The Thought-Feeders by R.R. Winterbotham
Captain Lewis Hawes and inventor Dr. Kempster Duerkes test Duerkes’ stratosphere scout eight miles above the earth. Their argument over whether the universe is orderly or unpredictable is interrupted when green clouds strike the aircraft, disable its motor, and pull both men through a broken window. Suspended within the vapor, deprived of ordinary senses, they acquire a direct, all-encompassing awareness of the world. The men discover a hidden stratospheric city inhabited by the Green Clouds, beings who can take any form but prefer clouds because such shapes require little effort. Their leader, Loetta, explains that her people stand beyond mankind in evolution. They feed not on physical matter but on human thought, which they harvest from below and find unreliable. Hawes and Duerkes have been brought to supply a cultivated source of mental food. Duerkes’ supposedly profound reasoning proves indigestible to the Clouds, while Hawes’ simple, romantic, action-filled thoughts delight them. Loetta especially enjoys Hawes’ imagined kiss, then kisses him herself, stimulating his imagination further. The men are kept in a cloud garden and expected to think continually. In this realm, thoughts become solid: houses, wealth, food, and machines can be created merely by imagining them. Yet the creator may not consume or destroy his own thoughts, since the Clouds regard that as cannibalism or murder. Hawes grows weary of effortless luxury and forced mental production. Escape plans only feed the Clouds, and the men cannot descend because the strange gravity of the region pulls them back. When Hawes asks a Cloud to imagine a duplicate of their stratosphere scout, he and Duerkes silently understand the opportunity. Because the aircraft is a Cloud’s thought, the Clouds cannot destroy it. They board the craft and start its motor before their captors can stop them. Before departing, Hawes thinks intensely of Loetta, causing her to appear beside him. He then discovers that his continuing thoughts of her have produced a chain of duplicate Loettas trailing from the ship. A Green Cloud begins eating the duplicates while Hawes sends the scout into a dive toward the earth.
By R.R. Winterbotham · First published 1950 · Genre: Science Fiction, Pulp Science Fiction, Science Fantasy · 4,539 words
First lines
High in the stratosphere the two pilots encountered the living clouds and found out what it meant to eat your words -- literally!
The inventor, Dr. Kempster Duerkes, was in his best spirits, which made him nearly as sparkling as a sphinx. His new airplane, the stratosphere scout, had risen from the ground eight miles in the air.
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Genres
- Science Fiction — The story centers on speculative stratospheric life, altered human perception, telepathy, thought-made matter, and an imagined evolutionary order beyond humanity.
- Pulp Science Fiction — Its brisk plotting, sensational scientific premise, colorful alien civilization, dramatic peril, and humorous tone are characteristic of classic pulp-era science fiction.
- Science Fantasy — Although framed with scientific language about ozone, evolution, and the stratosphere, the Green Clouds' abilities to create physical objects from thought operate as fantastical speculation.
- Adventure Fiction — The plot follows aviators confronting an unknown aerial danger, becoming captives in a hidden civilization, devising an escape, and making a perilous return toward Earth.
Tags
science fiction · pulp fiction · stratospheric adventure · aviation · 1930s speculative fiction · living clouds · shape-shifting beings · hidden aerial city · telepathy · direct perception · thought as matter · thought-eating aliens
What this Textopian page supports
The Thought-Feeders is listed on Textopian as a short story by R.R. Winterbotham, dated 1950 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: R.R. Winterbotham
- Date: 1950 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Science Fiction, Pulp Science Fiction, Science Fantasy, Adventure Fiction, Philosophical Science Fiction
- Length: 4,539 words
- Structure: 1 section, 132 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for The Thought-Feeders by R.R. Winterbotham
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- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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