The Neon Insect

By I. A. Galdames

A man walks among the ruins of a city, afraid of the shadows that inhabit the ruins.

He remembers what took him to the city and why he has not left yet.

A science fiction story about loneliness and corporal terror, told through memories.

Download it now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Editorial Antielectrón
• Release date: Dec 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386842736

I. A. Galdames

Desarrollador web, caminante y fanático de la ciencia ficción, Ignacio Galdames comenzó a escribir desde muy temprana edad. Autor de cuentos cortos, mayormente de ciencia ficción y uno que otro cuento absurdo.

Book preview

Dedication

For all the towns forgotten in the earthquake.

For all the lost people in forgotten valleys.

Thanks

 

Synopsis

A man walks among the ruins of a city, afraid of the shadows that inhabit the ruins.

He remembers what took him to the city and why he has not left yet.

A science fiction story about loneliness and corporal terror, told through memories.

Download it now.

Preface

The Neon Insect originally was called just The Insect. It was a story draft about a man living in a ruined city, tormented by paranormal shadows.

But after finding the story, I realized that not only it wasn’t fantasy, but it was science fiction and that there was an explanation for the origin of the shadows that he saw, so I started to expand it to include it in the compilation.

It is also one of the first stories that I decided to sell separately.

The original idea was written after the earthquake of 2010, after knowing that not only the earthquake had destroyed the country, but even people. Many towns literally disappeared, but others were not even on the maps to begin with. This is the story of one of them.

The Neon Insect

A building collapses.

It's like an explosion that echoes through the ruins of the city. Tons of concrete and metal shake the earth as they fall abruptly.

The yellow sun shines on the side of the destroyed city, while a cloud of dust and debris rises, marked by golden rays of sunlight.

Dozens of buildings in ruins around the cloud of dust and debris are shaking. Some pieces of other buildings also fall. Cornices and pieces of missing walls leave rooms exposed.

The city is surrounded by bright yellow hills. In the distance, the snowy mountain range shines with silver tones in contrast to the black clouds of the sky.

You are in the middle of a cracked bridge. Below you there is a deep ditch that surrounds the city. Debris and dry branches, along with skeletons of fish and frogs abound in the deep well that surrounds the city, which is submerged in the crater.

Far from you, in the middle of the city, there is a blonde woman, with her hair in the wind. She looks like a small illuminated figure, in contrast to the gray of the rubble and ruins.

You descend trough the straight and cracked road. Your long coat moves with the wind. Your long shadow enters the city before you.

You go down to the city sunk in the earth, next to the inclined road. Avoid bumps in the road and holes in the concrete, through which you can see the bottom of the dry well that surrounds the city.

When you enter the city and look again, the woman is gone.

Voices are heard