorney General’s Reference (No 4 of 2002) UKHL 43 HL. The hearing before the court was raised as a result of two different cases. The first case involved the defendant being charged under s5(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 for being charge of a motor vehicle after having being intoxicated by so much alcohol, going over the required limit.The defendant tried to rely on the defence provided under s5(2) of the Act ‘that at the time he alleged to have committed the offence the circumstances†¦. likely to exceed the prescribed limit’. The defendant tried to claim that if an evidential burden was not placed than it would intervene with ECHR article 6. It was held that, even if it did contravene Article 6, that it would be justified by the fact that it was proportionate a nd directed towards a legitimate objective.The second case involved the defendant being charged and convicted under the Terrorism Act 2000, and a defence was available from section 11(2) for a defendant ‘ that the organisation was not a proscribed on the last (or only) occasion on which he became a member or began to profess to be a member, and that he has not taken part in the activities of the organisation at any time while it was proscribed’. Take into consideration that the statue states that it is a defence to the offence, but does not state that the burden is upon the defendant to prove.The court stated that once the defendant had raised the issue and satisfied the evidential burden of proof it was up to the prosecution to rebut that evidence rather than the defendant having to undergo the legal burden of proof. It was held that in relation to s11 it would be incompatible with article 6 if interpreted as imposing a legal burden and therefore should be ‘read down’ so it only imposed an evidential burden. In conclusion to this assignment it can be seen that judges are more conscious about placing a legal burden upon the defendant as it does intervene with ECHR article 6.Judges have tried to justify in situation where a legal burden if placed on a defendant, by stating where a crime is so severe with harsh imprisonment a defendant does have to prove the legal burden. In certain situations where the reverse burden is transferred the courts are willing to place an evidential burden on the defendant rather than legal however where there is a statutory defence judges may go either way by stating that the legal burden has to be proved or that an evidential burden maybe placed.Furthermore a problem that statutory defences poses is that judges maybe unclear as to the wording of the provision so therefore there is not much clarity and confusion maybe caused. Furthermore the same can be said about implied statutory exceptions as the wording does not expressly say that the burden is on the defendant again this can cause confusion and sometimes result in the defendant having the burden. In all the courts are more willing to be flexible and only when there is a necessity in placing the burden with great justification will the courts impose a burden upon the defendant.I do agree that placing a burden on the defendant does negate the principle of presumption of innocence but I would agree with the courts that sometimes it is necessary to do so. Word count: 2655 Bibliography Cases McIntosh v Lord Advocate [2001] 3 WLR Woolmington v DPP [1935] AC 462, 461 Gatland v Metropolitan Police Commissioner [1968] 2 AII ER 100 QB R v Lambert [2001] 2 Cr App R 511, HL Sheldrake v DPP; Attorney General’s Reference (No 4 of 2002) UKHL 43 HL R v Edwards [1975] QB 27 of R v Hunt 1987 AC 352 Books C TaylorEvidence Pearson Education Limited 1st Edition 2010C Allen A Practical Guide To Evidence Cavendish Publishing 4th Edition 2008 Tab le of Statue Homicide Act 1957 Human Rights Act 1998 Licensing Act 1964 Magistrates Court Act 1980 Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 Prevention of Crime Act 1953 Road Traffic Act 1988 Trade Marks Act 1994 EU Legislation European Convention of Human Rights Journal http://webjcli. ncl. ac. uk/2003/issue3/cooper3. html Simon Cooper Human Rights & Legal Burden of Proof Accessed 27/07/12 Website http://conventions. coe. int/treaty/en/treaties/html/005. htm Accessed 02/08/12 http://www. legislation. gov. uk/ukpga/1998/42/section/3 Human Rights Act 1998 s3 Accessed 12/08/12 ttp://www. hartpub. co. uk/updates/crimlaw/crimlaw_burden05. htm Burden of Proof, Accessed 12/08/12 http://www. lawgazette. co. uk/news/r-v-hunt-richard Accessed 06/08/12 http://www. lawgazette. co. uk/news/r-v-hunt-richard Accessed 06/08/12 ——————————————– [ 1 ]. http://webjcli. ncl. ac. uk/2003/issue3/cooper3. html Simon Co oper Human Rights & Legal Burden of Proof Accessed 27/07/12 [ 2 ]. McIntosh v Lord Advocate [2001] 3 WLR Judgement of Lord Bingham [ 3 ]. http://conventions. coe. int/treaty/en/treaties/html/005. htm Accessed 02/08/12 [ 4 ]. Woolmington v DPP [1935] AC 462, 461 [ 5 ]. http://www. egislation. gov. uk/ukpga/Eliz2/5-6/11/section/2 Homicide Act 1957 s2(2) [ 6 ]. C TaylorEvidence Pearson Education Limited 2010 pg 15 [ 7 ]. http://www. legislation. gov. uk/ukpga/1980/43/section/101 Magistrates Courts Act 1980 s101 [ 8 ]. R v Edwards [1975] QB 27 [ 9 ]. Gatland v