Outside, the air stung me. Blades of sunlight fell from the sky. Metro led me out of the dark, rotting warehouse. I missed a step and stumbled against him. He reached to block my fall. I held tight.

The fourth wall broke open into a gathering wave of hands clapping. Pools of sweat dotted the stage. The applause showered over me. The dancers stood proud, erect. Then quickly, the fourth wall burst into light, and the room holding us there vanished.

Copyright Page

Copyright © Melvin Dixon, 1991.

All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio, or television reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

I wish to thank the New York Foundation for the Arts for awarding me an Artist Fellowship in fiction which enabled me to complete this novel.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Dixon, Melvin, 1950–1992

Vanishing rooms / by Melvin Dixon.

p. cm.

I. Title.

PS3554.189V36  1991
813’.54-dc2O

90-46191
CIP

eISBN : 978-1-573-44639-6

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.