Joe Vasicek > Quotes

“Don’t be afraid, she tells us. Every end is a beginning. You lived before you were born to me and you will return here after.”
― Joe Vasicek, Memoirs of a Snowflake: A Short Story

“By the time you regain consciousness, the thawing process has already run most of its course. The flashes and images become brighter and more perceptible. You have a sort of falling sensation, during which you become aware of your body. Painfully aware. When you open your eyes, you’ve got a splitting headache and a nauseous stomach. Every time you move, another muscle cramps up on you. If you aren’t careful, you empty your bowels right there in the chamber. The glass hisses open, the chamber tilts up to a forty five degree angle, and your limp body slides down the cold metal back until you find yourself sitting on your ankles. Your breath feels like fire in your lungs, and even though steam envelopes your body from all sides, you feel deathly cold. Too weak to stand up, you fall forward onto your hands and knees instead.”
― Joe Vasicek, Genesis Earth

“Perihelion, an online science fiction magazine.”
― Joe Vasicek, L'enfer, c'est la Solitude: A Short Story

“parents looked so young in the picture. Their eyes were a lot brighter, their faces more vibrant. The way they smiled and held each other, they didn’t seem to have much else on their minds. They both looked so carefree and energetic, yet I knew that at the time of the picture, they had already decided to leave Earth forever. How could they be so happy, knowing that they would soon leave their families and friends behind, most of them forever? How could they focus so much on each other, knowing that they would soon leave their home, possibly never to return?”
― Joe Vasicek, Genesis Earth

“Then you want me to be ‘free’ in the same way that a tree is after it is cut down, or that cut flowers are ‘free’ once they’re in a vase. What good is it to be free without any family?”
― Joe Vasicek, The Freedom of Second Chances: A Short Story

“Haven’t you heard a damned word that I’ve said?” she exploded. “You show up on the day before my wedding, thinking to ‘rescue’ me, but have you ever even once asked me what I want? No—instead, you’ve made this all about you. How you could never live with yourself if this marriage of honor went through. How you only want what’s best for me. Stars, Eve—you’re no different from everyone else who wants to control every detail of my life!”
― Joe Vasicek, The Freedom of Second Chances: A Short Story