Metropolitan Police Commissioner [1968] 2 AII ER 100 QB [ 10 ]. of R v Hunt 1987 AC 352 [ 11 ]. http://www. lawgazette. co. uk/news/r-v-hunt-richard Accessed 06/08/12 [ 12 ]. http://www. lawgazette. co. uk/news/r-v-hunt-richard Accessed 06/08/12 [ 13 ]. http://www. legislation. gov. uk/ukpga/1998/42/section/3 Human Rights Act 1998 s3 Accessed 12/08/12 [ 14 ]. ttp://www. hartpub. co. uk/updates/crimlaw/crimlaw_burden05. htm Burden of Proof, Accessed 12/08/12 [ 15 ]. R v Lambert [2001] 2 Cr App R 511, HL [ 16 ]. R v Lambert [2001] 2 Cr App R 511, HL [ 17 ]. C Allen A Practical Guide To Evidence Cavendish Publishing 2008 pg 168 [ 18 ]. R v Johnstone [2003] UKHL 28 HL [ 19 ]. R v Johnstone [2003] UKHL 28 HL [ 20 ]. Sheldrake v DPP; Attorney General’s Reference (No 4 of 2002) UKHL 43 HL [ 21 ]. http://www. legislation. gov. uk/ukpga/2000/11/section/11 [ 22 ]. Sheldrake v DPP; Attorney General’s Reference (No 4 of 2002) UKHL 43 HL

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Techniques Used in Stolen Essay ANNE ‘To tan or not to tan’ Title itself is symbolic of her confusion – ‘I’m black’ versus ‘milky white skin’. Through dramatic monologue Anne expresses her true feelings to the audience. ‘Am I Black or white?’ The repetitive chant of ‘who do you think you are?’ of various white and black choices captures Anne SANDY ‘Hiding Sandy’ (p3) Repetitive chorus of ‘Always on the run’ to emphasize Sandy’s lack of identity and security and struggle to have a stable sense of his own identity – where he belongs, who he belongs to. ‘Sandy’s Story of the Mungee’ (p10) Sandy’s story is an allegory in the oral tradition for the Stolen Generation. The ‘Mungee’ turned into pale skin and that was his punishment. People would know. People would never forget . Sandy has culture. He uses stories as a way of coping with bad circumstances. This builds his self esteem and reinforces his identity. ‘Sandy at the end of the road’ ‘I’m going back. Home. That bit of red desert†¦ I’m going to catch that fish’ Sandy is finally at peace with where he is, who he is, what he is doing. The ‘bit of red desert’ symbolizes home and belonging, his very identity. ‘Catching the fish’ symbolizes his capacity to stop running – he’s now in control, not the authorities! SHIRLEY ‘Shirley knits for family’ (p19) Stage directions in performance: ‘Shirley has big bag of knitting that she lays out-from small to large’. The clothes symbolize all the years her children were stolen; she’s still their mother. A piece is missing or fractured in her identity. ‘Shirley Never Gives Up Searching’ The repetition Shirley’s voice asking after her children is enhanced by the lighting, where she is ‘isolated, spotlit’. The dramatic techniques highlight her emotional anguish and the fact she is suffering, all alone, with no support. Until she is re-united with her children, her identity is a perpetual. ‘Shirley’s Come Full Circle’ The dramatic monologue is powerful because the audience gets an insight into Shirley’s full range of emotions. We see the ingained pain: ‘The nurse come

The Role Of Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Stroke

The Role Of Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Stroke INTRODUCTION Stroke is a rapidly developing clinical signs of focal disturbance of cerebral function, lasting more than 24 hours or leading to death with no apparent cause other than that of vascular origin (Aho K Harmsen 1980). Stroke is a disease of developed nation and its the third leading cause of death and long term disability all over the world with an incidence rate of 10 million per year (Sudlow and Warlow 1996). Stroke occurs at any age but it is more common in elderly between 55 to 85 years of age (Boudewejn Kollen and Gert Kwakkel 2006). Stroke is classified into two types based on the pathology and cause, Ischemic stroke, occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is decreased, leading to dysfunction of the brain tissue in that area. The ischemia results when there is Thrombosis, Embolism, Systemic hypoperfusion and venous thrombosis. Hemorrhagic stroke occurs when there is accumulation of blood anywhere within the skull vault. These hemorrhage results when there is microaneurism, arterio venous malformation and inflammatory vasculitis (Capildeo and Habermann 1977). Normal cerebral blood flow is approximately 50 to 60 ml/100g/ Minutes and varies in different parts of the brain. When there is ischemia, the cerebral auto-regulatory mechanism will compensate for the reduction in the cerebral blood flow by local vasodilatation and increase the extraction of oxygen and glucose from the blood. When the Cerebral Blood Flow is reduced to below 20 ml/100g/min, an electrical silence occurs and synaptic activity is greatly diminished in an attempt to preserve energy stored. Cerebral blood flow of less than 10ml/100g/min results in irreversible neuronal injury. These neuronal injuries occurs when there is formation of microscopic thrombi, these microscopic thrombi are triggered by ischemia induced activation of destructive vasoactive enzymes that are released by endothelium, platelets and neuronal cells. These result in the development of hypoxic ischemic neuronal injury which is