"Here is an item that might interest you Mr. Russell," Homer Parducci, the short, bald owner of the antique shop said to the man standing before him on the other side of the display case. The shopkeeper reached into the case and withdrew a strange looking necklace. "This is a talisman from Africa. I have hung in on this gold necklace, but let me assure you the item is genuine. I will provide you with papers certifying its authenticity if you think you might want to purchase it."

"It looks like a tiny shrunken head," the man who had been addressed as Mr. Russell replied.

"Yes, but as you can see it is carved from ivory. Circling its head is hair taken from an actual lion's mane, while the rings through its ears are made of gold. It is a representation of a witchdoctor who lived in eastern Africa during the mid-nineteenth century. The documentation, which accompanied the talisman, says that the witchdoctor was noted for his extraordinary powers, especially the power to invoke sexual lust. It is said that he was able to have any woman he desired and sold this power to anyone who could meet his price. His dalliance with the women of his tribe invoked the wrath of many of the women's husbands. One night the angry men caught the witchdoctor asleep and killed him. Yet, it is said, that before his death the witchdoctor foresaw his ending, and he created this talisman into which he pour the essence of his being. The band, which circles the face and covers the mouth, is rumored to have been carved there to keep the power of the witchdoctor within the talisman. All and all, the thing is a rare and most unusual item."

"It is indeed interesting," the customer replied. "As you know, my wife is intrigued by the extraordinary and bizarre. She has fairly good sized collection of uncommon artifacts from around the world. I am certain that she would be interested in this talisman. You have provided us with many items in the past and have proved yourself to be trustworthy. If you can provide me with suitable documentation of this thing's authenticity, I will purchase the talisman."

"Very good," Homer replied. "Wait but a moment and I will return with proof you desire."

The bald man turned and went into the backroom of the shop and returned a few minutes later with a handful of papers. He grinned at the taller man before him as he handed his customer the documents. The shopkeeper watched as the man read over the certified records and noted that his customer smiled at what he read.

"It appears that this talisman is everything you have represented it as being and a bit more. You neglected to tell me about the things checkered past. Particularly the history of the amulet's previous owners," the tall man said to the shop owner. "It seems that few of the people that owned the talisman kept it for long and several of those owners were involved in murder."

"Well, yes that is true," the bald man said nervously. "That is the reason I have lowered the price on this item to a bargain. To be frank with you, many people are reluctant to buy the talisman once its past has come to light. People seem to believe that the thing is cursed. As you can see, from those papers, there have been several murders involving previous owners. You have been a good customer and it is only fair I tell you what I have heard that isn't in the documentation.

"Mind you what I have heard is only second hand and comes only from the woman that sold me the talisman. She knew something about the things past, which was never written down on paper. I am sure that it is a lot of superstitious nonsense, but she said that the amulet had incited strange sexual desires. Many of the artifacts owners fell into a life of debauchery, which included orgies and adultery. Indeed, the murders, which you have mentioned are said to have been the result of jealousy spawned when someone was caught straying by loved one. She told me that she had caught her husband in such a circumstance after she had given him the amulet. She ended up divorcing him and the talisman came into her possession, but she seemed to think the amulet gave her bad dreams so she sold it to me. Other potential buyers of the talisman have found out about the item's past and have passed up on buying it."

"So this is a cursed talisman?" The taller man smiled as he held the thing in his hand. "That in itself makes it even more unusual. I am sure that this is something that my wife would be very interested in owning. She and I are not superstitious. I think such things are for the undereducated and unenlightened. Your price is fair and your documentation appears to be authentic. I will purchase this dreaded talisman gladly."

"Thank you sir," the shopkeeper grinned, "I am sure your wife will find the talisman to be a most interesting part of her collection. You are indeed lucky that all this superstitious nonsense has driven down the price of this fine item."

