a 55-word story (a challenge from Bina Gupta)

The circular light shade swung overhead with a sickening glow. A bat flitted through the room. This space, crammed with books and jars of unknown creatures, exuded a mute hysteria. Staring at his keyboard, the strange frowning man thought of Mars, of Bucharest, of Phoenicia. He struggled, without success, to write a 55-word story.