primarily induced by overreaction of some neurotransmitters like glutamate and aspirate. Within an hour of hypoxic-ischemic insult there will be ischemiec penumbra where auto- regulation is ineffective. This stage of ischemia is called window of opportunity, where the neurological deficit created by ischemia can be partly or completely reversed. After this stage is a stage of neuronal death, in which the deficit is irreversible (Heros 1994). Functional restrictions resulting from stroke are paralysis of upper limb lower limb function, cognitive deficit, visual disturbances, disturbance of gait and mobility, spasticity of muscle, loss of co-ordination and speech problems. The loss of upper extremity control is common after stroke with 88% of survivors having some level of upper extremity dysfunction. Basic Activities of Daily Living (ADL) skills are compromised in acute stroke, with 67% to 88% of patients demonstrating partial or complete independence (Amit Kumar Mandall 2009). Muscle weakness, or the inability to generate normal levels of force, has clinically been recognized as one of the limiting factors in the motor rehabilitation of patients with stroke. Following stroke, some patients lose independent control over select muscle groups, resulting in coupled joint movements that are often inappropriate for the desired task. These coupled movements are known as synergies and, for the upper limb flexor synergy: shoulde r flexion, adduction, internal rotation, elbow flexion, wrist flexion and finger flexion. Upper limb extensor synergy: shoulder, elbow, wrist and finger extension. The rehabilitation of upper extremity is quite challenging. Many therapeutic approaches are currently available in the rehabilitation of upper extremity function. Most commonly used treatment approaches are ROODs approach, Sensory motor approach, PNF, Brunnstroms movement therapy, Bobaths technique and neuro developmental therapy. In this Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) is widely used in the rehabilitation of upper extremity function in stroke patients. (Amit Kumar Mandall 2009). PNF is a therapeutic intervention used in rehabilitation which was originally developed to facilitate performance in patients with movement deficits. PNF exercises are based on the stretch reflex which is caused by stimulation of the Golgi tendon and muscle spindles. This stimulation results in impulses being sent to the brain, which leads to the contraction and relaxation of muscles. When a body part is injured, there is a delay in the stimulation of the muscle spindles and Golgi tendons resulting in weakness of the muscle. PNF exercises help to re-educate the motor units which are lost due to the injury. A variety of methods fall under the rubric of PNF, including the exploitation of postural reflexes, the use of gravity to facilitate movement in weak muscles, the use of eccentric contractions to facilitate agonist muscle activity, hold relax, contract relax, rhythmic stabilization, rhythmic initiation and the use of diagonal movement patterns to facilitate the activation of bi-art icular muscles (Etnyre Abraham L D, 1987; Hardy Jones, 1986 Osternig, Robertson, Troxel, Hansen, 1987). Tomasz  Wolny, Edward  Saulicz and RafaÅ‚Â  Gnat in 2009 conducted a randomized control study on the efficacy of proprioceptive neuro-muscular facilitation in rehabilitation for activities of daily living in late post-stroke patients. In this study sixty four stroke patients were recruited from the neurological rehabilitation centre Subjects for this study were recruited based on some inclusion criteria. The patients with loss of sphincter control, loss of mobility, locomotion and communication were included in this study and patients with grade 5 or 6 Repty Functional lndex scale were included in this study. After the recruitment of patients, all the 64 patients were randomly divided into two groups, group A (control group) and group B (experimental group). Group A will receive conventional treatment like strengthening, gait training etc. Group B will receive PNF based exercise. A pre and post assessment of the functional status of the stroke patients was done using R epty Functional lndex scale. The treatment will be continued for 21 days for both the groups in the neurological rehabilitation centre. . The data were analyzed using chi-square test. Chi-square was used to study associations between the treatments and changes in the criterion measurements. ANOVA was used to compare the average changes among the two groups. The result of this study showed that PNF-based rehabilitation exercise of late post-stroke patients significantly improved in their ADL functional performance and in locomotion when compared to the control group treated with conventional therapy. Kuniyoshi Shimura.A, Tatsuya Kasai. B in 2002 conducted a study on Effects of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation on the initiation of voluntary movement and motor evoked potentials in upper limb muscles activity. In this study author investigated the effect of PNF limb positions and neutral limb positions on the initiation of voluntary limb movement and motor evoked potentials in upper limb muscles. In this