The bald man quickly placed the talisman in a small box, while his customer wrote out a check. The shopkeeper smiled as he watched the other man pick up the box and leave his shop. The shop owner sighed with relief that the thing was no longer in his possession. It had been playing on his mind for too long a time and thoughts about it had been seeping into his dreams.

The buyer of the talisman was Carl Russell. He was a distinguished middle-aged man who was wealthy enough to indulge his wife's fancy for offbeat collectables. He and his wife had been together for over twenty-five years and their house was filled with many strange items from around the world. However, nowhere in his wife's collection could be found anything, which was rumored to be cursed. Carl knew that his wife would be thrilled with the talisman and would find a place of honor in her collection for it.

"I'm home," Carl cried out as he entered his house, "and I have a surprise for you."

"I'm upstairs," he heard his wife reply, "bring yourself and the surprise up here."

The house was decorated with many strange and exotic curios, which were displayed on a variety of shelves and in antique cabinets. The man paid no attention to his wife's collection, as he eagerly climbed the stairs to show his wife his new acquisition. He found her in their bedroom putting clothes into the closet. She turned smiling as she heard her husband enter the room and rushed into his arms quickly giving him a kiss. Norma Russell was a good looking woman who was almost twenty years younger than her husband. Her light brown hair was kept moderately short and was accented by her bright blue eyes. Carl considered Norma to be a perfect armful, and he loved her with all his heart.

"Guess what I have for you?" asked Carl as a smile spread across his face. "I'll give you a hint. I bought if at Homer Parducci's shop."

"Then it is no good for me to guess. Homer has too wide a selection of things for me to randomly pick one out of the air."

"Well, my love," Carl said as he drew the small box out of his coat pocket, "then I'll just have to give it to you without any further fanfare."

"Oh, Carl you really shouldn't buy all these things for me. Why anyone would think I am just plain spoiled," Norma said as she took the container from her husband, "and that just isn't true."

"Nonsense, I love giving you things. Now are you going to see what is inside that little box or am I going to have to take it back to poor old Homer?"

"Oh, don't take it back!" she replied. "You know how Homer likes to make a sale. I'm sure if you took it back he would have a stroke or something. Now, let's see what you brought me this time."

As Norma lifted the lid off the box and looked at the amulet, which lay inside, her eyes grew wide with wonder. Her husband's gift was strange, even bizarre. Something so unique that it fired her fancy for the unusual. In other words, the gift was perfect. She lifted the talisman from its container, feeling a slight shock of wonder as she did so, and turned it around and around in her hand to examine all the things details.

"Carl, this is magnificent! I don't have anything that can compare to it. How much did you pay for it?"

"It is real ivory, and the headdress is made from real lion's mane. It comes with these papers of authenticity," Carl said as he handed her the papers, which the shopkeeper had given him. "It really didn't cost all that much. Homer seemed more than glad to get rid of the talisman for a bargain price. He said that most people thought that the thing was cursed and would not buy it."

"Curse?" his wife gasped as she took the papers from her husband's hands and sat on the bed to read through them. After a few minutes of reading she looked up at Carl, "Wow, it seems this is the real deal, complete with curse and all. Darling, this will be the highlight of my collection. I'm sure the girls will just die when they see this and read over its history. To think that I own a talisman, which contains the spirit of an African witchdoctor who specialized is sexual magic, is just too much! I just know my friends will turn all colors of the rainbow with envy."

"Well, I am glad you like it," Carl told her. "Just don't get too carried away with the sexual part of things. Remember, you are my faithful and loving wife."

"As if I ever could forget that," Norma stood to kiss and hug her husband, "but the sexual aspect will chill and thrill my friends. Some of them are more than a little superstitious and this will really get them excited. You are the best thing that ever happened to me, and I love you with all my heart. Thank you, not only for this present but for everything you have given to me."

"I love you too," Carl kissed her warmly as he pressed her body tightly against his own. "I hope you do shock and awe your friends with your little trinket."

Norma placed the talisman on her nightstand before accompanying her husband downstairs to prepare dinner. Once dinner was completed, she returned to her room and picked up the amulet trying to decide upon a suitable venue where she could display it. However, everywhere she thought of seemed inappropriate and unworthy of such a fine museum quality piece of art. Finally, she decided to keep the talisman on her nightstand, where she could easily admire it and find it in order to show her friends. That night, before Carl came up to bed, she read in depth the history of the talisman. As she read she felt herself getting more and more excited at the prospect of showing the thing to her friends.

When she heard Carl coming up the stairs to bed, she decided that she wanted to show her appreciation to him in a more physical way than she had so far done. She quickly put on her best perfume and she stripped off her nightgown. When her husband entered the room his eyes grew wide as he saw his naked wife on top of the covers of their bed. A wide smile lit up his face as he rapidly tore off his own clothing.

"How it is that I find you like this my dear?" he asked, as he jumped naked into bed beside Norma. "What has gotten into you?"

"Nothing," she laughed and kissed him, while her hand encircled his manhood, "yet I am hoping. Play your cards right and it could be you."

"Now that sounds like an invitation if I ever heard one," Carl laughed and lowered his head to take his wife's left nipple in between his lips. "I think I'll buy you many more gifts if this is the reaction I get."

"Carl Russell," she gasped as she held his head closely to her breast, "if you think you can buy me using presents, you are sadly mistaken. I love you for the man you are and not for your gifts."

"I know that," he sighed as he slipped one of his hands between her legs to caress her moistening mound. "I love you more than I can tell."

"I know that," She reassured him as she moved around so she was in position to take his rigid cock into her mouth, while she lowered her sex to cover his face. "I do love you."

She took his member deep into her mouth, while at the same time her husband's tongue began to lick over her clitoris. A moment later, Carl's tongue darted into open sex, only to reemerge to lick the length of her pussy, before concentrating upon her pulsating sex bud. In the meantime, Norma bobbed her head up and down taking her man's shaft into her throat and rapidly moving her tongue all around its length. As the minutes passed, the pair increased the momentum of their sexual play until they both felt their orgasms rapidly approaching. Norma tightened her thighs around her husband's head as she allowed her climax to flow over her. She pulled herself free of Carl's cock to wildly moan as she came and came again from his vigorous tonguing. Finally she cried enough, and kissed the head of his organ, before rolling over on the bed to lie beside her mate.

"I want to feel you in me," she softly said, her eyes filled with emotion. "I want your cum in me."

"Always glad to oblige my lady," Carl moaned as he positioned himself over her body and aligned his cock to her pussy hole. He gave a satisfied groan as he pushed his hardness up and into her waiting body. "Your pussy is always so tight and wonderfully wet."

Carl bucked his hips back and forth sending his hard cock in and almost out of his woman. Their sexual coupling became perfectly timed as each partner moved with synchronized bucking against each other bodies. On each down stroke from Carl, Norma would shove her hips upward in an effort to take as much of his cock into her body. Norma gasped and cried aloud as she came from her husband's loving, which in turn caused Carl to yell as her cumming set off his own climax. He felt his balls tighten and his cock expand as he emptied his semen into her waiting pussy. For long moments Carl laid collapsed upon his wife before he rolled over onto the bed.

"Wow!" Carl moaned in joy, "I've got to get you more of these presents."

"Wow, yourself," gasped Norma, "I don't need presents as long as I have you to do this to me. You are the world's best lover."

The couple lay in their bed kissing and cuddling for awhile before they turned off the light and fell asleep. While Carl slept contently, Norma was awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of drums, which caused her to jump out of bed. She looked out the window down onto the street, but whatever the source of the drums had stopped and the street below was totally vacant.

