ABANDONED. Scifi short story possibly by Ray Bradbury ? A crew of astronauts fall through space, many of them dying. Weird ending. Spoilers ahead.

[Eulalia Carriveau]

I read this story probably between 2010 and 2016, but it read like many bradbury stories. In my head, I swore this was in the illustrated man, but I went through that book and cannot find a story that matches what I recall. A small crew of astronauts experience some sort of ship malfunction. I can't remember what specifically happens or if we actually see it, but they end up falling through space, much like in Kaleidescope by Bradbury, and many of them die. At the end, one man wakes up on what turns out to be an alien planet. The beings there "saved" him and they feed him this weird liquid broth thing that doesn't actually provide a human with sustenance. He finds that his old crewmate is there and was taken in earlier than he. The friend explains that he's dying of starvation because there's nothing that exists within this atmosphere that a human being could possibly live on. I think he dies? But either way, the end is just the living one, or the 2 of them basically accepting and waiting for death.

[Kris]

Eulalia, please post a new comment if you're still looking for this book - or if you found it.

Eulalia (OP) was last active on the site in September 2020. Moving to Abandoned folder.