MONIF SHAH CHOWDHURY

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How far can love reach? From one lip to another? From one corner of a room to the other? Between two cities? Can love traverse the vast emptiness that lies between the constellations? If that is the case, then why…

(1)

“..beacuse of this, the amount of radioactive waste has already exceeded the critical point, causing the second largest station in the orbit to be under threat. Even though the station was in Luna’s orbit majority of the crew’s nationality is—”

Tejayi was humming a song to herself. It was a holiday today, and there wasn’t much pressure from work. She had turned off the news that was playing softly on the home system and stood on the balcony with a cup of coffee in hand, gazing into the distant horizon framed by glass. Tejayi lived in a small two-story house in Bongotown, the largest crater in the South Settlement. The entire crater is covered with anti-radiation glass. Bongotown consists of about 200 houses and a few government hospitals. From the balcony, sometimes one can see the Earth in the pitch-black ocean. Vast. Bluish.

And every time Tejayi gazed at this bluish beauty, she remembered her beloved Nilo. No, that’s not right; Nilo hasn’t been embraced as her own yet, only in her thoughts. And as soon as the thoughts of Nilo begin a blue-shift in her heart, a red-shift of embarrassment starts to spread across her cheeks. Ugh!

Tejayi smiles. She loves Nilo. She doesn’t know what words to use to express the utmost love. Otherwise, she would have used that instead of “love”,

Today is the day to meet Nilo. Although they see each other a few times a month due to work, today’s meeting on a holiday feels different. No one will be in their uniforms today; instead of the factory’s bright white light, she will see Nilo in the dim orange light of the restaurant. Tejayi will discover what kind of drinks Nilo likes and what he will talk about while walking down the road, free from the busyness of work. Today, Tejayi will know everything! Uff!

Although, this isn’t really a date. Even on a holiday, they are essentially meeting to discuss the company’s project. Still, Tejayi knows very well that she will never get such an opportunity again.

I need to be honest with my feelings.

I have to tell Nilo that I love him!

I must tell Nilo that I love him.

There was a secret I wanted to share,

Friend, will you have the time?

Just hear it once and forget it,

But don’t tell anyone again.

Many walk around saying “I don’t love,”

Yet in their hearts, love resides.

For so long, one was ordinary, among many,

But today, one feels so different,

In the blue of heart’s darkness…

Tejayi started humming again.

(2)

“I’m Nilo Warda. From the Hydroponics team.”

Tejayi was taken aback that day, but she quickly composed herself. “I’m Tejayi Acharya, from the Lunar Soil Sampling, Researching, and Repurposing Department. I believe we’ll be working together?”

“That seems to be the case,” Nilo replied. “It’s a privilege to work directly with a scientist from the G-Lab. I hope the terraforming project progresses even faster.”

“Excuse me, G-Lab?” Tejayi raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Haha, don’t take it the wrong way,” Nilo said, raising both hands in a gesture of surrender. “It’s just that saying the full name of your department takes a while, so we shorten it to G-Lab.”

Tejayi chuckled softly. That was the beginning. After that, during breaks at work, she gradually started to understand Nilo through their conversations.

This is an excerpt. Read the full story on The Daily Star and Star Books and Literature websites. The story was submitted to a contest that took place during the August flood 2024, where participants had to write a sci-fi based on an AI generated image.

Monif Shah Chowdhury occasionally writes for Star Literature.