The Silence Between

by J. Leigh Bralick

Dr. Song was looking for intelligent life. What he finds makes him rethink everything.

When Dr. Song volunteered to solo a discovery mission to Omicron Aa, he believed the planet held intelligent life. But when he crash-lands on the planet's surface, what he discovers makes him question everything he believed to be true.

A Writers of the Future semi-finalist short story.

23 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 21, 2020

About the author

J. Leigh Bralick is a fantasy author by day and an RN by night...or vice versa, depending on the day. She originally got her bachelor's in medieval history and MA in political philosophy, but decided on a career change when she realized she didn't want to teach, and no one was going to pay her exorbitant sums of money to use her learning to invent fantasy worlds. (She still holds out hope on that score, however.)

After growing up all around the country as a military brat, she now lives in Dallas, TX with a crazy menagerie of animals and more books than she legitimately has space for. When she isn't writing or working, she enjoys ballet and Krav Maga, hiking, and sharing gory ER stories with her friends.

Find her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jleighbralick

Reviews

[S.A. Krishnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the short story. The way it was written and and the world building was just amazing. Especially, the MC with his problems was just beautifully brought out.

[Patricia (Irishcharmer) Yarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rather enjoyed this story!! I could actually relate to main character with the stuttering speech problem. My brother was a stuttered for years, and I seemed to "pick up the impediment" myself when we were kids..he has outgrown it (if there is such a thing as outgrowing it!) And I do catch myself when I am syressed,stressing over something or excited about something!! But back to the story, glad she was able to keep herself centered even tho she didn't complete her mission like she wanted to..hopefully,there's a follow up story? Maybe,perhaps?--P/

[Rick Duprey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story very much and wanted it to go on longer. You get pulled into a very different world and feel as if you are there.

Great short story. Loved the setting and the main character. I wanted more. Very descriptive writing. I could picture everything that was happening.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a deep seated fascination about the deepness of human nature and feeling- so reading a story, especially a short one, that evokes those thoughts and reflections is always so worthwhile to me.
In this one, Jack’s adventure and struggle to communicate and feel like he belongs was so heartfelt and well written that I instantly understood him, which is what I crave from Literature.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A first contact story that ends with the death of an alien but the promise of romance between two humans