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Kindergarten

Clifford D. Simak

First published July 1953
Type Short Fiction
Length Novelette

Synopsis

A man has moved countryside after a diagnosis of terminal cancer. One day he finds a strange machine nearby his house. The machine gives him a statue made of jade. A young woman who lives nearby gets a small bottle of eloquent perfume. Soon other people stat to come and everyone gets something - something which they have hoped. Then the machine starts to build something, and military gets very interested in what is going on. At the same time the polio epidemic which has been going on disappears suddenly. The military starts to suspect that the man has something to do with the alien machine and captures him. After through study they are convinced that the man is human after all and relax so much that man is able to escape. He has a powerful compulsion to return to the site. He meets the young woman from the next door from his cottage, and she also has the compulsion to return. They return. Meanwhile the military has tried to attack the now gigantic building which has appeared without any success. The couple gets inside feel welcome, and start learning things - in "kindergarten".

Publications (17)

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
July 1953 Galaxy Science Fiction, July 1953 Galaxy Publishing Corporation MAGAZINE 4
November 1953 Galaxy Science Fiction, Vol. 3 No. 9 Strato Publications MAGAZINE 4
May 1954 Portals of Tomorrow: The Best Tales of Science Fiction and Other Fantasy Rinehart Anthology 273
January 1955 Portals of Tomorrow: The Best Tales of Science Fiction and Other Fantasy Rinehart / SFBC Anthology 174
1956 Strangers in the Universe Simon & Schuster Collection 169
1956 Portals of Tomorrow Cassell & Company Anthology 174
May 1957 Strangers in the Universe Simon & Schuster / SFBC Collection 128
1958 Strangers in the Universe Faber and Faber Collection
May 1959 Strangers in the Universe The Science Fiction Book Club (UK) Collection 101
February 1962 Strangers in the Universe Panther Collection 73
1986 Brother and Other Stories Severn House Collection 109
December 1988 Brother and Other Stories Methuen Collection 109
May 2005 Eternity Lost Darkside Press Collection 55
July 2016 Good Night, Mr. James and Other Stories Open Road Integrated Media Collection |6
January 2024 Good Night, Mr. James and Other Stories Tantor Audio Collection |6
January 2024 Good Night, Mr. James and Other Stories Tantor Media Collection |6
January 2024 Good Night, Mr. James and Other Stories Tantor Media Collection |6