The Other Side of Stars

Artwork by Abuzeedo Design

Something has always captivated me about space. As far as we know it is an endless ocean of black filled with all manners of colorful heavenly objects, and that is only what we've seen so far. The possibilities of the universe are endless, literally and figuratively, and there is no telling what else lies just beyond our peripherals. As awe inspiring space is, it also brings the word lonely to mind. Looking out into the infinite gulf is enough to make you feel quite insignificant and alone. Despite it's silence I can almost hear sad soft classical music being played against it's celestial background.

I had a thought this evening about a story idea. The phrase, "The Other Side of Stars," came to mind as I wondered about the possibilities that lie across our known and unknown universe. My mind drifted light years away and millennia away to a remote, inoperable space station, floating in the gulf, with a star twenty million miles away, bathing the desolate station in an orange glow, causing shadows to dance among the dark walls as the light slides its way down a long row of bay windows.

Pretty descriptive, I know, but that is the image that was etched into my imagination. I then thought, who or what else might be near this old space station. The idea of an explorer, wearing a special exo-skeleton like space suit, with the glowing orb of an AI floating from a contraption on his wrist, sprung into view.

While I have no idea where the story is going, I went ahead and wrote out a simple paragraph describing this scene with just a little dialogue.

The corridor is silent and still. Shifting shadows dance along the smooth metal walls that line the hallway, as the light from a star twenty million miles away, cascades through the row of bay windows, mimicking shadow puppetry as it slides its way toward the end of the corridor, stopping only at the darkness. A single line of green light shoots past the windows and is swallowed up by the abyss.

“Lantern readouts show only residual radiation activity sir,” says an autonomous sultry female voice.

A human figure steps out from the shadows towards the light that pierces the bay windows.

“Zana, no matter how much I fear the dark, this reminds me that it can be pushed back.”

“You’re correct. Darkness can be pushed back, but light can be extinguished Aleph,” replies Zana.

Through his black visor Aleph closes his eyes, trying to feel the warmth of the star as light envelopes around him, bathing him in an orange glow. He presses one gloved hand against the window and sighs.

“Always the optimist Zana.”

I know it isn't much, but to me, this scene conveys a lot of emotion. You can feel a slight tension as the scene unfolds around you. A paragraph before this might bring in a bigger picture of the desolate space station to set the mood. You also learn a little bit from this passage. You learn that this male character's name is Aleph, he has an AI named Zana, and that something called a Lantern is able to analyze the environment. You also learn that Aleph is hopeful, which possibly makes him the protagonist of the story, but you also learn that there might be another reason he is here at this forgotten space station, something darker.

Did I necessarily mean to convey all of that in one passage? No. It is just what came to my mind when I started to put all of those pieces together. Will I continue to work with this concept? Maybe. Does it have a cool title? Hell yeah it does. Who knows. If anything I was able to escape for just a moment into the depths of space.