The Reincarnation of Peter Proud Read Online Free

Tree Dream. The Baby Dream. The Prison Dream. The Cotton Mather Dream
.
    He stared into the mirror, and for an instant he saw a face that wasn’t his. X. Or was it?
My God
, he thought.
I must be going psycho
. He shivered.

Chapter 3
    His first appointment was at ten with a couple of graduate students. They wanted to discuss possible subjects for their dissertations. After that, lunch, then one class and one seminar. And, finally, a late appointment at the dentist. A normal, unexciting day.
    The Summit Plaza was a high-rise apartment house of fourteen stories, the top two of which were penthouses. Its name was emblazoned in gilt on a great red awning over the imposing entrance. It had a switchboard staffed around the clock, and there was always a uniformed attendant waiting to park your car in one of the lower garage levels. Peter had a large one-bedroom on the fifth floor, and he drove a Mercedes 450 SL. All of which, of course, was impossible on the salary of an assistant professor and made him an oddity among his colleagues. But Peter was fortunate in that he didn’t have to teach to live.
    He walked into the lobby. The girl at the switchboard, a pudgy, freckle-faced bleached blonde, smiled at him, When she was not taking calls and messages, she alternated between the soap operas on a portable television stand next to the switchboard and a book on astrology, Right now, Peter noted, it was astrology,
    “Good morning, Dr. Proud.”
    “Morning, Edna.”
    They played their usual little game.
    “What’s my horoscope for today, love?”
    “Let’s see. You’re a Libra. Right?”
    “Right.”
    She knew his sign by heart, but she always asked anyway. She screwed up her face, concentrating.
    “Let me think. This is December. The sun transits your solar fourth house. Uranus and Pluto continue their slow transit of your solar second house.” She opened the book, found the page. “ ‘Uranus, ruler of your solar house of true love, makes it possible to seek and find romantic episodes that transform your life into colorful and lively events.’ ” She looked up at him and smiled. “I’ll bet I know who.”
    He grinned. “I’ll bet you do, too.”
    She went back to her book. Then her face clouded as she studied the page.
    “Oh-oh. There’s more.”
    “Yes?”
    “ ‘However,’ ” she read, “ ‘there may be trouble for you ahead today. Unexpected events. Disturbances. Your planetary influences advise against your usual daily activities. It is better to stay home today, rest quietly, read, sleep, meditate.’ ”
    “Oh, fine,” he said.
    She stared at him, concerned. “I really don’t think you ought to go out today.”
    “Got to, Edna. I have appointments, classes, things like that.
    “Can’t you cancel them?”
    “No. No way.”
    “Then be careful. Please. Watch out when you drive.”
    “Thanks, Edna. I’ll do that. It’s sweet of you to warn me.” He took the elevator down to the garage.
    Crazy. She really believes that stuff
.
    His car was already on the ramp. He waved at the attendant and drove off.
    Moving up Sunset, he tried to figure out what it all meant.
    Why was he getting these weird hallucinations? Who was X? Was somebody trying to tell him something? Up to this point there had been nothing particularly eventful in his life. Oh, he had had the usual childhood and adolescent problems, but they were the normal kind. He had never thought of himself as a neurotic, andpeople told him he was mature for his age. Put it all together, he reflected, and the life and times of Peter Proud had been fairly cut and dried. No big waves. No particular crisis.
    He’d been born in Los Angeles and had lived there all his life. His parents had named him Peter, and he was sensitive about the name. Peter Proud. It sounded like something out of Mother Goose, and people were always making little jokes about it. His friends called him Pete. He was a descendant of an old California family. His father, John