When Norma awoke the next morning her husband had left for work, and the memory of the odd drumming in the night had faded to vanish from her memory. She arose and set about her morning chores before sitting down at the telephone to call up several of her friends, and invite them over to examine her latest addition to her collection. At first she had decided to invite friends to an afternoon viewing of her new prize, but after talking for awhile, the event grew into a special party, which would take place the next Saturday evening.

"Darling I'd like to have some of my friends and their husbands to see my new talisman this Saturday," Norma said when she called her husband at his work. "I hope that it will be alright with you."

"Of course," her husband assured her, "it is fine with me, but I won't be able to be there. There is a bit of a problem at the Portland office and I have just found out I have to leave this Thursday. I won't be back until sometime Tuesday. I don't want to be the fly in the ointment and ruin your party, so don't let this ruin your plans. You go ahead with your party."

"But Carl," groaned Norma, "it won't be the same if you are gone. Maybe, I could put things off until the next Saturday."

"Nonsense," her husband replied, "you go ahead with your plans. I don't want to be the one to spoil things. You can tell me all the details when I return."

"Well, alright if you say so," sighed Norma, "but it won't be the same with you not there. I know you have a lot of responsibilities and I understand, but I will miss you."

Norma was used to her husband having to rush off to deal with various problem spots, which occurred within his company. She had accompanied him many times in the past and understood that these sorts of emergencies cropped up from time to time. In fact, she was very proud that her husband had the knowledge and talent to be given the responsibility of resolving critical situations when they arose.

On Wednesday night, before Carl had to leave, the couple made wild, passionate love. Several times Carl told her that he wanted Norma to go through with her plans and that he would call her Saturday to find out everything was coming along. Thus reassured, Norma fell asleep, but her dreams were troubled by the sound of drums and visions an equatorial landscape lit by bright stars. By the next morning, when she drove her husband to the airport to catch his flight, Norma had forgotten her dreams. As she kissed her husband goodbye, she thought that she would reward him with an erotic and passionate return gift.

The rest of Thursday and Friday passed uneventful. Carl called his wife several times to tell her he had arrived and everything was alright. Norman, in the meantime, prepared for her party by purchasing a goodly amount of refreshments and arranging the house for company. Finally, Saturday came and Norma was very busy tending to the last minute details. She set up several tables of refreshments and did her best to ensure the house was fully decorated for her guests.

Around five o'clock Saturday afternoon, Norma's friend Jane Benton arrived to help with the final arrangements for the party. Norma had known Jane for many years and considered her to be her best friend. Jane's husband had a job for a different company, which was similar to Carl's. The two women friendship had grown as they had given each other support over the years. When Jane and Norma finished with the last details the sat down for a few moments of rest before the guests began to arrive.

"So, what is this mysterious thing that you are going to show off tonight?" Jane asked her friend. "It must really be something if you are doing all this without Carl here."

"Carl was called out of town unexpectedly," Norma explained, "otherwise he would be here. He told me to go ahead with my plans. Just the other day he gave me the very ultimate collectable, unlike anything I have ever owned! I have all the papers to prove it is genuine. It is a talisman, which is in the shape of a head surrounded by a lion's mane. The papers say it is said that an African witchdoctor put his soul into the amulet before he was killed. Now get this, the witchdoctor specialized in the seduction of women, so much so that he was killed by the jealous husbands of his tribe."

"My God," gasped Jane, "you don't really mean that!"

"That's what the documents say," Norma replied. "He took any woman he desired and was able to allow others to do so, provided they met his terms. The talisman is made of genuine ivory. You will soon see it when the others arrive."

"Oh come on Norma," complained Jane, "you can't make me wait. I'm just dying to have an advanced viewing of this mysterious treasure."

"Well, you are helping me set up things and you are my best friend," Norma smiled, "so I guess an advanced viewing would be in order."

Norma left the room and went up the stairs to her room where she retrieved the talisman, which she had placed in a special decorative wooden box. She grinned widely when she saw her friend eagerly waiting to see what was hidden in the box. Norma placed the box on the table in front of her friend and slowly lifted the lid. As the talisman was revealed, Jane gasped and her eyes went wide.

