Rick Raphael 1 hr 11 min read

On her ranch, Hetty Thompson shoos her squawking hens toward the henhouse, never guessing that the world's most potent eggnog is about to come from a very unusual source indeed.

Rick Raphael's 1960 story spins genial, tall-tale first-contact comedy from a farmyard and a cosmic surprise. Fun, folksy golden-age SF. Read it for a delightful romp where an ornery ranchwoman, her chickens, and a visitor from beyond produce a truly memorable brew.

In its time

Published in 1960, during the 1960s, new wave revolutionizes the genre.

Reading it

1 hr 11 min read (a novelette, room for a turn or two).

Illustrated by

Kelly Freas