Another short sci-fi story from Project Gutenberg, this time about Henry "Hank" Devers, in a world where humanity has put man on Mars, Hank is made famous for being "The First One" to come back.
An enjoyable psychological read, leaving the reader questioning "What happened? Has he changed or have they?" and providing just enough context for the reader to make their own conclusions.
Of course, the reader is misdirected into making completely the wrong conclusions! For the entire story I was expecting some big twist, you know, Hank is an alien, or everyone else is, or it's all a telepathic dream (by aliens!). Hey, I would have even accepted it all being in his head and he's taken away to an asylum, but I never expected it to go down that route. Before posting I was sure that it mentioned he had gone up, but I am honestly unsure now. At the start, before we even know the protagonists name, it mentions "the mayor didn't seem quite as at-ease as he'd been on his last big welcoming--for Corporal Berringer, one of the crew of the spaceship Washington, first to set Americans upon Mars." which forces that into your mind as a potential destination. Through all the talk of him being The First One there's an undercurrent theme of him being one who returned, of coming back, but never any mention of surviving; it's just natural to lump those concepts together especially in the passages that mention how others have not survived the same experience. Later the idea of him going up to space is reinforced with Edith, his wife saying "You always said it reminded you--being able to see the sky--that you were going to go up in it, and that you were going to come down from it to this bed again." This is a fun little story, and I really did not guess the ending at all. Misdirection really well executed by an author I've never come across, and will definitely be keeping an eye out for now. I hope you all enjoy the read!