Imagine walking up a street and having
the sky literally burst open over your head;
imagine invaders pouring down and you have—
Harwood's Vortex
By Robert Silverberg
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy
April 1957
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
The vortex bubbled up out of nowhere, hung shimmering in the air in front of me, glistened and gleamed brightly. There was a whirlpool of twisting currents in the air, and I wavered dizzily for a second or two while the Invaders poured through the newly-created gulf.
Then someone had me by the hand, someone was pulling me away. Leading me inside the house, behind a screen, safe from danger.
I didn't understand what had happened. I was numb with shock, half-blinded by the brightness. I felt Laura near me, and that was all I cared to think about.
After a couple of minutes, I opened my eyes. "What was that?" I asked weakly. "What happened?"
Two minutes before, I had been approaching the Harwood house, impatient to see Laura, untroubled by the world around me. And suddenly—