Jerry Sohl

“ I closed my eyes, forced my mind back to the luggage compartment, spent a frantic moment before I found the bag again. I had to stop that balance wheel, just as I stopped my alarm clock every morning. I tried to close everything off—the throb of engines, the rush of air, the woman sipping coffee noisily beside me—and I went into the clock and surrounded the seesawing wheel. ”

“ I ran to the entrance and nearly collided with the redcap.
"See anybody go out of here with a little red bag and an old battered suitcase?"
"Bag? Suitcase?" he mumbled. Then he became excited. "Why, a man just stepped out of here—" He turned to look down the street. "That's him." ”

“ The girl thanked him, picked it up, glanced at me indifferently, and then started for the entrance with it.
"Just a moment," I found myself saying, grabbing my bag and hurrying after her.
At her side and a little ahead of her, I said, "Listen to me."
She looked annoyed and increased her stride toward the door.
"It's a matter of life or death," I said. I wanted to wrest the bag from her and hurl it out through the doorway into the street, but I restrained myself.
She stopped and stared. I noticed a short, fat man in a rumpled suitcoat and unpressed pants staring, too. ”