Latest / Crystal Crypt, the & Beyond the Door / 04 - Crystal Crypt, the & Beyond the Door by Philip K. Dick

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04 - Crystal Crypt, the & Beyond the Door by Philip K. Dick · Crystal Crypt, the & Beyond the Door

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Beyond the Door by Philip kay Dick. This LibriVox recording
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: is in the public domain. That night, at the dinner table,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: he brought it out and set it down beside her plate.
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  Speaker 1: Doris stared at it, her hand to her mouth. My god,
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  Speaker 1: what is it? She looked up at him, bright eyed.
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  Speaker 1: Well open it. Doris tore the ribbon in paper from
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  Speaker 1: the square package with her sharp nails, her bosom rising
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: and falling. Larry stood watching her as she lifted the lid.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: He lit a cigarette and leaned against the wall. A
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  Speaker 1: cuckoo clock, Doris cried, A real old cuckoo clock, like
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  Speaker 1: my mother had. She turned the clock over and over,
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  Speaker 1: just like my mother had when Pete was still alive.
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  Speaker 1: Her eyes sparkled with tears. It's made in Germany, Larry said.
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  Speaker 1: After a moment, he added, Carl got it from me wholesale.
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  Speaker 1: He knows some guy in the clock business. Otherwise I
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  Speaker 1: wouldn't have He stopped. Doris made a funny little sound.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to afford it.
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  Speaker 1: He scowled. What's the matter with you? You've got your clock,
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  Speaker 1: haven't you. Isn't that what you want? Doris sat holding
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  Speaker 1: on to the clock, her fingers pressed against the brown
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  Speaker 1: wood well. Larry said, what's the matter? He watched in
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  Speaker 1: amazement as she leaped up and ran from the room,
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  Speaker 1: still clutching the clock. He shook his head, never satisfied.
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  Speaker 1: They're all that way, Never get enough. He sat down
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  Speaker 1: at the table and finished his meal. The cuckoo clock
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  Speaker 1: was not very large. It was handmade, however, and there
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  Speaker 1: were countless frets on it, little indentations and ornaments scored
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  Speaker 1: in the soft wood. Doris sat on the bed, drying
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  Speaker 1: her eyes and winding the clock. She set the hands
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  Speaker 1: by her wristwatch. Presently, she carefully moved the hand to
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: two minutes of ten. She carried the clock over to
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  Speaker 1: the dresser and propped it up. Then she sat waiting,
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  Speaker 1: her hands twisted together in her lap, waiting for the
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  Speaker 1: cuckoo to come out for the hour to strike. As
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: she sat, she thought about Larry and what he had said,
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: and what she had said too, for that matter, not
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  Speaker 1: that she could be blamed for any of it. After all,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: she couldn't keep listening to him forever without defending herself.
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  Speaker 1: You had to blow your own trumpet in the world
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  Speaker 1: She touched her handkerchief to her eyes suddenly. Why did
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  Speaker 1: he have to say that about getting it wholesale? Why
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  Speaker 1: did he have to spoil it all? If he felt
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  Speaker 1: that way, he needn't have got it in the first place.
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  Speaker 1: She clenched her fists. He was so mean, so damn mean.
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  Speaker 1: But she was glad of a little clock sitting there,
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  Speaker 1: ticking to itself with its funny grilled edges, and the door.
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  Speaker 1: Inside the door was the cuckoo waiting to come out?
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  Speaker 1: Was he listening his head cocked on one side, listening
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  Speaker 1: to hear the clock strike so that he would know
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  Speaker 1: to come out? Did he sleep between ours? Well, she
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  Speaker 1: would soon see him, she would ask him, and she
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  Speaker 1: would show the clock to Bob. He would love it.
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  Speaker 1: Bob loved old things, even old stamps and buttons. He
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  Speaker 1: liked to go with her to the stores. Of course,
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  Speaker 1: it was a little awkward, but Larry had been staying
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  Speaker 1: at the office so much, and that helped, if only
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  Speaker 1: Larry didn't call up sometimes too. There was a whirr,
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  Speaker 1: the clock shuddered, and all at once the door opened.
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  Speaker 1: The cuckoo came out, sliding swiftly. He paused and looked
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  Speaker 1: around solemnly scrutinizing her, the room, the furniture. It was
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  Speaker 1: the first time he had seen her, she realized, Smiling
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  Speaker 1: to herself in pleasure, she stood up, coming toward him shyly.
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  Speaker 1: Go on, she said, I'm waiting. The cuckoo opened his bill.
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  Speaker 1: He whirred and chirped quickly rhythmically. Then after a moment
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  Speaker 1: of contemplation, he retired, and the door snapped shut. She
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  Speaker 1: was delighted. She clapped her hands and spun in a
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  Speaker 1: little circle. He was marvelous, perfect, and the way he
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  Speaker 1: had looked around, studying her, sizing her up. He liked her,
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  Speaker 1: She was certain of it, and she of course loved
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  Speaker 1: him at once completely. He was just what she had
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  Speaker 1: hoped would come out of the little door. Doris went
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  Speaker 1: to the clock. She bent over the little door, her
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  Speaker 1: lips close to the wood. Do you hear me? She whispered.
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  Speaker 1: I think you're the most wonderful cuckoo in the world.
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  Speaker 1: She paused, embarrassed. I hope you'll like it here. Then
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  Speaker 1: she went downstairs again, slowly, her head high. Larry and
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  Speaker 1: the cuckoo clock really never got along well from the start.
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  Speaker 1: Doris said it was because he didn't wind it right,
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  Speaker 1: and it didn't like being only half wound all the time.
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  Speaker 1: Larry turned the job of winding over to her. The
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  Speaker 1: cuckoo came out every quarter hour and ran the spring
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  Speaker 1: down without remorse, and someone had to be ever after
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  Speaker 1: it winding it up again. Doris did her best, but
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  Speaker 1: she forgot a good deal of the time. Then Larry
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  Speaker 1: would throw his newspaper down with an elaborate, weary motion
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  Speaker 1: and stand up. He would go into the dining room,
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  Speaker 1: where the clock was mounted on the wall over the fireplace.
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  Speaker 1: He would take the clock down, and, making sure that
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  Speaker 1: he had his thumb over the little door, he would
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  Speaker 1: wind it up. Why do you put your thumb over
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  Speaker 1: the door, Doris asked, Once you're supposed to, She raised
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  Speaker 1: an eyebrow. Are you sure? I wonder if it is
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: that you don't want him to come out while you're
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  Speaker 1: standing so close? Why not? Maybe you're afraid of him?
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  Speaker 1: Larry laughed. He put the clock back on the wall
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  Speaker 1: and gingerly removed his thumb. When Doris wasn't looking, he
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  Speaker 1: examined his thumb. There was still a trace of the
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  Speaker 1: nick cut out of the soft part of it. Who
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  Speaker 1: or what had pecked at him. One Saturday morning, when
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  Speaker 1: Larry was down at the office working over some important
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  Speaker 1: special accounts, Bob Chambers came to the front porch and
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  Speaker 1: rang the bell. Doris was taking a quick shower. She
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  Speaker 1: dried herself and slipped into her robe. When she opened
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  Speaker 1: the door, Bob stepped inside, grinning, Hi, he said, looking around,
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  Speaker 1: it's all right, Larry's at the office. Fine. Bob gazed
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  Speaker 1: at her slim legs below the hem of the robe.
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  Speaker 1: How nice you look to day, she laughed. Be careful.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe I shouldn't let you win after all. They looked
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  Speaker 1: at one another, half amused, half frightened. Presently, Bob said,
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  Speaker 1: if you want, I'll know. For God's sake, She caught
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  Speaker 1: hold of his sleeve. Just get out of the doorway
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  Speaker 1: so I can close it. Missus Peters across the street.
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  Speaker 1: You know. She closed the door, and I want to
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  Speaker 1: show you something, She said, you haven't seen it. He
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  Speaker 1: was interested, an antique or what. She took his arm,
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  Speaker 1: leading him toward the dining room. You love it, Bobby,
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  Speaker 1: she stopped, whine eyed. I hope you will. You must,
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  Speaker 1: you must love it. It means so much to me.
