Help me remember a short story

[Daneel]

A few years ago, I read a ton of science fiction anthologies, and there was a short story in one, the name of which I cannot remember, due to the sheer volume of stories. The gist of the plot was as follows:

A space probe crashes on either Venus or Mercury (I forget which). The swift orbit of the planet affects the survivors' metabolism, such that they age very swiftly. They give birth to a tribe of people who all live only one week. The protagonist of the story is born on the first day, and spends his week trying to return to the probe. The elders of his society warn him that he is a fool and that he should concentrate on warring with an opposing tribe, but by the fourth day of the week, all those elders are dead.

Ringing any bells? Thanks so much to any of you who know the name of this short story.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

I'm quite certain that this is a Ray Bradbury story - it is either from 'R is For Rocket' or 'Golden Apples of the Sun', which I have combined in an omnibus edition. Not sure what the story title is - if you can access these books in a library, a quick browse ought to unearth the title. I'll also dig through my shelves later and see if I can find the book and the story.

 

[littlemissattitude]

I agree with JP that it sounds very much like something Ray Bradbury would write, but I couldn't tell you which story it might be. Good luck with your search.

 

[Daneel]

I am fairly certain it is not Ray Bradbury (although I have been wrong before...), because if it is Bradbury, it is old Bradbury, and I have my trusty copy of The Stories of Ray Bradbury on my shelf.
I highly recommend it to Bradbury fans; it collects all of his short stories that had been published as of its publication. The only problem is, after I read it, I would come upon other collections and be dismayed to find that I had already read all the stories in them. Fortunately he's put out some new collections since.
NOTE: Do not settle for Bradbury Stories: 100 of his most celebrated tales, as it is an inferior collection.

Back on topic, does anyone have any idea what the name or author of the story described in the original post is?

 

[lazygun]

..is the planet they landed on only 2 dimensional?.....

 

[Daneel]

Nope, it's standard Venus, as imagined before its true nature was discovered by space exploration.

In the story, you get the impression that the crash survivor's descendants are living like cavemen. The story narrates the entire life of the protagonist, which, due to his high metabolism takes only a week or two. On the first day of his life, he is born, and learns to walk or talk. On the second day of his life, the elders of the tribe are training him for war and telling him how foolish the "scientist" faction is for trying to return to the ship. On the third day, he falls in love. By the end of the first week, all the elders have died, and he is being groomed by the scientist faction to make a run for the ship during the night, since the sun is fatal (everyone hides in caves during the day.)

I would really like to find this story. I think about it all the time lately, hence the new details, which may be a little off regarding exact number of days. Hope this helps you help me .

 

[lazygun]

Got me stumped Daneel,sry mate.

 

[Jvontr]

It wasn't any planet in our solar system. The radiation from the star made for the fast aging. Wars were fought over caves with more metal surrounding them. Once the heros made it to the ship, the hull protected them and they could go on with a normal life.

Yes, I remember the story. No, I don’t remember who wrote it. I will look around and see if I can figure it out.

 

[steve12553]

You seem to have lost interest in this thread by the story was "Frost and Fire" by Ray Bradbury fron the "R is for Rocket" Anthology. Story was copywrited 1946 in Planet Stories.