Riya's Foundling

Imagine that the creature we call cow evolved into a beast with near-human intelligence, who thinks of herself as a person . . .

But this is Phildee's story, and Phildee is a boy. Or that's what he'd call himself if you asked him. He's out and about, and playing games that come from his imagination. The loft of the feed-house, with its stacked grainsacks, is a B-72, a fort, a foxhole -- any number of things, depending on Phildee's mood.

Today it was a jumping-off place.

Phildee slipped out of his dormitory and ran across the yard to the feed-house. Then, abruptly, the Reimann fold became a concrete visualization.

And Phildee twisted.

He twisted into Riya's world -- Riya is that creature we were discussing up above. And spring has come to Riya's world. . . .