Stories by Leon de la Garza
I entered this chamber fifty two years ago. I remember that day in its entirety. My memories before it are sparse, it was a different life, they were different times. I remember my body. They said it was perfect, I was short, slim, smart. I agreed with them when they told me, but they didn’t…
“Do you know what people said back then?” “What?” “They said humans would not survive.” “Really? Why did they say that?” “I don’t know. It’s hard to imagine being alive back then. Problems must have seemed insurmountable to them. I suppose they saw their end around every corner, with each new sign of trouble, with…
It was a dark moonless night in the city of Avantis, the cold air stood still and silence reigned as snowflakes fell from the sky; Silence that penetrated the city hospital and permeated the space in room 703, and there, in that silent room, an old man held his gaze towards the outside and a…
I have been travelling the galaxy looking for a new home. Thousands of us volunteered. We scanned the planets, we scanned the stars and when we were done, we moved on to the next. There are no days or nights here. There is always darkness. A darkness so deep that even myriad stars can’t rid…
Part One ”It‘s such a pretty view” Rita sat silent on the edge of the roof of the 200 story building with her feet dangling over it. The wind swayed her dark hair in a rhythmic manner and she took a deep breath of it and tasted the dirt that flew with it. ”Do you…
It was in a universe before our universe. It was in a far away world of a far away galaxy. It was the humans’ third emergence from the soup of the ground, it was the first time they had escaped their world and the first time they explored the vastness of the cosmos. People were…
There is a place in this ship that few people know about and that I like to visit. It’s hidden below the storage area in the back, near where June and Boid go and kiss themselves when the lights go off; They don’t know that’s where I spend the nights, they don’t know I watch…
I can still see it from here. I haven’t lost track of it yet. Among the millions of stars around it, it still shines blue, it still looks like home. I spend my days walking through these white hallways, the ones with the soft floors, the ones where your feet don’t hurt after having walked…
Another Earth. It’s where they told me I was going. To another world in the outer reaches of the galaxy. Apparently Earth ran on out of prison space. They said I would have a new life, they said I wouldn’t even notice I was gone, they said it would be just like home, just like…
What are you? A question I was asked once. I remember it entirely. I had been waiting for the night somewhere in the desert next to a small road, waiting for the absence of vibration, for the less chaotic darkness and the glow of the moon to illuminate my reflective body. It’s the way I…