“Piper in the Woods” by Philip K. Dick, 1953
Henry Harris, an army doctor on Earth, receive a patient who, after
returning from a mission on asteroid Y-3, claims to be a plant. Harris’
diagnosis of post-traumatic stress syndrome was dispelled when a several more
soldiers returning from asteroid Y-3 exhibit the same symptoms—the soldiers
claim they are plants, they sit in basking in the sun during daylight hours,
remain in a catatonic state at nighttime hours, and refuse to perform any kind of work.
Harris travels to asteroid Y-3 and investigates for a cause of the
soldier’s conditions and learns from the soldiers of an indigenous people living
in the woods called “Pipers”, and that it was the “Pipers” who made the soldiers
realize they were plants.
Harris ventures out to the woods and meets an indigene woman. The
woman seems gracefully beautiful yet mysterious. She leads him deeper into the
wood with promise of a meeting with the Piper.
Harris returns to earth and decides that the “Pipers” were created
by the soldiers to cope with their high-pressured military jobs; allowing them
to simply “tune out” and relax by turning into plants. Harris contemplates all
the work that lies ahead of him as he unpacks his suitcases, which, rather than
contain clothes, contain soil from Asteroid Y-3. Harris spreads the soil on the
floor, sat squarely in the middle like a plant, and goes to
sleep.
This science fiction short story seems fairly straight forward. The
characters were relatively well developed given the number of pages. I can see
this story as a basis of a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits television episode. I
surely would recommend adding this to your reading list of short
stories.
My
rating: ★★★★☆
(4 out of 5 stars)
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