User group members, it's time to pick your brains. If you read Omni
magazine in the late 70's or early 80's, help! I'm trying to fine the
author and title of a short story.
The story concerns an old man, a survivor of a nuclear war. He
survived because he was a sailor at sea when the war started, and
stayed there till it was over. Now he is a sort of adoptive father
and mentor to a child of an accelerated race. By accelerated, I mean
that they live their lives at such a speed that the older race can't
even be in the same buildings as them, less they get run over.
The child apparently loves the old man and the stories he tells, and
the old man loves the child, even with the huge gulf between them.
The old man wants to give the child a treat, and gives him some sort
of food that he bought on the black market. Later that night the
child wakes up with horrible cramps. The old man calls for an
ambulance, which arrives out of the sky in moments. They carry the
child away to hospital for the new race that the old man can't visit
because of the speed.
In the morning he is informed that the child has died to food
poisoning, and the black market vendor has been arrested. While
racked by guilt, he is called by an administrator who wants to place
another child with him.
As a reward for coming up with the author, title, Omni magazine issue,
etc., you will be entitled to one free fencing lesson, courtesy of me,
provided you are in the Chicagoland area.
Yours,
Don Badowski
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