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  Speaker 1: He means so much. He bob frowned. Who is he?
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  Speaker 1: Doris laughed, you're jealous. Come on. A moment later, they
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  Speaker 1: stood before the clock, looking up at it. He'll come
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  Speaker 1: out in a few minutes. Wait until you see him.
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  Speaker 1: I know you two will get along just fine. And
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  Speaker 1: what does Larry think of him? They don't like each other.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes when Larry's here, he won't come out. Larry gets
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  Speaker 1: mad if he doesn't come out on time, he says,
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  Speaker 1: says what. Doris looked down. He always says he's been robbed,
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  Speaker 1: even if he did get it wholesale. She brightened. But
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  Speaker 1: I know he won't come out because he doesn't like Larry.
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  Speaker 1: When I'm here alone, he comes right out for me
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  Speaker 1: every fifteen minutes, even though he really only has to
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  Speaker 1: come out on the hour. She gazed up at the clock.
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  Speaker 1: He comes out for me because he wants to We talk.
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  Speaker 1: I tell him things. Of course, I'd like to have
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  Speaker 1: him upstairs in my room, but he wouldn't be right.
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  Speaker 1: There was the sound of footsteps on the front porch.
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  Speaker 1: They looked at each other horrified. Larry pushed the front
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  Speaker 1: door open, grunting. He set his briefcase down and took
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: off his hat. Then he saw Bob for the first time. Chambers,
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  Speaker 1: I'll be damned. His eyes narrowed. What are you doing here?
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  Speaker 1: He came into the dining room. Doris drew her robe
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  Speaker 1: about her, helplessly, backing away. I Bob began, that is we,
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  Speaker 1: he broke off, glancing at Doris. Suddenly, the clock began
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  Speaker 1: to whir. The cuckoo came rushing out, bursting into sound.
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  Speaker 1: Larry moved toward him. Shut that din off, he said.
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  Speaker 1: He raised his fist toward the clock. The cuckoo snapped
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  Speaker 1: into silence and retreated. The door closed. That's better, Larry studied,
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  Speaker 1: Doris and Bob, standing mutely together. I came over to
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  Speaker 1: look at the clock, Bob said. Doris told me that
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  Speaker 1: it's a rare antique and that nuts I bought it myself.
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  Speaker 1: Larry walked up to him. Get out of here, He
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  Speaker 1: turned to Doris, you too, and take that damn clock
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  Speaker 1: with you, he paused, rubbing his chin. No leave the
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  Speaker 1: clock here, It's mine. I bought it and paid for it.
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  Speaker 1: In the weeks that followed, after Doris left, Larry and
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  Speaker 1: the cuckoo clock got along even worse than before. For
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  Speaker 1: one thing. The cuckoo stayed inside most of the time,
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  Speaker 1: sometimes even at twelve o'clock, when he should have been busiest,
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  Speaker 1: and if he did come out at all, he usually
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  Speaker 1: spoke only once or twice, never the correct number of times.
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  Speaker 1: And there was a sullen, uncooperative note in his voice,
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  Speaker 1: a jarring sound that made Larry uneasy and a little angry.
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  Speaker 1: But he kept the clock wound because the house was
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  Speaker 1: very still and quiet, and it got on his nerves
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  Speaker 1: not to hear some one running around talking and dropping things,
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  Speaker 1: and even the whirring of a clock sounded good to him.
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  Speaker 1: But he didn't like the cuckoo at all, and sometimes
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  Speaker 1: he spoke to him. Listen, he said late one night,
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  Speaker 1: to the closed little door. I ought to give you
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  Speaker 1: back to the Germans, back to the black forest. He
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: paced back and forth. I wonder what they're doing now,
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  Speaker 1: the two of them, that young punk, with his books
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  Speaker 1: and his antiques. A man shouldn't be interested in antiques.
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  Speaker 1: That's for women. He set his jaw. Isn't that right?
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  Speaker 1: The clock said nothing. Larry walked up in front of it.
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  Speaker 1: Isn't that right, he demanded, Don't you have anything to say?
