This is a classic science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov that first
appeared in Space Science fiction magazine. It tells the story of a
father and son who go to visit another father and son at a country
estate. The adults discuss an alien race that has asked for help while
the two sons play with pet creatures they have found. An alien
spacecraft crashes and it appears that all the aliens are dead. However,
the pets that the son's have been playing with turn out to be survivors
from the crash, but there's a twist in the tale. This work is part of
our Vintage Sci-Fi Classics Series, a series in which we are
republishing some of the best stories in the genre by some of its most
acclaimed authors, such as John W. Campbell Jr., Marion Zimmer Bradley,
and Robert Sheckley. Each publication is complete with a short
introduction to the history of science fiction.