I Have (Not) Been Lonely | Coming in 2026

Nyanjura wants to be alone. Actually alone. She doesn't want to talk to anybody, and she doesn't want anybody to talk to her. She doesn't want to make friends, like her parents suggest, and she doesn't want hugs, or to talk about her feelings. And she definitely doesn't want to listen when her parents try to talk sense into yet another politician that space is not a trash belt.

When her parents leave her in a room full of other children ("you can play together") while they accept more empty promises, she's had enough. She sneaks out and hides in the storage room of an empty spaceship.

But the spaceship doesn't stay empty and while she's asleep, it leaves port. In the middle of space, she's discovered by two family friends. They try to notify her parents, but the communication systems fail. At first, Nyanjura is relieved. But the adults don't leave her alone. They try to return to port, but their navigation systems also fail.

And then Nyanjura's epileptic seizures get worse.

And then reality starts breaking apart.

If Nyanjura can't learn to trust and rely on others, she'll have no way to trust what's real. And then she will truly be left all alone, in the vast and cold emptiness of space.

***

Hopefully coming in 2025, if I can complete it offline by then! Details still subject to change (eg. epilepsy representation, as I continue researching).