 Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you... Escape! Designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure. You are standing in inky blackness looking up a long flight of stairs at the top of which looks something unbelievably evil. While in the moving shadows behind you coming closer to you is the shadowy figure of something that could only come from a nightmare. Listen now, as Escape brings you Anthony Ellis' terrifying story, I saw myself running. Who threw the magazine section, sweetie? No, it's all right. Here. Well, what if you're not through it? No, you'll have it. Thanks. Want a woman's page? No, thanks. Buddy. I had the strangest dream last night. Huh? Anybody we know? Don't be funny. If you stop reading for a minute, I'll tell you about it. Okay. I was scared. Oh, why didn't you wake me up? Why? Wouldn't have done any good. It's the funniest thing. It was a nightmare, I guess. You know the kind where you see yourself running away from something or from somebody? Too much beer. I want to ask you. It's very important. What darling? Do you notice how sometimes in a dream everything is happening to you and then suddenly you find yourself standing there watching it, watching yourself, and you say to yourself, it's a dream and I don't have to be frightened because in a minute I'll wake up. Well, I guess so. Something like that, I guess. Well, last night, a lot of other nights, Freddie, it's been different. It starts the same way, like any other dream, I suppose, but then I'm running away. Somebody I don't know is following me and then there are two of us, both me, running. Coffee still hot? Freddie. Honey, I don't know anything about dreams. If you're asking me what I think it means, I don't know. Offhand, I'd say that last bottle of beer. Coffee. Thanks. Freddie. Nothing. How do you explain a dream? You don't. You can't. At first it frightened you and then as the morning passes it fades and by lunchtime, forgotten. Freddie and I went to bed early that night. I think I was a little surprised when it began again. I didn't realize I was asleep yet, but it was there. The same as the last time. A face, only a face, not unkind, not anything. And it was so far away. Around it was a piece of cardboard with circles drawn on it. The face in the center and it went round and round. First toning a dot and then it came closer and the noise came with it. Everything was spinning so much it made me dizzy, but I could always see it right side up. It was very close to me and the face was somebody I'd never seen before. It was a man, I think, and I knew that he didn't care and I wanted to cry. Then it was gone. I was alone in a big hall and I thought I'd seen the place before, but I couldn't have done it because I knew it was only a dream. Even then I knew I was dreaming because I could see myself. There was a wide staircase going up into a dark place that was higher than any place I'd ever seen. I was at the foot of the stairs, looking up, and my face was frightened. I saw myself open my mouth to say something, to call upstairs into the dark. I don't come down, please don't! I don't want to see you! But I'd never heard myself before, not really. I'd always thought I'd said things in dreams, but not this way, not so that I really heard. And the voice wasn't my own. I found myself looking up the staircase with her, and there were two of us standing next to each other, touching. I could feel her hand. It was warm. I don't! You mustn't come down! Who is it? I don't know, Susan. I never know. But it's up there, in the shadows. It's too dark, I can't see anything. What does it look like? Well listen, you can hear it. I'm afraid it'll come down soon and I'll try to run, but I won't be able to get away. It's always the same! This is a dream. It's a dream. I'm having a dream. I can wake up now, if I want to. I'll be here alone then. You always leave me here alone? That's silly. How can I leave you alone when you're me? It's only a dream. I can wake up now. Oh no, you've got to stay this time. Look up there. It'll be coming down in a minute. We'll have to run. I won't run. I always do. I have to. No, I want to see it. It'll kill you if you stay. How do you know? You haven't even seen it. It'll kill me too. I'm afraid. This is a dream. There's nothing to be afraid of. It's coming down! Run! We ran, both of us. And all this time and all my dreams, that girl I'd seen hadn't been me at all. And then the Great Hawn's staircase weren't there. We were in a lovely garden. And it was very quiet except for a single bird. And it sang strangely and sadly. Why do you dream? That's a silly question. Everybody dreams. If you didn't dream, I wouldn't have to be here. I wouldn't be afraid all the time. There's nothing to be afraid of. It's warm. So peaceful. Look at the roses. And the caterpillars. I'm afraid of caterpillars. I used to be. I'm not anymore. I'm still afraid of them. I remember the first time you dreamed of them. You'd been frightened when one crawled on your hand. You were very small then. That's the first time I had to be afraid of them. That was a long time ago. I don't mind them now. I do. I mind everything you think you've forgotten. Look, there's one crawling on my shoe. Will you squash the caterpillar? I can't. I'm afraid. All right. What is this place? It's an airplane. I've never been in an airplane before. I know. I'm afraid of them. I'll fall out. And there'll be such a long time for me to know that I'm going to die. I don't want to fall. Hold on to me. You won't fall. It's only a dream. You see, Freddie's the pilot. And he can't fly. I know he can't. You keep saying that. What? It's only a dream. It doesn't matter to you. You can wake up. I can't. I have to stay. I have to live with this all the time. Where are we going? I don't know. Look, the plane's breaking out. We're going to fall. We're going to fall now. It'll be all right. We've got our parachutes on. I know. You have to count to three or ten and then pull the ring. I've seen them do it in the movies. It'll be all right. We'll jump. No, I can't. I can't. Floating sensation. I had no idea we were so high. I've got to count to ten and pull the ring. