Myth 08 – Myth-Nomers by Aspirin, Robert

fervent. There was no sign of habitation on any of the halls

I passed, and the way the stairs creaked and groaned under

me, I wasn’t at all sure I wasn’t heading into a condemned

area of the building.

Just when I was about to yield to my fears and retreat to

the ground floor, the stairs ended. The apartment I was

looking for was right across the hall from where I stood,

so I had little choice but to proceed. Raising my hand, I

knocked gently, afraid that anything more violent might

trigger a catastrophic chain reaction.

“Come in! It’s open!”

Summoning my courage, I let myself in.

The place was both tiny and jammed with clutter. I had

the impression one could reach out one’s arms and touch

174 Robert Asprin

the opposing walls simultaneously. In fact, I had to fight

against the impulse to do exactly that, as the walls and their

contents appeared to be on the brink of caving in. I think

it was then I discovered that I was mildly claustrophobic.

“So you’re a friend of that no-account Aahzmandius. I

knew he’d come to no good, but I never dreamed he’d sink

so low as to hang around with a Klahd.”

This last was uttered by what had to be Aahz’s mother. . .

it had to be because she was the only person in the room

besides myself! My eye had passed over her at first, she

was so much a part of the apartment, but once she drew

my attention, she seemed to dominate the entire environ . . .

if not the whole dimension.

Remember when I said that Pookie was one of two types

of females I had noted on Perv? Well, Aahz’s mother was