Dr. Laurel set up his equipment in the corner of the padded isolation cell. They moved M. to the padded cell because they were not sure how he would react to the playback of his professional recordings, made before his psychotic break. Early in his confinement, they had him in a padded cell for his own safety, but after some additional, unclear psychic trauma, M. has been placid.
The doctor was well aware the "M.", as he was now known in their notes, had been a renowned psychiatrist before his illness. Dr. Laurel was deeply invested in M.'s case, not only because it was a mystery, but because he had written several papers based on M.'s extraordinary work.
Inspired by the final short story in the slipstream fiction collection, "You Have Never Been Here" by M. Rickert. "You are on the train, considering the tips of your clean fingers against the dirty glass through which you watch the small shapes of bodies, the silhouettes on the street, hurrying past in long coats, clutching briefcases, or there, that one in jeans and a sweater, hunched shoulders beneath a backpack."
"You Have Never Been Here" will disturb your perceptions, which I think is the basic premise of slipstream fiction. I read and reread the ending paragraph because it's so fascinating. Overall, a cool collection of stories that are not quite science fiction nor are they quite "regular" fiction. Worth a try if you like 'em weird!
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