Jerome Bixby

“ Charley said slowly. "I always did sort of think it leveled you off, though."
The young man eyed them soberly.
"In late afternoon," he said, "in the confines of the rustic outhouse, settled happily, hearing the quaint and natural sounds of the insects in the field, the flutterings of birds from branch to branch ... do you know that in this day it is the only waking place where one may flee for the inner life?"
The old men looked down guiltily.
"It is ever a reminder of one's mortality," the young man said.
"It is Man in his true aristocratic state," he said. ”

“ So a lot of people drive through Owensville every week—upwards of two hundred or so. And there's always one or two of them in the mood to spend a little time in a restroom—the last Howard Johnson's is twenty miles back along the Turnpike, and the road down into the valley is a bumpy one besides, and you know what that does to your innards. ”

“ In what other situation can you be so completely alone ... in a perfect isolation not only permitted but sanctioned by your society? Why, humans, I could tell you of the most extraordinary moments of piety, of philosophical reflection, of artistic conception which we have recorded as occurring under such circumstances.... ”

“ At that moment, timelessness descended upon the scene—upon Charley Mason's store, the yard, the outhouse. Timelessness bounded the area from one edge of Charley's yard to the other, and from the road clear to the woods out back; and that timelessness extended downward to a perfect point at the very center of the Earth, and extended upward in a perfect cone to Heaven ”

“ But mostly they'd get into their car and drive off maybe a little faster'n they would've ordinarily.
If it was a woman, it was five times as funny. Because some of the older men were always sitting around on the porch of Charley's store playing pinochle, or lounging down by the bridge just talking, and when the woman would come out they'd all grin at her and those who had mustaches might twiddle them a bit, and she'd get redder'n a bushel of tomatoes.
Women drove off faster'n anybody, usually.
Some townspeople said it wasn't a very good way to advertise Owensville to passersby. ”

“ The young man's calm eyes looked into the minds of the three old men on the porch, and saw no evidence there of lewd or lascivious thoughts of the magnitude reported by the fat lady in her prayer. This did not surprise him, for exaggeration is the backbone of prayer, and the Heavenly Workers are used to it. ”

“ Charley Mason and Sam Knudson were sitting on the store porch playing gin, and Luke Yates was just coming up the steps, when they heard a car approaching.
Charley and Sam paused in their game and Luke turned his gray head to look.
"Maybe this time," Charley said.
Luke Yates studied the dust cloud moving toward town above the tops of the trees.
"Coming pretty fast," he said. "Bet they drive right on through."
"A dollar," said Charley. "You bounce harder when you drive fast." ”