"Slow Sculpture" is a science fiction short story by American writer Theodore Sturgeon. First published in the Galaxy Science Fiction issue of February 1970, it won the 1970 Nebula Award for Best Novelette and the 1971 Hugo Award for Best Short Story. Synopsis A young woman comes across a lonely older man performing scientific experiments in his orchard. She has arrived there by chance after finding a lump in her breast and, panicking, taking an aimless walk. He tells her that he can fix her and she follows him to his house, passing a large bonsai tree. She asks about it and the man is pleasantly surprised by the courteous nature of her query, while the woman observes that some of the strongest and most interesting bonsais are those that have gone overlooked because they were oddly shaped or suffered other problems. On reaching his laboratory, the man explains his theory that electrical imbalances in individual cells can cause these to function improperly, leading to cancer. He has developed a substance which distributes the excess electrical charge between many cells so that each has only a slight imbalance and can function normally. One side effect is that the subject builds up a large static charge. He administers the substance and stands the woman on a glass bowl to insulate her from surroundings as she builds up a charge of 80,000 volts. The man identifies the presence of a malignant tumor and the woman, unable to deal with this confirmation of her worst fears, faints. The man catches her to keep her from injury but suffers burns to his arms as she discharges into him. When the woman regains consciousness, the man tells her that she has been cured of her cancer. She begins to thank him, but he suddenly becomes angry saying that he does not want to hear speeches about how he owes it to the world to share his cure and warns her against telling anyone or he will take legal action to save himself from accusations of medical malpractice. He asks the woman to leave without either of them knowing the other's name. The next morning, she appears to have left and the man goes to tend his bonsai. He understands the tree and that it cannot be ordered to grow in a particular way but can only be given gentle guidance as part of a long,