2. Consider this story as the result of a series of extrapolations, or what-if questions: what if there were an intelligent race of flying carnivores, what if that race decided to explore the universe, what if their ships could go close to the speed of light, what if the distance to the nearest star still required a journey of a lifetime, and so on. Do the answers to those questions account for everything in the story?

3. What kinds of sentences does this story allow that could not be part of a realistic narrative set on earth?

4. Does gender seem to operate among the old one's people as it does among humans?

5. Do any elements in the story—such as the journey, the ship, the flying, or the old one's death—suggest earthly analogs?