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  Speaker 1: He looked at the face of the clock. It was
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  Speaker 1: almost eleven, just a few seconds before the hour. All right,
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  Speaker 1: I'll wait until eleven. Then I want to hear what
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  Speaker 1: you have to say. You've been pretty quiet the last
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  Speaker 1: few weeks since she left, he grinned Riley. Maybe you
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  Speaker 1: don't like it here since she's gone. He scowled. Well,
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  Speaker 1: I paid for you, and you're coming out, whether you
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  Speaker 1: like it or not. You hear me. Eleven o'clock came
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  Speaker 1: far off at the end of the town. The great
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  Speaker 1: tower clock boomed sleepily to itself, but the little door
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  Speaker 1: remained shut. Nothing moved. The minute hand passed on, and
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  Speaker 1: the cuckoo did not stir. He was some place inside
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  Speaker 1: the clock, beyond the door, silent and remote. All right,
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  Speaker 1: if that's the way you feel, Larry murmured, his lips twisting.
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  Speaker 1: But it isn't fair. It's your job to come out.
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  Speaker 1: We all have to do things we don't like. He
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  Speaker 1: went unhappily into the kitchen and opened the great gleaming refrigerator.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: As he poured himself a drink, he thought about the clock.
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  Speaker 1: There was no doubt about it. The cuckoo should come out.
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  Speaker 1: Doris are no Doris. He had always liked her from
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  Speaker 1: the very start. They had got along well, the two
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  Speaker 1: of them. Probably he liked Bob too. Probably he had
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  Speaker 1: seen enough of Bob to get to know him. They
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  Speaker 1: would be quite happy together, Bob and Doris and the cuckoo.
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  Speaker 1: Larry finished his drink. He opened the drawer of the
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  Speaker 1: sink and took out the hammer. He carried it carefully
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  Speaker 1: into the dining room. The clock was ticking gently to
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  Speaker 1: itself on the wall. Look, he said, waving the hammer.
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  Speaker 1: You know what I have here. You know what I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to do with it. I'm going to start on
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  Speaker 1: you first, he smiled. Birds of a feather, that's what
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  Speaker 1: you are, the three of you. The room was silent.
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  Speaker 1: Are you coming out? Or do I have to come
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  Speaker 1: in and get you? The clock worred a little. I
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  Speaker 1: hear you in there. You've got a lot of talking
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  Speaker 1: to do, enough for the last three weeks, as I
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  Speaker 1: figure it, you owe me. The door opened, the cuckoo
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  Speaker 1: came out fast, straight at him. Larry was looking down,
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  Speaker 1: his brow wrinkled in thought. He glanced up, and the
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  Speaker 1: cuckoo taught him squarely in the eye. Down he went,
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  Speaker 1: hammer and chair and everything, hitting the floor with a
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: tremendous crash. For a moment, the cuckoo paused, its small
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: body poised rigidly. Then it went back inside its house.
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  Speaker 1: The door snapped tight shut after it. The man lay
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: on the floor, stretched out grotesquely, his head bent over
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: to one side. Nothing moved or stirred. The room was
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: completely silent, except, of course, for the ticking of the clock.
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  Speaker 1: I see, Doris said, her face tight. Bob put his
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  Speaker 1: arm around her, studying her. Doctor, Bob said, can I
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: ask you something? Of course, the doctor said, is it
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: very easy to break your neck falling from so low
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  Speaker 1: a chair? It wasn't very far to fall. I wonder
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  Speaker 1: if it might not have been an accident. Is there
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  Speaker 1: any chance it might have been suicide? The doctor rubbed
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: his jaw. I never heard of any one committing suicide
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  Speaker 1: that way. It was an accident. I'm positive I don't
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  Speaker 1: mean suicide, Bob murmured under his breath, looking up at
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  Speaker 1: the clock on the wall. I meant something else, but
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: no one heard him. End of Beyond the Door by
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: Philip K. Dick. End of the Crystal Crypt and Beyond
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: the Door by Philip kay Dick. This recording by Phil
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: Schinever bet Rouge, Louisiana, May two thousand twelve,