Folks still talk about Tom, even after the incident that set all the rumors straight. I remember him with interest and slight sympathy, though I have never met him myself. I hear he is still popular at parties, though.
I should tell you what I mean. It’s an interesting story. The whole thing began about a year ago.

~~~~~

In the small, quiet town of Catford, Joan Harte browsed the bookstore where Tom worked. History was her favorite subject, and she often took time after work to go looking for books.
Joan came to the end of the history section and looked up, seeing a large tome that sat on a high shelf. She squinted at it and sighed. Joan was afraid of heights, even ones she could climb on a short ladder. She stood there for a moment, staring despondently at the tome, and then turned and quietly called, “Tom, could you come help me?”
Tom, a very obliging man, immediately left the counter to come over to Joan, following her gaze up to the shelf. “You’re trying to reach that book?” he asked.
“Yes, could you fetch it? I’d do it myself, but I’m afraid of heights,” Joan confessed in a slightly embarrassed tone.
“That’s all right, I’ll be happy to get it,” Tom said kindly, immediately fetching a short ladder and using it to stand on.
As he pulled the tome out, Joan asked in the spirit of conversation, “Is there anything you’re afraid of, Tom? Not that I mean to pry.”
Tom shook his head and handed the tome to her. “Nothing in particular. I’ve always just been startled, never frightened.” He smiled wryly. “There were monsters under the bed, of course, but those don’t really count.”
“You aren’t afraid of anything?” Joan asked in surprise. “Nothing at all?”
“Nothing at all,” Tom said with a smile. “Would you like to buy that book?”
“Yes, please,” Joan said, following Tom to the counter. She made the purchase and paid Tom and then went out.

~~~~~~

Joan attended a friend’s party later that evening. After getting tipsy, she began to talk about Tom, describing the earlier conversation in her own way.
“He’s afraid of nothing. Absolutely nothing!” she told everyone, gesturing expressively. Interest and rumors spread from about a dozen people who’d heard Joan. The tale quickly became a piece of town-wide news. No one had previously known that Tom was afraid of nothing, and it sounded interesting.
“The man who is afraid of nothing! You know, old Tom. He’s afraid of nothing at all!” people declared.
It was true. Spiders didn’t frighten him, heights didn’t frighten him, depths didn’t frighten him, small spaces didn’t frighten him, big spaces didn’t frighten him, garlic didn’t frighten him—yes, there are ordinary people who are afraid of garlic, it’s not just vampires—it seemed like nothing frightened him. So people came and talked to him at the bookstore, asking him if he was really afraid of nothing. They quizzed him and questioned him and teased him.
Tom was a good-humored man and took it all well. He was flattered, in fact. Now that everyone knew that he was afraid of nothing, and he was the subject of curiosity and some admiration. It was nice to be a local rumor. He was well known in the town and received a lot of interest as people speculated about this.
A man who was afraid of nothing warranted plenty of curiosity in a quiet town.

~~~~~

In short time, the rumors reached Kathy, a ginger-haired woman with a tendency to question just about everything. She listened to the steadily more outlandish rumors about Tom and decided, “I think I’ll take a look into this.”
So Kathy set out for the bookstore on one fine afternoon after her secretary shift at the doctor’s office was over. She watched as Tom came to his work shift and opened the store, and then entered the bookstore after him and quietly studied him for a little while. She eventually set down A Pleasure to Burn and came to the counter.
Tom looked up from a copy of The Three Musketeers that he was reading. “Can I help you?”
“Are you the man who’s afraid of nothing?” Kathy asked.
“Yes, I am.” Tom set down the book and studied Kathy, suspecting her to be another “sightseer”, as he privately called them.
Kathy nodded. “I see.” She frowned for a moment, tapping her chin. “I see.”
Tom cocked his head, curious about this unusual reaction. “What do you mean?”
Kathy smiled. “Oh, nothing in particular. Thank you.” She silently left the bookshop, leaving Tom sitting at the counter and wondering what that was about.

