When lovers (even ones who are very compatible) unite, we like to claim that the universe brought them together against all odds. But what if that union—or in tragic cases, separation—was quite literally brought about by the cosmos? Consider the following stories:
“Phases of the Moon” by Alice Towey
Towey’s short story was the inspiration for this list. Long-distance relationships are painful enough on Earth. How will we love our partners when they’re literally on a different planet or satellite? So much has been said about the power of love, but there has been no precedent in history about (real) lovers separated over such impossible distances.
Rachael’s girlfriend has gone to the moon. She’d be away only for a year, but away is away—and the pain of the distance isn’t helped by the fact that she proposed to Rachael just before leaving, and Rachael didn’t answer—she might even be jealous of the moon. When her girlfriend returns, will she say yes?
“Let All the Children Boogie” by Sam J. Miller
Laurie and Fell find themselves bonding over their love for late-night radio, which is one day interrupted by an unexpected voice. Initially dismissed as mere interference, the voice shows up every night, and Laurie and Fell can’t help themselves from wondering who it is and what they’re talking about. They start searching, and find not just answers about the world, but also about themselves and their place in it. A beautiful, moving story that had me hooked from beginning to end.
“Afterglow” by Lindsey Brodeck
In a month, Talli and her partner Renem will be leaving for 452b, in the hopes of building a better life than the one they have on Earth right now, living in an abandoned building and scavenging in landfills. But Talli isn’t sure she wants to go. She’s fascinated by the bees around the city that she tracks and logs on her optic mod. One of them leads her to the Keepers, a community of people who have dedicated themselves to rewilding the planet. They’ve seen Talli’s work as a citizen scientist and hope she will join their mission. Now Talli is torn—should she go with her partner to a different planet, or stay back and help regenerate the planet that she knows, where all the bees are?
“The Deadline” by Brian K. Lowe
Allie had decided to give herself a single lifetime to experience what it was to be a human. She watches the stars and her spouse David, to her surprise, knows why—she’s not from here and she’s lonely—and he wants her to go after what she wants, even though it might mean leaving him forever. An emotional and bittersweet little story.
“The God, Descendant” by Amanda Helms
Revolving around a sphere, the Falling God keeps falling and the Rising God keeps rising. They ask questions every time they pass each other, wondering if there are other Gods, wondering if they would like to do something other than rising and falling. Then one day, the Rising God reaches out to touch the Falling God and suddenly, they can imagine new possibilities of being. But can those possibilities come to pass?
“Moons We Can Circumnavigate in One Day, or the Space Probe Love Story” by Natalia Theodoridou
After reading tons of SFF stories I’ve learned that the best way to make me—a veritable Luddite—fall in love with machines is to make the machine fall in love with something or someone else. In this case, we have the love story of a space probe, which is about to be separated from its beloved. What can they do together before they part ways, continuing on their assigned trajectories? There are so many ideas to choose from—ferrying around the cold lakes on Charon or counting the cracks on the surface of Enceladus… What would you want to do on this last date?
