Breathing Is Overrated

By William Mangieri

Left to die in the abyss of space, Jansen finds something to live for - or it finds him.
"Breathing Is Overrated" is a speculative fiction short story with a touch of light horror...

• Language: English
• Publisher: William Mangieri
• Release date: Oct 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463722855

William Mangieri

William Mangieri is a karaoke junkie, former theater student, and recovered wargamer who spends as much time wondering "what if?" as "why not?". He writes from Texas, where he and his family live at the mercy of the ghost of a nine-pound westie.William writes mostly speculative fiction (that’s science fiction, fantasy and horror), although he also has a detective series with a soft sci-fi element (Detective Jimmy Delaney.) He completed writing his first novel (Swordsmaster) in 2019; prior to this, he has honed his skills on short fiction. He has been published in Daily Science Fiction and The Anarchist, and six of his stories have earned Honorable Mentions in the Writers of the Future contest.

Book preview

Breathing is Overrated

by William Mangieri

Copyright 2017 by William Mangieri

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Breathing is Overrated

Breathing is overrated.

The fact that my brain can’t go without oxygen beyond six minutes would be a larger concern if the scrubbers in my envirosuit were to fail, but they’re top of the line. I can survive without water for three days if my water reclamation cuts out, but it’s good enough to keep me hydrated for a month or more. I’m in pretty good shape, despite the bruises; my suit will keep me alive the twenty or so days it will take me to starve to death.

The stars circle around me slowly – no point wasting energy to stay still. With each rotation, the Just Deserts has been further away; now it’s finally disappeared from view. They could have jettisoned me without the suit, so that had me thinking Cisco planned to come back for me – that he was just teaching me a lesson, or was softening me up for more questioning. No - he was serious about leaving me out here; he’d even ripped out the suit’s transponder.

Damn it, I