Phillip is an exceptional runner, but not a particularly good human. He's an abrasive, self-absorbed creature who wants nothing but to win every local road race. And it just so happens that someone who isn't at all human has come to town, searching for worthy prey.
"Crows. There were a dozen big, big crows, squawking and cawing among themselves. And one crow was perched on the old drinking fountain, the black head dipping every so often. Phillip barely noticed until he took a break, trotting over for a drink and the crow not eager to leave. It gave him a long cawing curse before settling on the nearby grass, glaring at him. Phillip has never forgotten the moment. The fountain's drain was plugged up, probably by kids, and the steel bowl was filled with cloudy pink water. Phillip froze, blinked, and stared. The crow had caught a young ground squirrel and butchered it in the bowl, blood and fur and bits of candy-bright guts making a delicious cold soup.
"Disgust became disgusted fascination, the moment having a bizarre spiritual feel about it.
"Bending and squinting, Phillip saw how the squirrel's eyes had been neatly chiseled from their sockets, presumably eaten as delicacies. And the crow gave him another harsh caw, its voice urgent and the meaning obvious.
"'Mine, mine, mine!' it was shouting."
For more than 30 years, Robert Reed has written and published well-regarded science fiction. "Stride" is an early novelette retooled for this publication.
Reed won a Hugo Award in 2007, for his novella "A Billion Eves."
Genre: Science Fiction
"Crows. There were a dozen big, big crows, squawking and cawing among themselves. And one crow was perched on the old drinking fountain, the black head dipping every so often. Phillip barely noticed until he took a break, trotting over for a drink and the crow not eager to leave. It gave him a long cawing curse before settling on the nearby grass, glaring at him. Phillip has never forgotten the moment. The fountain's drain was plugged up, probably by kids, and the steel bowl was filled with cloudy pink water. Phillip froze, blinked, and stared. The crow had caught a young ground squirrel and butchered it in the bowl, blood and fur and bits of candy-bright guts making a delicious cold soup.
"Disgust became disgusted fascination, the moment having a bizarre spiritual feel about it.
"Bending and squinting, Phillip saw how the squirrel's eyes had been neatly chiseled from their sockets, presumably eaten as delicacies. And the crow gave him another harsh caw, its voice urgent and the meaning obvious.
"'Mine, mine, mine!' it was shouting."
For more than 30 years, Robert Reed has written and published well-regarded science fiction. "Stride" is an early novelette retooled for this publication.
Reed won a Hugo Award in 2007, for his novella "A Billion Eves."
Genre: Science Fiction
Used availability for Robert Reed's Stride