They floated for a while, two flesher-shaped creatures and a giant worm in a cloud of spinning metal fragments, an absurd collection of imaginary debris, glinting by the light of the true stars.

Greg Egan
About This Quote

This sentence is telling us something quite different than what we’re normally reading about. Here, the narrator is talking about two flesher-shaped creatures that are completely unrelated to the “true stars” that are shining above them. These creatures are not just floating in the debris, but they are totally unaware of the stars above them. They are only affected by the light of the true stars because their bodies can reflect them back down to them.

When people read stories like this, they think that there must be something wrong with this story because it seems so unreal. However, this reality is not so far-fetched at all. This story is merely an account of events that could have happened in a distant time and place, perhaps on a planet with no sun or moon.

It could have been the only starlight for billions of years.

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