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Nine, ten. I can't find it. It's all right. You're okay now. It was a nightmare. Turn on the light. Falling. I fell out of an airplane. I was going to die. Oh, darling. It was that TV show we watched. It's all right. I love you. You don't have to be afraid. You're right here. Everything's fine and it's nearly four o'clock. Emma, you climb in with me. Freddie, I don't want to dream anymore. I'm afraid. It was like last night. The other nights. But words. Freddie, look at me. Do I sound the same? Do I sound the same? There's two of us. When I go to sleep, when I dream, there's another woman there. That's who I've been seeing all these years. It's not me. It's someone else. She's there all the time. Freddie, I don't want to dream anymore. Something's going to happen. I'm afraid. Back to escape. Freddie took me to the doctor. And I tried to tell him about the dreams. And when I finished, he examined me. Tested my heart. Blood pressure. Then he said, Susan, you're tired. That's what the matter with you. I haven't been doing anything to be tired. Really, I haven't. You're overwrought. It could be a vitamin deficiency, any number of little things, but it's not serious. You're in good shape. Now what you need is to get away for a few days. I feel all right. It's just that dream. The girl, the one who looks like me. I want you to forget about that dream. It's only because you're tired that you have the dream in the first place. Now, I'm going to give you a sedative to take just before going to bed. A few nights, good sleep. You'll be fit as a fiddle. I don't want a dream anymore. That's all. He patted me on the arm, smiling. Freddy smiled. And I took the little box of sedative pills home with me. I couldn't tell them. I couldn't make them understand. It wasn't just a dream. It was something that was happening, really happening. And that night, I decided that I wouldn't sleep. I'd stay awake. And if I was awake, I couldn't dream. After Freddy was asleep, I got up and went into the living room. I got a new library book and I began to read. It was 11 o'clock then. Oh, he must have. I almost did. I wish we had something to make me stay awake. This is silly. I'm a grown woman. Why should I behave like a child? But I'm afraid. Who is she? That girl. It's not a dream. And because it's not, I'm not going to sleep. I'm not. I'm not. The more time it gets late, the easier it's life. I'll read some more. Make some coffee. At 7 o'clock, I got back into bed and pretended to still be asleep when Freddy got up. I heard him making coffee, then he came back in, kissed me, left for the office. Somehow I stayed awake the whole day. I tried to buy something that the drugstore stopped me from sleeping, but they wouldn't give it to me without a prescription. And then Freddy called to say he had to entertain some out-of-town people that night. After that, I had to lie down on the living room couch because I felt sick. It was 8 o'clock. I won't. I won't. I'm not going to go to sleep. I'm not going. I won't. I won't. No, but I don't feel well. I just gotta lie down a little while. But I won't sleep. In a minute, I'll feel all right. And I can get up. In a minute, just a minute. I'll wake up in a minute. There's that big hall again in the staircase. I can see her looking up into the dark. You didn't come last night. I know. I was waiting here. It didn't come down, though. The thing up there. You couldn't have been here. You're only me in a dream. And when I don't dream, you're not here. I'm always here. I have to see the things happen. Things don't really happen in dreams. It's imagination. No, it isn't. Look up there in the dark. It's up there waiting. Soon it'll start to come down. How do you know? It does. And we'll have to run. If we run, we can't see it. Perhaps if we didn't run and we saw it, we wouldn't be afraid anymore. Oh, no. Listen. It's going to come down. I know it is. We won't run. We'll wait for her. I can't. I'm afraid. You and me. I'm not afraid now. You can't be. The darkness, the top of the stairs seem to move. Take shape. And I heard her screaming. I saw myself screaming, but it wasn't my voice. It was the girl I stood next to. And slowly, painfully, she turned away from the stairs and tried to run. It was like a slow motion picture. Her legs moved, but she stayed in the same place. Then the darkness started to come toward us. It swirled down the stairs and there was a figure in it and a face, but the mouth. The face wasn't a mouth at all. It had no form and the face changed and grew bigger, came closer around it. We were