experimental study the patients were divided into two groups, in experimental group 1 they investigated the effectiveness of PNF by considering the effects of limb position changes on the initiation of voluntary movement in terms of electromyographic reaction times. In experimental group 2 they investigated the effectiveness of no (neutral limb position) movement by considering the effect of limb position changes on the initiation of voluntary movement with electromyographic reaction times. After signing the consent the experiment was conducted on the patients. Two upper ar m positions used in this study, a neutral position (N) and a position facilitating activity of the upper extensor muscles (PNF). The effects of these positions are observed in the EMG. The subject could passively adopt the two upper arm positions using his right (affected) arm by means of especially made arm holders. For each arm position, six blocks of 10 trials were performed. All trials of the first block and the first trial of each of the following blocks were excluded from the analysis to eliminate start-up effects. In addition, a few trials were discarded because of obvious mistakes in the recording. EMGs were recorded simultaneously from three muscles (Brachioradialis, triceps brachii and deltoid) using 3 cm diameter, bipolar, silver surface electrodes connected to an EMG-unit. The result of this study showed that the EMG discharge order differed between the two positions. PNF position improves movement efficiency of the joint by inducing changes in the sequence in which the muscles are activated. Hence PNF has an effective role in the initiation of voluntary movement and motor evoked potential in upper limb muscle activity. Pamela Duncan and Lorie Richards et al., in 1998 conducted a study on the effect of Home-Based Exercise Program for Individuals with Mild and Moderate Stroke. In this randomized controlled pilot study, 20 individuals with mild to moderate stroke who had completed acute rehabilitation program and those who were 30 to 90 days after onset of stroke were randomized to a 12-week (first 8-week will be therapist-supervised program and the next 4-week will be independent program) rehabilitation program. After signing the consent form, patients were selected based on some inclusion criteria like (1) 30 to 90 days after stroke; (2) minimal or moderately impaired sensorimotor function (3) ambulatory with supervision and/or assistive device; (4) living at home; and (5) living within 50 miles of the University. The exclusion criteria for this study are (1) a medical condition that interfered with outcome assessments or limited participation in sub maximal exercise program, (2) a Mini-Mental State score The participants for this study were selected and evaluated by a therapist based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. If the subjects agreed to participate in this study, then the basic assessment is done after getting the informed consent. The severity of the stroke were assessed using Orpington Prognostic Scale (Sue-Min Lai and Pamela W. Duncan 1998) and Fugl-Meyer Motor Score (Pamela W Duncan 1982) that includes assessment of motor function of the arm, upper extremity proprioception, coordination, balance, and 10 cognitive questions. The functional assessments are performed using Barthel Index Activities of Daily Living (Fricke and Unsworth 1997) Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living and Medical Outcomes Study-36 Health Status Measurement (Colleen and John 1992). Functional assessments of balance and gait of the participants were assessed using 10-Meter Walk, 6-Minute Walk (Kosak and Smith 2005) and Berg Balance Scale (Berg, Wood-Dauphinee and Williams 1995). Upper extremity hand function was evaluated with the Jebsen Test of Hand Function.The Jebsen is a standardized assessment to measure the time taken to perform hand activities. These includes: writing a short sentence, turning over 35 cards, picking up small objects, stacking checkers, simulated eating, moving empty large cans, and moving weighted cans(Jebsen, Taylor, Trieschmann 1969). After baseline assessment the subjects were randomly assigned into two groups, experimental group and control group. In experimental groups the PNF exercise were taught to the patients on day one as an home exercise and they were asked to continue the same exercise as an home program for eight weeks with three visits to the physical therapy department every week. The exercise includes assistive and resistive exercises using Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Patterns and Theraband exercise to the major muscle groups of the upper and lower extremities. Subjects in the control group received usual care as prescribed by the physicians. The subjects of this group were assessed by the research assistant. The demographic data of both the groups were statistically compared using Wilcoxon rank sum tests. The results of this study showed that there is no difference in the pre and post exercise treatment. There is no change in the upper extremity function and the functional health status in both the experimental group as well as in control group after the treatment interventions. Ruth