"It is marvelous!" she said softly, "It invokes all sorts of images of Africa in those long distant days when it was a dark and mysterious continent. You can actually feel a sort of power radiating from the image. Norma, this has to be the most exciting thing you have, and I'm sure everyone is just going to go wild when they see it."

"It really is powerful, isn't it? Sometimes when I look at it, I almost expect the eyes to open and look at me. Just think, this is thing was carved in the likeness of an actual witchdoctor, one who had powers so strong that he was killed in his sleep to prevent him from striking down his attackers with his mystical powers. I hope everyone will feel the same way about my talisman as you do."

"I am sure they will," Jane assured her friend, "and speaking of them, they should begin arriving before long."

Norma placed her talisman upon a display stand, which sat prominently upon the center table. She then went quickly to help her friend in putting out the last of the refreshments for the night. None too soon everything was ready, as the sound of knocking at the front door announced the arrival of the first of the guests. Shortly after the arrival of the first person, a steady stream of guests arrived and the house was filled with people. Norma and Jane were very busy, for awhile, making sure that the guest had drinks and were pointed in the direction of various refreshments.

"I want to thank everyone for coming," Norma said loudly enough to bring the gathering to order. "Carl wanted to be here tonight but was called out of town. He does send his greetings and wants all of you to enjoy yourselves. It was my loving husband who found this latest addition to my collection. I believe that you will agree with me that this talisman is the most unusual and amazing thing that I have. First of all, the talisman is the actual representation of a nineteenth century African shaman, a witchdoctor, if you will. The documentation, which you are all free to read, tells how the witchdoctor was able to hold all his tribe enthralled until the men of the tribe came and killed him while he was asleep. The second point is that the thing is said to be cursed because the item holds the shaman's spirit, and at times he reaches out to assert his old power."

"Good heavens," Mrs. Rose Lancaster spoke up waving the papers, which documented the talisman's authenticity in her hand, "it says here that his power had a lot to do with inspiring lust in the women of his tribe, so that he could take any woman and use her as he wished."

"Yes," replied Norma smiling at her friend's outrage, "that is true. I'm afraid that our dear witchdoctor was a bit of a lecher and a debaucher. In the end he received his just reward from those men of his tribe who objected to the use to which he put their girlfriends and wives. The papers you hold also document how various owners of the talisman felt the power of the shaman and where swept up in different forms of illicit conduct."

"So," laughed Howard Martin, "I suppose we are all to have an orgy in honor of your new acquisition. Well, I'm all for it!"

"You would be!" Kim Martin kicked her husband's shin. "You don't need any spooky old necklace to get your fires burning."

"No orgy tonight," Norma smiled as all her friends broke into laughter. "I'm afraid Carl wouldn't like being left out. Seriously, this talisman does have a rather unfortunate history. It is all foolish superstition, as we can all agree, but that in itself makes the item a truly rare find. Please, everyone have a close look at my treasure and look over the documentation. Let me know what you think about my newest addition to my collection. In the meantime, everyone enjoy yourselves; eat drink and be merry."

Norma mingled with her guests making sure that everyone had as much to drink and to eat as they desired. She intently listened to each of her friends' comments, often giving as much additional information about her talisman as she herself knew. The general consensus among her friends was that she had acquired a unique piece of history, one which was truly museum quality.

"Norma," said Jane as the party died down after two hours and people began to depart, "let's get this mess cleaned up so you won't be stuck with it in the morning."

"Nonsense," laughed Norma. "We're too tired out for that sort of thing tonight. If you still want to help out, come around tomorrow morning around ten and I will welcome you with open arms."

"Well, if you are sure," Jane hugged her friend, "I'll be here at ten sharp. I think your talisman really made a big impression on everyone. They will be talking about it for a long time to come. You know the sexual aspect of it was what really spiked their interest, and they are all wondering if the curse will reach out to take you and Carl."

