The Gardener of Slow Light
sci-fiEveryoneMira ran to the control room and aimed the station's big telescope at the blip. After a long minute, an image sharpened on the screen — not a star, but a ship. A small, silver ship, drifting slow and dark, with one tiny window glowing faintly. Someone, or something, was inside, and it was coming closer.
Mira didn't answer the ship. Instead she watched it dock against the station's old airlock with a soft clunk. The greenhouse vines all pressed against the inner door, straining toward it like they wanted to greet whatever was coming. Mira picked up a wrench, took a deep breath, and walked toward the airlock alone.
What happens next?
1 ways forwardThe airlock hissed open. Instead of a monster, a tall figure made of soft green light stepped out, shaped almost like a person. "Hello, Mira," it said in her grandmother's voice. "I became a gardener. I came back so you wouldn't be alone." Mira dropped the wrench and, with tears in her eyes, stepped forward to hug the light.