The Key to Midnight

proverbial salesman who tries to sell refrigerators to the Eskimos. Because they live in a society that values tradition, teaches meditation, and encourages a code of etiquette and mutual respect, my people are generally at peace with themselves.' With typical Japanese modesty, Inamura said, 'While some colleagues might be so kind as to say I am moderately successful in my profession, I nevertheless have open appointments every day. Believe me, Miss Rand, you are not an inconvenience. Quite the opposite. It is an honor to provide treatment for you.'
        She inclined her head toward the doctor. 'It is a privilege to be your patient, Isha-san. J
        'You regard me too highly, Joanna-san.'
        'As you do me.'
        'Shall we begin now?'
        'Yes, please.' She tried to appear calm, but a tremor in her voice betrayed her fear.
        Alex put his hand on her arm. 'It'll be okay.'
        After picking up a remote control from the coffee table, the doctor rose from his chair and came around the table, soundless on the thick carpet. He stood by Joanna's chair. 'Lean back, please. Relax. Put your hands in your lap with the palms up. Very good.'
        He pointed the remote control at the tapestry, and the room lights, although not bright to begin with, slowly dimmed. Like cautious predators, shadows crept out of the corners.
        'Ahhhhh,' Freud said softly and appreciatively from his brass cage. 'Ahhhhh.'
        The vanes of the highly lacquered pine shutters had previously glimmered with a liquid amber luminescence, but now they faded into gloom. Only the tapestry remained clearly revealed - and in the altered light it was transformed. It appeared to be mysteriously illuminated from within, and in spite of the stylized and idealized nature of the scene, it acquired such a strong aspect of reality that it almost seemed to be a view from a window.
        'Look straight ahead,' Inamura told Joanna. 'Do you see the lovely tapestry on the wall?'
        'Yes.'
        'Do you see the river in the tapestry?'
        'Yes.'
        'Do you see the small boats?'
        'I see them.'
        The tapestry light was subtly cycling up and down on a rheostat, within a narrow range of brightness: an hypnotic pulse.
        'Concentrate on those boats, Joanna. Look closely at those little boats. Imagine yourself on one of them. You are standing on the deck. Water is lapping at the hull. Lapping gently at the hull. The water makes a soothing, rhythmic sound. The boat sways in the current. Gently. Gently. The boat sways gently in the water. Can you feel it swaying?'
        'Yes,' Joanna said.
        Alex looked away from the tapestry and blinked rapidly. Omi Inamura's voice was so remarkably mellow and entrancing that Alex actually had felt the sway of the boat and had heard the faintest lapping of water.
        Joanna continued to stare straight ahead.
        'The boat is like a baby's cradle.' Inamura's voice grew even softer and more intimate than it had been at the start. 'It rocks gently, gently like a cradle. Gently like a cradle, rocking, rocking. Putting the baby to sleep. If you feel your eyes getting heavy now, you may close them.'
        Joanna closed her eyes.
        The tapestry light stopped pulsing.
        'Now I'm going to tilt your chair back slightly,' Inamura said. 'To help you relax.'
        Pointing the remote control at her, he touched another button, and her armchair changed positions until it was halfway between being a chair and a couch.
        'Now I want you to think of your forehead, Joanna. You are frowning. Your forehead is lined. It should be smooth. As smooth as glass. You will relax. I will touch you, and those lines will vanish.'
        He placed his fingertips on her forehead, on her eyelids. The lines in her brow did, indeed, vanish.
        'Joanna, you're clenching your teeth. I want you to relax the muscles in your face.'
        He lightly pressed his fingertips to her left temple, her right temple, her cheekbones, her chin. His touch was magical, smoothing away all visible signs of her anxiety.
        'And now your neck… relax your neck muscles… now your left shoulder… very relaxed… your right shoulder… both arms… so very relaxed… deeper… deeper… your abdomen and your hips… limp… no tension… relaxed… and now your legs, your feet… even into your toes, all relaxed, totally and wonderfully relaxed. You feel as if you are