Danielle Eckhart
Bio
I write literary stories about people navigating suffering, power, and love, asking how meaning and responsibility survive when life breaks open.
Stories (26)
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30 Days 'til Daughterhood
Father-Daughter day at school was one of my earliest memories where I knew something was off. The other kids spent the day pridefully showing off their desks to their dads. The sight of them, beaming with joy, stopped me in my tracks. I wondered, why was I alone?
By Danielle Eckhart5 years ago in Families
The Stars Above
Part 1 My life has been a series of misfortunes that started long before my birth. In the 2050s, chemical warfare between countries nearly destroyed our planet. Only a few years later, the last departing shuttle to Mars launched. There were never going to be enough for everyone. These one-way trips were named Missions. To make it aboard required excellence or nobility, neither of which my family had. The Missions held the leaders, scientists, and the rich people of the country. People like the rest of us were left to deal with the consequences. With the environment in jeopardy, chances of survival were slim. Impersonation of passengers was impossible. Each candidate was vigorously screened and hand-picked by government officials. Evidence showed project leaders plotted at the first sign chemical warfare was ruining our planet. News broadcasts boasted of a feat unprecedented in human history, as though hundreds of thousands of civilians weren't suffering. My parents, my sister Jane, and my brother Gregory were all I had. I used to believe we were better off. As if the black hearts of those who left would somehow make our planet sicker than the wastelands ever could.
By Danielle Eckhart5 years ago in Fiction
