The Monkey's Paw

In my opinion, Herbert's visions, which were induced by the warmth of the fire and the stories he'd just heard, were nothing more than a form of daydreams..... a waking nightmare. The "simian" face was reflection of what he'd heard. It had no bearing on his fate.

He sat alone in the darkness, gazing at the dying fire, and seeing faces in it. The last was so horrible and so simian that he gazed at it in amazement. It got so vivid that, with a little uneasy laugh, he felt on the table for a glass containing a little water to throw over it. His hand grasped the monkey's paw, and with a little shiver he wiped his hand on his coat and went up to bed.