Shipping Clerk by William Morrison Episode #291

William Morrison | November 11, 2024

Shipping Clerk by William Morrison Episode #291
William Morrison

SHIPPING CLERK

Episode #291 · Written by William Morrison · Narrated by Scott Miller

Ollie Keith has lived long enough to know exactly what hunger does to a person. It weakens judgment, narrows choices, and teaches you which rules you are allowed to break. When eating stops working for him, the problem isn’t relief—it’s that his body begins behaving in ways no one can explain.

What follows is not a miracle story. It is a tightening spiral of attention, fear, and quiet calculation as doctors, officials, and unseen observers realize that Ollie’s condition is not random. Every attempt to help him makes things worse. Every attempt to study him brings new risks. And somewhere inside his body, something is changing the balance of power.

Shipping Clerk balances grim humor with creeping dread, asking how long a man can remain human once others decide he is too valuable to lose. As Ollie gains strength, comfort, and security for the first time in his life, the cost of those gifts becomes harder to ignore.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

William Morrison published dozens of science fiction and fantasy stories during the mid-twentieth century, appearing regularly in magazines such as Astounding Science Fiction, Weird Tales, Fantastic Adventures, and Amazing Stories. His work often focused on ordinary people caught inside systems they do not understand, using speculative mechanisms to expose economic desperation, medical ethics, and institutional indifference.

In Shipping Clerk, Morrison brings those concerns into sharp focus through a protagonist whose value is discovered only after his suffering becomes useful. The story reflects Morrison’s recurring interest in how quickly compassion erodes once exploitation becomes convenient.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to Shipping Clerk by William Morrison — a vintage science fiction short story where endless hunger attracts dangerous attention and impossible explanations.

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Each episode features carefully selected stories from the Golden Age of science fiction, professionally narrated. Timeless storytelling the way it was meant to be heard.

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