"Good," Norma laughed. "I'm glad they found my newest little pretty to be something worth talking about, but I'm afraid they will have a long wait if they expect the curse to come between Carl and me."

"Oh, I know that! All that was just talk. Everyone was just envious of your newest find. Have a good night and I'll see you at ten tomorrow."

Norma saw the last of her guests out the door and turned with a sigh to gather up her talisman before walking upstairs to her room. She placed the object on the stand next to her bed and undressed for bed. Once she had her nightgown on, she lay back on the pillows of the bed and read as she waited for her husband's nightly call. After an hour of reading the phone rang and she quickly answered it.

"Hello lover," Carl's voice came to her ear, "so how did everything go? Was your showing a success?"

"I believe it was," she answered, "at least everyone seemed interested in my little treasure. There were some who said that it made them feel uneasy but for the most part people seemed fascinated by it."

"That's great," replied Carl, "I wish I could have been there. I'll have things wrapped up here before long and will be headed home before you know it. I might just be able to cut out of here sometime late Monday afternoon, if everything goes well."

The couple talked for over half an hour about the events of the day before giving each other words of love and saying their goodbyes. After hanging up the phone, Norma turned out the light and tried to sleep. She ran through her mind all the comments people had said about her talisman before drifting off to sleep. In her dreams she seemed to hear the pulsing beat of drums coming from far off in the distance. She found herself walking through over a strange grassland, which was dotted here and there by trees. It was night and only the bright stars and a sliver moon lit the landscape. Before her the land rose in gentle hills, behind which a flickering orange-red glow seemed to rise and fall. It seemed to Norma that the beating drum came from behind those hills and its sound pulled her forward.

As she came closer to the line of hills she became suddenly afraid, as if what lurked behind the hills held some unexplained evil, which was reaching out to embrace her. She tried to turn around to run away but found that no matter how hard she tried her feet continued to move forward toward the beating drum. Finally she found herself standing at the top of one of the hills looking down upon a blazing fire around which were gathered many people. She felt the mystical pull of the drumbeat and screamed when she could not stop her forward progress.

Suddenly Norma found herself lying in her bed. Her breath came in short, deep gasps and her body was covered with sweat. She reached over and turned on the light as if to assure herself that everything was normal. The dream had seemed so vivid. She had felt so helpless and afraid that she hesitated to try and go back to sleep for fear that the dream would continue. She sat awake for over an hour telling herself that the whole thing was just a strange dream brought on by the excitement of the day and Carl being gone from the house. She always felt a little uncomfortable whenever Carl was gone overnight. At last she turned the light off and went back to sleep. The rest of the night passed without any further dreams.

The next morning she awoke late and dressed only just in time to let Jane in the house to help with the cleaning up after the party. As the two women worked Norma told her friend about the dream and the terror she had felt as she was drawn across the strange landscape. Jane assured her friend that, while the dream was odd, it had no hidden significance.

"I mean," Jane told Norma, "everyone has nightmares of that sort. Sometimes people find they can't move as some unseen menace, which lurks in the shadows comes closer and closer to them. Don't worry about it. From what you have told me Carl will be home sometime tomorrow, and I'm sure you won't be having any of these dreams after that."

"Maybe," Norma said softly, "but what about tonight?"

"Wow, that dream really must have bothered you. You don't worry about tonight. If you have another bad dream, give me a call and I will talk you down from it."

"It is just that the whole thing seemed so real and I felt so helpless. I've never had a dream like that before, and I don't want to ever have another one."

"Then don't dwell on it," advised Jane. "It won't do you any good to obsess about it."

"Of course you are right," Norma conceded smiling at her friend. "The whole thing was just a silly thing and I'm a little embarrassed to have made so much of it. Don't worry about me calling you in the middle of the night. I'm sure there will be no repeat of last night's weirdness."