Day 352: The Reach

Some of the stories in this issue of Boulevard Magazine are really impressive. There seems to be a bit of a theme going on, though I'm not sure the editor intended it as such. Many of the stories do one of the hardest things in writing by taking a thoroughly explored concept and bringing new ideas to the table to create something amazing. So many of these authors do this so well, and what's even more amazing is that many of them were part of the emerging writers' contest, meaning that these new writers are taking old stories and putting interesting twists and turns in there. Usually I would expect a more experienced writer to be able to pull this off most effectively (I certainly struggle with it) but I guess there's something to be said for the inventiveness of a fresh mind.

The first story in particular really captured me, called 'The Reach.' It's a story we've all heard before. Humanity wants to send out an explorer into the cosmos to reach out for a new home orbiting a distant star. It'll take more than a thousand years for him to get there, but he'll get to sleep for most of it. Only when the chosen astronaut gets out there into the void, it turns out that during his long sleep, humans developed much faster spaceships. A classic trope, but this time it's a little different. The astronaut, Ishin, wakes every so often on his way there, and encounters other spacefaring humans. Rather than pick him up on the way, the more developed humans treat the old spacecraft like a curiosity, occasionally gathering around it like we gather around archeological sites today. He begs them to let him board these ships on multiple occasions but is denied every time. When he finally arrives at the planet he was supposed to be the first person to ever see, he finds a deserted wasteland. He's the last to arrive, and in the meantime, other humans have come, settled, used up the planet's resources, and subsequently abandoned it. In the end, he points his spacecraft at a distant star, and goes to sleep one last time, hoping that maybe he'll find a place that he actually is the first person to see.

I'm not sure exactly what the moral of the story is. I'm still trying to figure it out I guess. It certainly had me on the edge of my seat while I was reading it though, and it's stuck fast in my mind like glue. I think the best stories are the ones that keep you thinking about them for a long time after you finish reading. I have no doubt this one will keep me up at night for some time to come.

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley