Cat and Mouse by Ralph Williams Episode #521
Ralph Williams | March 29, 2026-
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Cat and Mouse by Ralph Williams Episode #521
Ralph Williams
CAT AND MOUSE
Episode #521 · Written by Ralph Williams · Narrated by Scott Miller
Ed Brown knows how to read a landscape. After decades in the wilderness, he trusts what he can see, what he can track, and what he can test with his own hands. So when a doorway appears where no doorway should exist, he doesn’t panic—he studies it. On the other side lies a country that feels younger, easier, and full of possibility. It looks like a place a man could start over, if he’s willing to take the risk.
But something else has already taken an interest in that new land. At first, the signs are small—odd movements, missing animals, patterns that don’t quite add up. Then the pressure grows. Whatever lives there isn’t just feeding. It’s observing, adjusting, and waiting for the right moment to strike. Ed finds himself in a situation where caution alone isn’t enough, and every move he makes could draw the next attack.
The deeper he pushes into the new world, the more the balance shifts. Familiar rules stop applying. Traps fail in ways they shouldn’t. The sense of being watched never fades. Ed must decide whether to press forward and claim what he’s found, or retreat before the cost becomes too high. The answer isn’t simple, and the timing may matter more than anything else.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ralph Williams published a number of science fiction stories in the 1950s, including work that appeared in Astounding Science Fiction. His fiction often centers on experienced, capable individuals placed in unfamiliar conditions where instinct and observation matter more than technology. “Cat and Mouse” showcases that strength, building its tension through careful detail and the steady escalation of danger.
Rather than relying on spectacle, Williams lets the conflict unfold through action and response. The result is a story that feels grounded even at its most extraordinary, with a focus on how a seasoned outdoorsman reacts when the rules of his world suddenly change.
LISTEN TO THE STORY
Listen to Cat and Mouse by Ralph Williams — a vintage science fiction short story of a trapper facing a hidden predator in a strange new world.
LOST VOICES OF VINTAGE SCI-FI
Not every science fiction writer built a long career in the field or became a widely recognized name. Some published only a handful of stories before disappearing from the magazines, leaving behind little biographical record and few surviving details. Others may be remembered for work in different genres, while their contribution to science fiction was brief.
Yet these writers helped shape the texture of the pulp era and beyond. Their stories experimented with bold ideas, filled the pages between the famous names, and added depth to the ever-expanding landscape of vintage science fiction.
The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast exists in part to rediscover these voices. The stories below were written by authors who published briefly, sparingly, or whose science fiction output was small - but whose work still deserves to be heard.
- The Ultimate Paradox by Thorp McClusky
- The Ultimate Wish by E. M. Hull
- Welcome to Paradise by Allyn Donnelson
- Day of Reckoning by Morton Klass
- Zeritskys Law by Ann Griffith
- Up For Renewal by Lucius Daniel
- Patch by William Shedenhelm
- Rabbits Have Long Ears by Lawrence F. Willard
- Electronic Landslide by Clyde Hostetter
- They Reached for the Moon by William Oberfield
- Death Walks on Mars by Alan J. Ramm
- When the Moon Fell by Morrison Colladay
- Know They Neighbor by Elisabeth R. Lewis
- The Other One by A. H. Gibson
- No Evidence by Victoria Lincoln
- The Man Who Liked Lions by John Bernard Daley
- Willies Planet by Mike Ellis
- The Short Snorter by Charles Einstein
- Your Servant Sir by Sol Boren
- The Fugitives by Malcolm B. Morehart Jr
- Leave Earthmen or Die by John Massie Davis
- And All the Girls Were Nude by Richard Magruder
- Rabbits Have Long Ears by Lawrence F. Willard
- Dust Unto Dust by Lyman D. Hinckley
- Cosmic Tragedy by Thomas S. Gardiner
- Day of Wrath by Bjarne Kirchhoff
- You Are Forbidden by Jerry Shelton
- Thirty Degrees Cattywonkus by James Bell
- The Small Bears by Gene L. Henderson
- The First Spaceman by Gene L. Henderson
ABOUT THE LOST SCI-FI PODCAST
The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast is the most listened-to vintage science fiction podcast in the world. Ranked the #1 Science Fiction Podcast in 34 countries and heard in more than 190 countries, the show has surpassed 3.8 million listens.
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.
What listeners are saying:
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— junt
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— Sasquatch Sieber
Vintage science fiction. Professionally narrated. Carefully curated.
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