Vem vet titeln på en sci-fi-kortberättelse
"Whatever Became of the McGowans?", a novelette by Michael G. Coney, first published in Galaxy Magazine, May 1970, available at the Internet Archive.
som slutar med huvudpersonen som växer rötter på fötterna och sjunker dem i jorden och söker fred.
At last the tendrils on his feet probed moisture below the surface and the fluid rose into his body, satisfying a craving that had possessed him for days. Once again contentment stole through his senses and he felt his heart slow until it became an occasional spasmodic flicker.
Men slutar det inte där: mannen och hans familj hamnar på ett sjukhus på jorden:
"I'm glad to see you're awake. Now, first of all, I want you to know that your wife and child are all right. You are in the Earth Rehabilitation Center and I am talking to you through this machine because for the time being you will not understand normal speech. My name is Dr. Svenson and from time to time I sit beside you—on the chair you will see beside your bed."
Du har lagt till några detaljer i en kommentar:
Något säker på att det var 70- eller 80-talen, och i en antologi.
Om det var på engelska måste det ha varit Världens bästa Science Fiction 1971 , redigerad av Donald A. Wollheim och Terry Carr .
Karaktären saktar gradvis ner
Ja, det händer gradvis. I början:
"Richard, what on Earth are you doing?"
Sandra was standing at the barn door, her brown hair a halo in the sunlight. But her expression was ominous.
"Just seeing to the harvester. What's the trouble?"
"Do you know what the time is?"
"About eleven-thirty?"
"It's past two, we haven't had lunch. What have you been doing?"
Bewildered, Richard shoved up his sleeve with the back of his hand to keep the oil from his sweater. He studied his watch. She was right. Its hands stood at two-fifteen. Had he fallen asleep, dozed, daydreamed, idled between chores? He couldn't remember doing so.
I slutet:
Richard saw the chair and saw also that it was in almost constant jiggling motion. From time to time he thought he could make out a sitting, semi-transparent figure.
"I can't see you properly," Richard addressed the phantom.
A slow fear was beginning to flow through him, driving away his lethargy.
"That is because I am not always here," replied the tape recorder. "Time has accelerated for you. When you spoke I had time to replay your remark at high speed, then record my reply and play it back to you at reduced speed—but I don't suppose you noticed any time lag."
och jag tror slutar äta
He wandered back indoors. The tray was on the kitchen table, where he had left it. How long was it since he had last eaten?
Three days? Four? He couldn't remember. The time lapse bothered him. Deciding that he would in any event, have a good substantial supper later tonight, he drank the remains of his glass of home-made wine, then followed it with a glass of cold water. Presently, he began to feel hungry, just a little.
I en annan kommentar sa du att den här frågaren tycktes leta efter samma historia. Ett par punkter från den andra frågan:
Någon gång tillbaka på 80-talet läste jag en SF-kort där människor koloniserade en ny planet.
Ja, planeten heter Jade:
Several hundred other customers of the Jade Exploitation Company were, he believed, scattered among the valleys and along the coast of the planet's only continent. Not that their presence made much difference—the distances separating homesteads made visiting impractical. Each settler had his own place to look after.
Jag verkar komma ihåg att vissa personer hade börjat försvinna, och det kan ha varit en utredning.
Ja, kolonisterna på granngården, titeln McGowans, hade saknats:
The wire fence dividing his spread from the McGowans was down. The stainless thread trailed a random silvery path through the grass. As the McGowans were no longer around he hadn't bothered to repair the barrier and noticed, with a pleasurable thrill of dishonesty, that the grass grew even better on the other side. At harvesting time he would reap their grass as well as his own and profit by the proceeds—it would save the crop's going to waste. If the McGowans ever came back he could always pay them for it, less a deduction for labor.
In front of the McGowan household a small clump of trees provided a cool and tempting patch of shade. He sat down, his back against the largest bale, and regarded the house. It was bigger than his own and in a good state of repair, despite at least two years' disuse.
