/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

>>6960553
The Big Pat Boom by Damon Knight

Aliens visit Earth, and wander around looking for something interesting. At a farmer's market, at the end of one table the local cow lifts its tail and dumps a cow pie. The aliens think this is the greatest and offer big money for the cow pie.

Soon it is discovered that certain cow pies are worth more than others. There are the "Queen" swirls and "Emperor" swirls. These fetch top dollar. Attempts to counterfeit the Queens and Emperors by using molds fail miserably, the aliens can tell.

Eventually they leave, and the cow pie economy collapses.

Until the day when other aliens arrive, and are fascinated by an apple core chewed by Delbert Smith. Since Delbert is missing a few teeth this makes a unique pattern on the core...