"Flatlander" is an English language science fiction short story by American writer Larry Niven, published in 1967.

The short story was originally published in Worlds of If, March 1967, and reprinted in Neutron Star,[1] and Crashlander.

[2] Traveling to Earth after his trip to the core of the Milky Way Galaxy, Beowulf "Bey" Shaeffer befriends Gregory Pelton, a fabulously wealthy and gregarious flatlander (Earth-born human) who calls himself Elephant.

The two make a list of particularities apparent about the planet orbiting what Shaeffer dubs the Fast Protosun: When the hull vanishes, they only have just enough time to get their helmets on.

Elephant insists on attempting to land on the planet anyway, but Shaeffer refuses, unless Pelton can explain why the General Products hull disappeared, and demands they run for it.