Light Pollution

By Mike Ramon

A short story. Charlie Harris arrives from Mars for a visit with his sister's family on Terra. It will be a short visit, but by the end, he will find himself wondering what it really means to see the stars.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mike Ramon
• Release date: Oct 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215572887

Mike Ramon

Born and bred in the Midwest.

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LIGHT POLLUTION

Mike Ramon

© 2023 M. Ramon

Smashwords Edition

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Photo credit: Twinsday at English Wikipedia

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Charlie Harris woke to the sound of a crying infant. Somewhere behind him, toward the back of the cabin, a mother was cooing at her child, trying to soothe the kid. The man seated directly on Charlie’s right, a large man with ample jowls, twisted his body around in his seat so that he could rise up and look back. The man lowered into his seat again, shaking his head in frustration. Noticing Charlie noticing him, the jowly man leaned in close.

People oughtn’t bring young ones on long trips like this, the man said. A shorter trip isn’t such a big deal, Luna to Terra, or Terra to Station Alpha. But a Mars to Terra flight when the two are about as far from each other as they can get? I can’t blame the kid for being fussy.

Charlie wasn’t in the mood for conversation, and he worried that any verbal response would encourage the man to carry on beyond the fussiness of children on interplanetary flights, so Charlie just smiled, nodding his head slightly before