Miss Dow peered through the window. A young man, tall and well-muscled, stood in the middle of the room. He was naked. His uncut black hair fell to the small of his back. His chest was slit with a gaping wound that bled profusely, his legs and stomach were soaked with blood. "Why is he smiling? What is he staring at?" she asked, unable to take her eyes off the figure before her. "I don't know," said Doctor Santell. "Why don't you ask him?" The novel based on Native American science fiction author Craig Strete's Nebula Award finalist short story, "The Bleeding Man."