Project Gutenberg 2006-08-22 Public domain in the USA. 76 Piper, H. Beam 1904 1964 Piper, Henry Beam Piper, Horace Beam Napoli, Vincent 1907 1981 Napoli, James Vincent Dearest Produced from Weird Tales March 1951. Reading ease score: 75.1 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. Produced by Greg Weeks, Geetu Melwani, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Dearest" by H. Beam Piper is a short science fiction story that was published in the early 1950s. The narrative takes place primarily in the contemporary setting of the author's time, revolving around themes of isolation, companionship, and the supernatural. The story follows Colonel Ashley Hampton, who communicates with an invisible entity he affectionately refers to as "Dearest," exploring the realms of mental health, family tensions, and unexpected twists of fate. The plot centers on Colonel Hampton, who is facing pressures from his nephew and others who wish to have him committed to a mental institution. As he struggles against their intentions, he unexpectedly develops a relationship with an otherworldly presence named Dearest. Initially skeptical, the Colonel finds comfort in her companionship, ultimately discovering her extraordinary abilities when she intervenes during a violent twist of events instigated by his malicious relatives. As chaos erupts, it becomes apparent that Dearest's existence is not merely a figment of his imagination, leading to a climactic resolution that blends elements of the fantastical and the real. The story showcases themes of loyalty, the complexity of human relationships, and the thin line between sanity and madness. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Science fiction Short stories PS Text Science Fiction Browsing: Literature Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Browsing: Fiction 64303 64307 2024-10-08T11:28:00.896243 2023-09-08T12:21:12.591880 text/html text/html 60872 2006-08-22T06:14:38 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 90885 2006-08-22T06:14:38 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 152571 2024-10-08T11:28:04.772212 application/epub+zip 151403 2024-10-08T11:28:02.499236 application/epub+zip 81309 2024-10-08T11:28:01.444241 application/epub+zip 204419 2024-10-08T11:28:06.517206 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 196967 2024-10-08T11:28:04.175243 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 109543 2022-09-09T07:39:49.818521 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 58390 58292 2024-10-08T11:28:00.625268 2023-09-08T12:21:12.407911 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 58300 2006-08-22T06:14:38 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 23250 2006-08-22T06:14:38 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 20753 2024-10-08T11:28:06.652204 application/rdf+xml 8449 2024-10-08T11:28:01.970250 image/jpeg 2282 2024-10-08T11:28:01.705234 image/jpeg 147453 2024-10-08T11:28:00.906251 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia