Project Gutenberg 2009-05-22 Public domain in the USA. 107 Young, Robert F. 1915 1986 Young, Robert Franklin Collector's Item Produced from Fantastic Universe September 1956. Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net "Collector's Item" by Robert F. Young is a science fiction short story written in the mid-20th century. The narrative centers around a Galactic Historian tasked with condensing extensive histories of various races into a single manuscript, only to have it compromised by a mischievous breeze. This story navigates themes of memory, history, and the quirky nature of collection and ownership, ultimately reflecting on the significance of recorded history. In the plot, the Galactic Historian, overwhelmed by his responsibilities and personal troubles, fails to notice an essential page from his manuscript being whisked away by a strong gust of wind. This page, filled with critical historical dates and events, lands beneath a xixxix tree, home to two squixes—tiny, curious creatures with a penchant for collecting anything small enough to carry. The squixes, upon discovering the page, eagerly decide to create a hammock out of it, completely unaware of the historical value of their new possession. As they attempt to sleep on their creation, they are plagued by bizarre dreams, emblematic of the weight of the history they are now nestled upon, blending humor and introspection in an imaginative narrative. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 62.2 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. en Science fiction Short stories PS Text Science Fiction Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Humour 34306 2025-08-12T04:58:26.803715 text/html 30247 2021-01-05T03:39:56 text/html 78671 2025-08-12T04:58:30.303684 application/epub+zip 77476 2025-08-12T04:58:28.382695 application/epub+zip 77475 2025-08-12T04:58:27.322707 application/epub+zip 160132 2025-08-12T04:58:31.737688 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 153268 2025-08-12T04:58:29.736693 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 127786 2022-09-13T12:13:09.480561 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 28442 2025-08-12T04:58:26.590709 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 28319 2021-01-05T03:39:56 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 19075 2025-08-12T04:58:31.867684 application/rdf+xml 12759 2025-08-12T04:58:27.867686 image/jpeg 3353 2025-08-12T04:58:27.626691 image/jpeg 11810 2021-01-05T03:39:56 application/octet-stream application/zip 10810 2021-01-05T03:39:56 application/octet-stream application/zip 76018 2025-08-12T04:58:26.807704 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia