Skip to main content

story identification - Two men have to populate a planet by themselves


I'm trying to identify a short story that was probably written in the 1970s or 1980s—at least, well before today's more accepting attitude towards human sexuality and gender roles. It must have in part aimed for a shock value that has mostly dissipated today, leaving behind a sense of anger at the violation—at least in my memory.


Unfortunately, I don't recall if I read it in a magazine or an anthology. Here's what I do remember:


A woman is trying to get her domestic chores done, cooking, dishes, laundry, garden. There may be small children running around. But something is wrong. She is lonely and sad. Her husband pays no attention to her and she feels unloved. She is also very groggy, almost drugged.


Her husband tells her that she has emotional problems and that, other than her feelings, everything is fine. But as time goes on, it turns out that she is being drugged by her husband. Somehow, she finds a way to avoid the drugs without alerting him.


Spoilers below:



She realizes that she is actually a man and her "husband," perhaps a fellow crewman, has, without consent, surgically altered him with a uterus in order to bring to term frozen embryos.



As I remember it:




Their ship has crashed, with only the two of them left alive, and that their original mission had been the settlement of a habitable planet. I don't remember if they are on the same planet. Their ship had been stocked with the frozen embryos. The fellow crewman is trying to complete the mission the only way he knows how, but despises both of them as a result. "She" realizes that her life has been changed forever and finds the only solution available to her. She drugs her fellow crewman into believing that the two of them are actually husband and wife, happily married. Thanks to WhatRoughBeast for suggesting: Her final act is to drug herself.



I'm not sure how much I got right and how much my memory has strayed, but I'm hoping there's enough here to help someone ID the story.



Answer



"Call Me Dumbo" by Bob Shaw. I have it in the anthology Tomorrow Lies In Ambush.


It ends:



Dumbo smiled as she watched the boys at play. She hoped the next child would be a girl because that was what Carl wanted more than anything in the world.


And all she wanted was to be his wife.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

game of thrones - Who were the Kingsguard escorting Cersei?

Now to the question... During the scene where Cersei sits on the Iron Throne and is "sworn in" we see her escorted by seven members of the Kingsguard. Now this is what I would expect as that is the correct number. However, I have no idea who they are ! [embedded content] The books pay more attention to detail in this area, but the show is also diverging and outpacing in this regard. We can see that a few of the names are not possible on the show. I have listed the names from the books and given why the reason they could not be members on the show in bold. Ser Jaime Lannister, Lord Commander - Stripped of title Ser Loras Tyrell - Dead and also was never a KG on the show. Ser Osmund Kettleblack - Possible, but not mentioned by name Ser Balon Swann - Possible, but not mentioned by name Ser Meryn Trant - Dead Ser Boros Blount - Possible, but not mentioned by name Ser Robert Strong (aka Zombie Mountain) - Confirmed I know it can be confusing mixing the books and shows, but the qu

harry potter - Was Barty Crouch Jr. an Occlumens?

An Occlumens is a practitioner of Occlumency , while Occlumency means closing the mind. Despite being in the same school with two great Legilimens (Dumbledore and Snape), he was only discovered to be an impostor after the last round of the Triwizard Tournament in Goblet of Fire : “Moody,” Harry said. He was still in a state of complete disbelief. “How can it have been Moody?” “This is not Alastor Moody,” said Dumbledore quietly. “You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. The moment he took you, I knew — and I followed.” Does this mean that Barty Crouch Jr. is an Occlumens? Because if not, then Snape or Dumbledore would have found it out earlier, right? Answer It is not stated anywhere in the books that Legilimency was applied to fake Moody/Crouch jr. The conclusion Dumbledore made (quoted in the question) is based on pure logic, not Legilimency or any other magical means. So unless any other canon inform

Why Was It 'Essential' That Voldemort Kill Harry Potter?

‘So the boy ... the boy must die?’ asked Snape, quite calmly. ‘And Voldemort himself must do it, Severus. That is essential.’ Deathly Hallows - page 551 - UK Hardcover - chapter 33, The Prince's Tale Dumbledore tells Snape it is 'essential' that Voldemort be the one to kill Harry, I'm assuming in order for the piece of Voldemort's soul in Harry to be properly killed as well. But why? Hermione destroyed the Hufflepuff cup; Ron destroyed the Slytherin locket; Neville killed Nagini; Harry destroyed the diadem and Tom Riddle's diary. So the Horcruxes were not immune to destruction at the hand of someone other than Voldemort. And as it ended up, Harry himself wasn't even a Horcrux, but rather just an unknowing host to a parasitic bit of Voldemort's soul. Why was it 'essential' that Voldemort be the one to kill Harry in order for the piece of Voldemort's soul to die? Answer I thought it had to do with the protection Harry's mother gave him b

character motivation - Why do Hastur & Cthulhu hate each other?

Everything's in the title. Hastur & Cthulhu are both Great Old Ones, yet the former lives on Aldebaran whereas the latter lives in R'lyeh. And both of them hate the other, taking it to the point where Hastur even helps humans who do not worship him if it could bother Cthulhu. My question is : What happened between Hastur & Cthulhu that made them "fight" ? In some stories, they are depicted as half-brothers or at least relatives. Is it written in any story involving one or both of them ? If so, is it possible to get the name of this story ? Answer No relationship between Cthulhu and Hastur was mentioned in any of Lovecraft's original stories (I think Lovecraft only once mentioned Hastur in a list of names of powerful entities in The Whisperer in Darkness, see the quote here ), this rivalry was created by August Derleth in his own "Cthulhu Mythos" stories written after Lovecraft's death. This entry at a Mythos wiki says: Although Cthulhu is