Gary finished the challenging NY Times Sunday crossword puzzle in less than thirty minutes. When done, he tossed the magazine onto the coffee table and put his feet up, leaning back on the couch. Kate entered the living room just then, amused to see her long-time partner with a look of satisfaction on his face.
"What's up?" She asked. "Win the lottery?"
Gary grinned, and then shrugged. "I might as well have," he said, "I finished the puzzle in record time, and I'm married to the best-looking woman on the block."
"Just on the block?" she replied, in mock distress. "That's a pretty low bar!"
"You're right! Please forgive me," Gary said, contritely. "You're the best-looking woman in the whole subdivision."
Kate laughed at the joke. She sat down at the other end of the couch. "So, you have any plans for today?"
Gary smiled. "Well, I thought I might read up a bit on hypnosis. I thought that comedy-hypnosis show last night was pretty interesting."
Kate smirked. "I mean, it was funny, I'll give you that. But those people were all faking. It was so obvious. After a while that gets kind of old, don't you think?"
"Not in the least. You faked it pretty well!" Gary asked.
Kate looked at him with confusion. "What do you mean?"
"When you went up on stage with the hypnotist, you had everyone fooled." Gary repeated.
"What are you talking about, Gary. I didn't go up on stage." Kate said, with a dismissive tone.
"Yeah. You did." Gary replied. "You went up on the stage. He spent ten minutes working on you and another woman. Don't you remember?"
Kate scowled. "Yeah right. Dream on."
Gary continued, "And after you were under, whenever he said the word 'pullum', you both acted like chickens: clucking for all you were worth! But you were just playing along, right?" Gary asked.
"You have such a vivid imagination, Gary" Kate said, shaking her head.
Gary gazed at her intently. After ten years of marriage he felt like he knew her well enough to know when she was lying. And to him she seemed sincere.
"I'm telling you, Kate, you went up on stage, got hypnotized, and flapped your arms and clucked across the stage." Gary said emphatically. "I thought you were just faking it. You mean you really can't remember?"
Kate furrowed her brow. "Get out of town!"
"He did say you were supposed to forget the whole experience of being hypnotized, so I guess it makes sense that you don't remember." Gary said, suspiciously. "Before he woke you up he brought me and the other husband up onto the stage. He told us he would make you forget being hypnotized. Then we all left the stage and sat back down and he woke you up."
"Good try, Gary," Kate chuckled. "But I call 'bullshit.'" She smiled, "I did enjoy the show though. That hypnotist had a great sense of humor."
"That he did." Gary agreed.
The thing was, she had gone on stage with the other woman. She had stood still while Dr. Facinare had worked his hypnotic magic. And she had clucked like a chicken at his command. Gary knew all this. He thought she had just been playing along. But now he wondered whether she really didn't remember.
Of course, that would mean she also didn't remember the rest of the show, or the exchange that Dr. Facinare had had with the husbands who came on stage to retrieve their hypnotized spouses.
After ushering the husbands to the stage, Dr. Facinare turned them toward the audience and announced that their spouses would continue to cluck like a chicken every time someone said 'pullum', even after the show ended, unless their husbands tipped him. The other husband laughed, shook his head, and said he'd enjoy having his wife do that for company. Gary, who was sure his wife was just pretending, decided to play along. So, he reached into his wallet and pulled out two twenties. Handing them to Dr. Fascinare, he said, "No more clucking for my wife, please!"
The hypnotist then shook Gary's hand and sent the other woman and her husband back to their seats. He brought Gary over to Kate, who was standing mesmerized nearby on the stage. Kate was on Gary's right side, and Dr. Facinare on his left side. Dr. Facinare turned toward Kate, and said, so the whole audience could hear: "You will no longer cluck like a chicken at the command 'pullum'. But instead, you will from now on respond to the command 'nudus profugit' from your husband. Whenever he says 'nudus profugit', you will take off whatever clothes you have on. You will not feel the least bit shy. You will stay naked until he says 'vestiet'. At that point, you will put back on whatever clothes you took off. Do you understand?"
"Yes. Dr. Facinare. I understand," Kate said flatly.
The audience cheered wildly.
Dr. Facinare tuned to Gary. "Shall we try it out now?"
Gary' eyes widened. He glanced at Kate, but saw no reaction: she continued to stare forward blankly. Would she really keep up this charade and take off her clothes on stage in front of all of these people? He was tempted to test her resolve. He knew she would never strip down to her birthday suit in public in front of hundreds of strangers (all with cell phone cameras!), but he knew also that she was something of a closet exhibitionist, and might just push things to get a thrill and to call his bluff.
"Thanks, but no." Gary said. "I'll save it for later!"
The crowd jeered and booed.
But then the jeering stopped as the hypnotist raised his right hand to silence them, and put his left hand on Gary's shoulder. "As you wish," the hypnotist said. "But you do remember the commands, right? Especially important is the one to get dressed again! I can't tell you how many times husbands have called me after commanding their wives to take off their clothes, only to realize they had forgotten the reversing command!"
"Vestiet!" Gary said, smiling, "I'll remember."
"And the other command?" Dr. Facinare asked, turning Gary to face him.
"Nudus Profugit", Gary answered.
"Perfect," Dr. Facinare replied. "Now I'm sure you noticed that the crowd took issue with your declining to test out your new powers on stage! I certainly understand, but perhaps you would like to give them just a little entertainment. After all, that's what this show is about!" He paused. " Can't you find it in your heart to try it out ever so briefly? You have the power to stop it at any time. Where is your sense of showmanship? Your wife would understand, I'm sure!"
Gary was looking at the hypnotist, who held a firm grip on his shoulder and held his gaze through this conversation. Consequently, Gary was kept from noticing that behind him, immediately after he had uttered the magic words, his wife had kicked off her shoes and begun to unbutton her blouse. The hypnotist's long-winded persuasion was meant only to distract him! Dr. Facinare continued, saying, "So, are you sure you don't want try out your new powers just a little?"
Gary shook his head, but then noticed that the crowd, instead of jeering, had begun hooting and cheering! By the time that he turned around and broke the hypnotist's hold, his wife had taken off her shirt completely and dropped it to the floor. She was now reaching behind her back to unzip her skirt!
"I said no!" Gary yelled with some urgency as he turned back toward the hypnotist.
"No, I believe you said you said 'Nudus Profugit!'" the hypnotist corrected, winking at the audience as Gary watched his wife's skirt fall to the floor.
Camera flashes were everywhere. Gary at that moment understood that Kate might not be pretending. She was standing nearly naked on a stage in front of a room full of strangers, some who might even be neighbors, and many were snapping pictures of her calmly disrobing. Her face was completely blank as she reached behind her back to undo her lacy white bra. The crowd roared.