~~~~~

A few days passed. Tom continued to get occasional inquirers who asked about his lack of fear and he continued to work at the bookshop, being an excellent and good-mannered employee.
However, being a good employee didn’t prevent him from slipping on the stepladder one day and falling onto a display shelf and breaking it. The nearby patron leaped away in shock and shouted for help. Tom’s friend Bruce took him to the doctor’s office near the edge of town. Tom had a few gashes that Bruce quickly bandaged, and possibly a broken wrist where most of his weight had landed.
Kathy looked up in sympathy when Tom came in supported by his friend. “I’ll fetch the Dr. Beinks immediately. Take him to the waiting room.” Kathy left to find Dr Beinks.
Bruce helped Tom into a large, white, empty waiting room and asked how he was.
“I’m fine,” Tom said reassuringly, his good hand wrapped around his bandaged wrist to help support it. “The pain’s lessening. I don’t think it’s broken after all.”
Bruce nodded. “Great. Do you want me to stay?”
“Nahh. Do you think you could go to the bookshop and let Mr. Fleming know what happened? He’ll be around any time now,” Tom said.
Bruce agreed to let Fleming know, wished Tom well, and then let himself out. Tom was left standing alone in the middle of the white room.
He was unconcerned for a few minutes. The pain was distracting, but nothing worse than a sprain. The lack of chairs was annoying but soon Tom’s mind wandered as he walked around the room and waited. There wasn’t even a clock for him to watch.
Tom began to feel disturbed after several minutes. He stopped in the middle of the room and looked around, frowning. A nervous feeling grew in his stomach, making him feel a little shaky.
Am I going into shock? He glanced at his wrist. It was slightly swollen, but the pain was slowly lessening. It seemed like he was getting better, not worse.
After a little while he began to feel a little panicky, a surprising feeling he’d never experienced before. He distractedly paced around the room, his gaze searching the walls and skimming over the white door that blended in. He tried to think about something, a plot twist in The Wheel of Time, but his attention was drawn repeatedly to the white walls and the lights overhead. Tom felt like the room was expanding into an empty frontier.
After about half an hour he came to a stop in the middle of the room, staring blindly around, his heart hammering and his face pale. He’d completely forgotten about his wrist. He went to the door and opened it just as Kathy approached to open the door from the other side. Tom nearly bowled Kathy over as he darted out and slammed the door, sending his wrist into agony.
“Sorry that it took so long, Tom,” Kathy said. “The doctor’s waiting for you now. …Why, Tom!” She noted his white face and harsh breathing. “What’s wrong?”
He shook his head, unable to explain. Kathy narrowed her eyes for a moment, then turned back toward the door and began to open it.
Tom immediately slammed the door shut. “Please don’t let me see that room,” he said weakly.
Kathy was well aware of what the room looked like. She had been the one in charge of telling the painters what to do when they’d come to repaint the room a few days earlier. She crossed her arms and stared at the shaky Tom. “You know, Tom… I think you’re afraid of nothing. Literally afraid of nothing!”
Tom shuddered. “Let’s not talk about it. The… the doctor?” he muttered.
“Of course. I really am sorry to keep you waiting,” Kathy said honestly. “Do you need help with your wrist?”
“I think I’ll be okay,” Tom said, glancing at the waiting room door as Kathy led him away.

Tom’s wrist was indeed not broken, merely sprained. He healed quickly. Once he got over the strangeness of being afraid of literally nothing, he took it with his usual good humor, seeing the strange humor in it. After her first impression of indifference, and after she and Joan spread the word and set everyone straight, Kathy warmed up to Tom. She visited the bookshop often, chatting with him, and eventually the two of them began to date.
And yes, people still visit the bookshop and ask about the man who is afraid of nothing. Tom will grin and reply, “Yep, nothing—Absolutely nothing!”