During the night, Mick is attacked by an agent of Papa Lem and others from the village. Mick then refuses to "spread his seed" with the daughter of Papa Lem and returns to his parents' house for the night. After being brought to the villages Patriarch, Papa Lem, Mick learns the intent of the colony and how they operate. Mick learns that what he sees as "sparks" his family only sees as dust he even begins to realize that he can see when people are lying. Talking to his parents, who also possess his ability, he learns he is far more powerful than they or probably anyone else at the colony. She however possesses the ability to "call," to influence Mick so that he unintentionally heads straight for her, as well as intense sexual attraction, which she describes as simple pheromones that all people have, except that people like Mick, due to a different biochemical makeup (though Mick doesn't understand this when it is first explained to him), is far more susceptible to these pheromones than a normal human being.Įventually he is led back to his birth parents, who are members of a mysterious, secluded colony. Soon after setting out on his own, he encounters a young woman who not only knows about his gift, but who even seems to possess the same gift, although to a lesser extent. He discovered he was different when describing "sparkiness" with other children, who had no idea what he was talking about. Until he was a young man, Mick had no idea he was different from other children. The effect of his attack is much more pronounced if he is touching the victim. Unavoidably, those attacked by his "sparks" end up with terminal illnesses and soon die. When Mick becomes angry, he gets, as he describes it, "sparky." He can see sparks surrounding and enveloping him and then those sparks lashing out on the object of his anger. When fifteen, he fled child custody and set out on his own. This is when he discovers the intensity of the attacks are greatly heightened when he's touching a target. The only intentional murder he describes while growing up is being nearly molested in a Denny's bathroom. Mick was raised in an orphanage and along his journey to manhood unintentionally killed several people who mistreated him, as well as nearly everyone he loved, though nearly every occurrence was accidental. If made angry enough, his anger can outright kill the victim. When Mick gets angry at people, his power manifests itself by launching an attack upon them by giving them cancer, leukemia or related terminal illnesses. Mick Winger has an unusual gift and with it has accidentally killed several people. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1988. In 1990 it appeared in Card's short story collection Maps in a Mirror and also as a Tor double novel, with The Tunesmith by Lloyd Biggle, Jr. It ultimately ran in the March 1987 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine. Short story by Orson Scott Card "Eye for Eye"Įye for Eye (1987) is a science fiction novella by Orson Scott Card.Ĭard originally submitted the story to Analog magazine, but it was rejected.
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