Listening to the Silence

For a person who doesn't normally read or enjoy a lot of short stories, it seems to me that is becoming a year end habit for me. This year, not only was it a short story, but science fiction at that. In Youth, Red and his new friend Slim are hiding two strange creatures in the barn with plans to use them as their ticket into the circus. Slim is there visiting only due to his father's, an Astronomer, proposed business plan with Red's father, and Industrialist. It seems that some species from another solar system has come to earth for trading purposes and the Astronomer was the first contact they were able to make.

Maybe it's that it was science fiction, or that it was a short story, but Youth didn't do much for me. It hasn't put me off Asimov entirely, I'm more than willing to give him another chance, but I think that unless you're a die-hard science fiction or at least Asimov fan, this story is one that you could stand to skip.