standing in a narrow stone passageway. It was cold and damp. And the other girl who wasn't me was holding a gun. We both were. And we looked behind us because around the corner, out of sight, it was following her. I heard the telephone ringing and I couldn't understand how there could be a telephone in that place. I'm tired. I can't run anymore. We'll rest for a minute. I wish somebody would answer the telephone. You do it. It sounds like my telephone. How can it be? Because this is only a dream. And if I wake up, I'll answer it. It's on the table at the end of the couch. I can wake up and answer it. No, you can't. I won't let you. I'm not going to stay here alone. I've got to wake up. You can't now. Well, listen. We've got to run again. It'll catch us now. There's a cold horror behind us. And I ran, following a twisted passageway. And I knew that the telephone had been my last chance. My last chance to wake up. And I hadn't. I couldn't. There's a light ahead. He won't dare to follow us into the light. Are you tired? Are you? No. It's funny how we seem to almost float. I'm not tired at all. I don't think we need the guns now. I'm going to throw mine away. I'm not. I'm afraid of guns. I used to be. I'm not anymore. Wait a minute. Those two men, you see? In the entrance? Yes. I wonder whether they're... Maybe they'll try to stop us from getting out. I've got the gun. Oh, I shouldn't have thrown mine away. We'll be all right. Come on. Hey, Freddie and Dr. Peters. I know. Freddie! Susan! Say where you are, Susan. Don't come any closer. But it's following us. We've got to get out. You'll have to go back. No! Go back into the passage. No! Susan! But I must let me talk to them, Susan. You let me talk to them. I'll take care of it. You'll see. I saw her walk slowly to the entrance to where it was light and no sunshine. And the three of them talked very quietly. I couldn't hear what they were saying but I knew it was about me. And ever so faintly I heard the sound of this thing that was waiting somewhere in the blackness of the passage. She was pointing at me and Freddie was laughing. It has made me angry. So angry that I forgot to be afraid. I ran over to them and as I did so they blocked the entrance linking their arms to keep me back. She's told us all about you, Susan. It's taken a long time to find you out. Stop it! There's no such person. She's me. She's Susan. This is only a dream. I can wake up whenever I want. Stop it! Ask her. She'll tell you. My dear Susan, how can we ask her if you say she doesn't exist? You're tired. Overwrought. Oh, I'm not. You mustn't say that. It isn't true. Please, let me out. I'm cold. I'm afraid. You kept her down here all your life now because you're afraid and cold. You expect us to let you out and make her go back inside. Freddie, it's me. I'm your wife. Freddie! I've always been fair. I want to be fair this time. Oh, yes. We have to be fair. Sue? What do you think? Should we let her out? Oh, no. She'll only wake up and leave me here. I want to wake up this time. Let her stay. You're crazy. She's not Susan. I am. She's nobody. She's in the dream. We have to be fair. We really do. If you only want so tired, so overwrought. I suggest we take a vote. Yes, that's evidently fair. A vote. I think so too. We'll vote yay or nay on the proposition. That's the way it's done at board meetings in my office. Yay or nay. We let her out. Yay? We don't let her out. Nay. Sue? Nay. Doctor? Nay. And I cast my vote. Nay. The vote has been taken and Julie recorded. You can't let him stay here. I won't. I think that you'd better talk to her, Susan. You're a woman. It's better that way. Doctor and I'll wait for you outside. All right. I don't be afraid. You don't have to be afraid now. That comes later when you have to go back into the passage. When I wake up. You can't wake up. Never. You're not alive. I want to tell you something. When I wake up, I'm not going to be like you. I'll never dream ever again. You're going to stay here alone. Just the way you made me do it all your life. You can run. You can run and never be able to escape. But I shan't come here to be with you. Listen. It's waiting for you. Can you hear it? No. Please. Don't make me. Please. It'll get me. Please. It won't get you if you keep running. But you mustn't ever stop. I'm afraid. I'm afraid. Oh, please. Don't make me go back. I'm Susan. I've got to wake up. I think I'll wake up now. Susan. I called you, but there was no answer. I was worried. You all right feeling better? You look better. Say, you know what? I've arranged to take five days off in the office. We'll go up to the mountains. That's what the doctor ordered. How about it? It sounds wonderful, friends. I figure if we... Susan. Yes, darling? Your voice. It sounds funny. My voice? Well, it's me. It's the only voice I've got. But it doesn't sound like you. Are you sure you're... Oh, silly. How can it be me and not sound like me? Oh, you are silly. Give me a kiss. Sus, what's the matter with your voice? You, I saw myself running, written and directed by Anthony Ellis, starring Georgia Ellis as Susan, with Fanny Hill as Sue, featured in the cast with John Stevenson and Edgar Bellier. Editorial supervision is by John Messon, and the central music for the case is composed and conducted by Lee Stevenson. Next week. Next week. So, listen, next week, when a case brings you Anthony Ellis' exciting story, The Trash.