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There was a science fiction short story many years ago with the premise that all those extra hangers, socks, etc. that accumulate are a form of mimicry by alien life forms

I remember that story. I believe the infant 'aliens' looked like paper clips, then grew into wire coat hangers, then became bikes as adults.

27 posted on 06/10/2004 12:06:58 PM PDT by yhwhsman ("Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small..." -Sir Winston Churchill)

To: yhwhsman; skepsel

There was a science fiction short story many years ago with the premise that all those extra hangers, socks, etc. that accumulate are a form of mimicry by alien life forms ~ skepsel

I remember that story. I believe the infant 'aliens' looked like paper clips, then grew into wire coat hangers, then became bikes as adults. ~ yhwhsman

IIRC, the big question was why we weren't knee deep in coat hangers? What was eating the paper clips before they grew up? The title was something like "All the seas with oysters" from the analogy that we'd be able to walk across the pacific on oysters if all the larvae grew up.

The guy who was asking the question eventually ended up dead in a closet, with a coat hanger wrapped tightly around his neck.

*eyes shifting to my closet...*

31 posted on 06/10/2004 12:41:51 PM PDT by null and void (History is not a tale of self-restraint, and change is accelerating all the time.)

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