User:DoctorWho42/The Egg of the Glak

"The Egg of the Glak"
Short story by Harvey Jacobs
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Science fiction
Publication
Published in	The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
Publication type	Digest
Publisher	Mercury Press, Inc.
Media type	Print
Publication date	March 1968

"The Egg of the Glak" is a short story by American author Harvey Jacobs. It was first published in the March 1968 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Background

Harvey Jacobs was born in New York City January 7, 1930. He worked for The Village Voice, taught a writers workshop at Syracuse University, and joined ABC-TV. His stories have appeared in the magazines Midstream and Playboy while two are in Judith Merril's Best SF anthologies. Jacobs wrote "long farewell stories" before airplane flights including "The Egg of the Glak".

Plot

Harold North runs into an old man. He is Dr. David Hikhoff. He complains about language. They become friends. North considers him his father. Hikhoff suffers a stroke. A nurse hands him two letters FIRST and FINALLY. Hikhoff dies. North reads FIRST. It lists instructions. Contact Poodleville owner Elsie Moonish about an egg. The Glak is extinct, but an egg was found in Labrador. Hikhoff consulted an anthropologist whose son Nagle is a rival who wants the Glak for fame. Five thousand is in a bank account. Pay Moonish $2,500. Go to Labrador in April where it hatches. FINALLY can be read then. He goes to Poodleville. North meets Moonish. They go upstairs. She brings out the egg. North gives $2,500. Nagle offered $4,500. North offers $4,501. Moonish is lonely. North offers $5,000. After arguing, they have sex. He goes back to Poodleville. Nagle runs with a parcel. In a chase, a boy in a sled crashes into Nagle. North catches the parcel but sleds away. Nagle shoots North. North sleds into train tracks. He leaves on a train. North wakes up in a hospital. He stays with a family. Mrs. Fonkle has two daughters Myrna and Cynthia. After dinner, the egg shakes. North sits on it. Myrna thinks he's sick. He tries to hide the egg. She lies on the bed when he tells her the truth. They make love. Myna helps the egg. North hides it under a blanket. Cynthia removes the blanket. She confronts him. He lies about a space-egg. She tries to smash it but they wrestle and make love. Mrs. Fonkle suspects North. He makes her faint. Dr. Zipper tells her he's pretending to be ill. He tells Mrs. Fonkle he raped her, but lying upsets him. Myrna takes the egg. North sneaks three eggs away. He puts two under a blanket and one under his pillow. Mr. Fonkle shows in a doctor which is Nagle. North gives Nagle the chicken egg. Nagle leaves. Cynthia smashed the chicken eggs. In April, North leaves the Fonkle home for Labrador. At the Goose Bay Airport, he takes a charter flight to Kangalakksiorvik Fiord. Pilot Le Granf tells North there's another passenger. Nagle flies with them. Nagle still believes he has a Glak. When they arrive, the eggs hatch. The chicken and Glak walk away. Nagle takes chicken pictures. North reads FINALLY. It is a Glak recipe.

Reception

In 1969, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction editor Edward L. Ferman called "The Egg of the Glak" a "good, happy story." Science Fiction Review's Richard E. Geis praised it with "a delight all through, with delicious turns of phrase and plot." In 1970, Analog Science Fiction and Fact's P. Schuyler Miller remarked "[The Egg of the Glak] describes a zanily surrealistic chase to hatch that marvel from the past."

External links

• The Egg of the Glak title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Category:1968 short stories Category:Science fiction short stories Category:Works originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction