I read a story as a child about creatures that had accelerated lives and couldn't go in the sun. The day/night cycle was very short so you lived and died in the same location and one creature was desperately trying to go to a safer location.
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2Hi, welcome to the site. In roughly which year did you read this story, and did you read it in a magazine or an anthology? Also, when you say the creatures "couldn't go in the Sun", do you mean that they had an aversion to sunlight, like vampires?– LogicDictatesCommented Oct 3, 2021 at 22:38
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1@user14111: Almost certainly "Frost and Fire". You should make that an answer.– Klaus Æ. MogensenCommented Oct 4, 2021 at 18:05
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2@user14111: Not all OPs ever accept an answer, but the likelihood increases if you post a 'real' answer rather than just a comment. I will upvote your answer if you make one, and I am sure many others will as well.– Klaus Æ. MogensenCommented Oct 5, 2021 at 7:20
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Does this answer your question? Short story about people who lived only a few days– Todd WilcoxCommented Mar 3, 2022 at 2:05
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@Todd Wilcox - Andrew's answer hasn't been confirmed to be correct by the OP yet, so it's a bit premature to flag this as a duplicate. Also, the thread you proposed as a dupe target doesn't have an accepted answer either. If and when Andrew's answer is confirmed to be correct by the OP, this thread is the one that is currently being used as the dupe target.– LogicDictatesCommented Mar 3, 2022 at 2:38
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1 Answer
I'll provide the details on "Frost and Fire" since I agree that's the likely answer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frost_and_Fire_(short_story)
I read a story as a child about creatures that had accelerated lives and couldn't go in the sun.
The plot follows Sim, the protagonist of this story, and his apparently short life on a planet where people are cursed by radiation to live only eight days.
The people of this planet are also gifted with racial memory (they remember their ancestors' memories). However, they do not attempt to reach the sole remaining rocket ship due to the futility of attempting to reach it in one hour, which is the longest length of time between day and night (both deadly).
one creature was desperately trying to go to a safer location.
Sim, motivated by his dwindling days, makes it his goal to extend his life and reach the distant rocket, despite the protests of his sister and other cave-dwellers.
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1iirc, ancestors were humans who crashed on planet. since they have radically different physiology than ancestors, not just lifespan and accelerated maturity but also some kind mind-reading ability, u could argue that they were no longer human. Commented Mar 3, 2022 at 3:17
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youtube.com/watch?v=6wAh27YJprI -- never had heard of this film version. Commented Mar 3, 2022 at 3:21