The Plattner Story

Summary

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was a prolific English writer, now best remembered for his science fiction novels and often credited as being the father of science fiction

"The Plattner Story" is the strange tale of Gottfried Plattner, the modern languages teacher at a private school in England, who while conducting a chemistry experiment, accidently causes a explosion. The results of the explosion are mysterious. First, Plattner disappears completely. Not a trace of him remains, despite the damage to the school being fairly minimal. For nine days, nothing is seen or heard of him, although many people locally have strange and very similar dreams about him. Second, after nine days, Plattner reappears in a very unusual and equally explosive manner. Third, when he reappears, he has been oddly transformed. His internal organs are all reversed. He is now left, instead of right-handed, and writes from right to left. Moreover, the tale of what happened to him during the nine days of his absence is quite extraordinary.