Dickstein, Shraga Hochman, Thomas Pillar, and Rachel Shaham in 1992 conducted a study on Stroke Rehabilitation with Three Exercise Therapy Approaches. One hundred and ninety-six hemiplegic patients were randomly selected for this study. All subjects were referred to the physical therapy department of a geriatric-rehabilitation hospital over a period of 18 months were admitted to the study. All patients had a recent cerebrovascular accident and came for a rehabilitation program after an average stay of 16 days in a general hospital. Sex distribution was equal with a mean age of 70.5 years. Thirteen physiotherapists were enrolled in the study for exercise administration and the subjects were assigned randomly to each therapist. The data were collected in a separate form, which has two parts; first part was used to collect the basic information like age, gender, side affected and location of the damaged artery. The second part was used to record the variable data. Each therapist tr eated their first five patients with conventional method, next five with PNF method and the last five with Bobath method. All patients were treated for five days a week for six weeks, and each treatment sessions were last for 30 to 45 minutes. The outcomes of each patient are measured before the treatment and every week thereafter. The functional independence is measured with Barthal index. Muscle tone of the involved extremities was checked by passive movements of the extremities with the patients in supine position. Muscle tone was graded using an ordinal scale composed of five points: a) flaccid, b) low, c) normal, d) high, and e) spastic. Ambulatory status of the patient was assessed and classified with a nominal four category scale: a) patient does not walk, b) patient walks with an assistive device and persons help, c) patient walks with an assistive device, and d) patient walks independently. The treatment was continued for 6weeks in both the groups. The data were analyzed using chi-square test. Chi-square was used to study associations between the treatments and changes in the criterion measurements. The Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the average changes among the three groups. The results of this study showed that there is no significant difference in the improvement of activities of daily living and in the walking ability. But there is significant difference in the improvement of muscle tone in PNF group and in Bobath group when compared to the conventional treatment group. CONCLUSION: The poor quality of the trials reviewed severely limits the conclusions that can be drawn. However, it seems that currently there is no evidence, that interventions based on the Proprioceptive Neuro-muscular Facilitation (PNF) are more effective than other approaches. One Study done by Ruth Dickstein on PNF vs. Bobath concluded that PNF exercise given in conjunction with Bobath technique are more effective in improving wrist strength and upper limb function than giving PNF alone. But the outcomes used in these studies are ordinal rating scales, which may not be sensitive enough to differentiate the effect of the two techniques. The number of subjects recruited for these studies is very less. We cannot come to conclusion on the effect of PNF in upper limb function with these less number of studies. Stroke patients may vary widely on factors such as physical impairments, speech impairments, severity of impairments, cognitive impairments, and also in the individual personality and learning styles. So, we cannot assume that this PNF technique is superior to all other techniques, because we cannot say this technique can be used in individuals with stroke and at every stage of recovery. For example one approach may be effective in initial stage of stroke, but the same approach may not be effective for chronic stroke patients. Factors such as depression, spatial awareness, cognition, comprehension and sensory loss could also have an impact on the response of a technique. In most of the studies there is no exact clinical finding about the problem, size of lesion and the site of lesion. Characteristics of the lesion may explain the variability in responsiveness to the intervention. There is no ideal timing of the interventions, whether the technique should be given in the initial stage or late stage of stroke. In this review on the effect of PNF in upper limb function in stroke, evidence on the current practice is lacking. Because of the lack of evidence on current practice it is very difficult to make a conclusion. Evidence of support and treatment used in these articles is not standard to use in todays health care practice. It is suggested that further studies comparing the effect of PNF with other approaches using sensitive, reliable outcome measures and with homogenous sample size should be done. Therefore it is important that future studies clarify the analysis and interventions used within the PNF technique to enable accurate evaluation of the study. No studies on this review assessed the efficacy and the effectiveness adequately, so further studies should be done to get an effective and optimal approach in the rehabilitation of upper limb function in stroke patients.