Becheru D. Dan | Updates

Theorems (Poem)

Becheru D. Dan — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 05:24:11 -0400

The distance between our hearts

feels

the weight of our feelings

and becomes the circle

we'll traverse back to the beginning.

The distance between our hearts

is equal

to the variation of love in the unit

of a moment.

The weight of our feelings

is the mass of a heartbeat

accelerated to infinity.

The circle is the totality

of our dreams

equally distant, yet so close

to the center

of my universe.

The distance between our thoughts

feels the pressure of our emotions

and becomes the point

where we intersect infinitely.

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2030 A.D. (Short Story)

Becheru D. Dan — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 03:33:01 -0400

Jonas Silk stepped out of the elevator as the door to his apartment slid open with a soft hiss. The ambient lighting of the hallway welcomed him with a familiar, soothing glow, guiding him into the sleek, minimalist space he called home.

“Doris,” Jonas called out, “prepare dinner. And make the windows transparent.”

The house computer responded instantly. “Of course, Mr. Silk. Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes.”

Jonas walked further into the living area as the windows slowly shifted from opaque to transparent, revealing the cityscape beyond. The view was breathtaking, one of the reasons he had rented this expensive apartment. The metropolis stretched out before him, a sea of lights glittering against the dark canvas of night. Towering skyscrapers, interwoven with neon pathways, reached up toward the sky, their tops lost in the haze of low-hanging clouds. Far below, streams of hovercrafts moved in orderly lines, their lights casting an ethereal glow over the streets.

But as Jonas gazed out over the city, something felt off. A faint, almost imperceptible flicker of the lights in the distance caught his attention. He frowned, leaning closer to the glass. It happened again, a brief flicker in one of the sectors, barely noticeable if one wasn’t paying attention. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss.

Jonas tore his gaze away from the flickering lights and settled into the plush chair that conformed perfectly to his body. With a thought, he activated the control panel embedded in the armrest.

"Doris, bring up my social channels and switch to inner sound".

“Inner sound activated,” Doris confirmed. Jonas felt a subtle shift as the ambient noise of the apartment faded, replaced by the crisp, immersive audio fed directly into the tiny implants nestled deep within his ears. It was as if the world outside ceased to exist, leaving only the connection between him and the streams of data he was about to receive.

The windows lost some of their transparency, becoming a semi-opaque screen that displayed a cascade of information. Posts, messages, images, music, voices, and ads flowed seamlessly across the glass, a digital tapestry of his social world.

His attention was quickly drawn to a new post from his brother, Simon. A snapshot taken at sunset, the mountains in the background tinged with a warm orange glow. Simon had arrived in Denver, it seemed, and he wasn't alone. The photo was a candid shot of his daughter, Mia, perched on his shoulders, her laughter audible through the image. The caption read, "Finally made it! Denver at last. Mia's first time seeing the Rockies!"

Jonas felt a brief pang of something – was it envy? Nostalgia? He couldn't quite tell. He hadn’t seen Simon in months, their lives on diverging paths as they each pursued their own futures in different corners of the country. The last time they'd spoken was a rushed call, more out of obligation than any genuine connection.

With a gesture of his hand, he swiped the image aside, and more posts followed. Friends, acquaintances, colleagues – their lives played out in fragments across the screen. A couple he knew from university had just bought a new house, their smiling faces front and center in the feed. Another friend was promoting his latest business venture, the post accompanied by a barrage of flashing advertisements, each more intrusive than the last.

Jonas scrolled through the stream, the relentless influx of commercials and sponsored content mingling with the personal updates until they became indistinguishable. The relentless push of products, ideas, and lifestyles, made it hard to focus, to care about any of it. Yet, it was a part of his daily routine, a background hum that kept him connected to the world.

As he continued to scroll through the endless stream of updates, ads, and messages, his mind barely registering the content. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed it again—a brief, almost imperceptible flicker through the semi-transparent window. His hand paused mid-swipe, and a sense of unease began to settle in the pit of his stomach.

"Doris," he said, his voice tighter now, "shut it off."

Instantly, the window display vanished, returning the glass to its full transparency. Jonas leaned forward, his eyes fixed on the cityscape beyond. What he saw made his blood run cold.

The flicker he'd seen earlier was no isolated incident. In the distance, entire sectors of the city were blinking out, their lights extinguished as if swallowed by some unseen force. The darkness was spreading, creeping its way across the skyline, block by block, like a wave of ink spilling over the landscape.

He watched in horror as the blackout advanced, engulfing skyscrapers and neighborhoods alike, the once vibrant city now plunging into a terrifying void. The darkness moved with an eerie deliberateness, a force of nature that could not be stopped or reasoned with. It was as if the very life was being drained from the city, leaving behind only emptiness.

Jonas's heart pounded in his chest as he tracked the progress of the blackout. It was coming closer, faster than he could comprehend. The familiar landmarks of his world—the bright advertisements, the glowing pathways, the towering structures—were all vanishing, consumed by the relentless march of darkness.

"Doris," he called out, barely able to keep the tremor from his voice, "what's happening?"

But there was no response. The silence from the house computer only amplified his fear. He stood frozen, unable to tear his eyes away from the window as the last remnants of light in the city flickered and died. The darkness was now at his doorstep, the world outside his window nothing more than an abyss.

And then, with a final, gut-wrenching flicker, the last light went out. The city was gone, swallowed whole by the blackness. Jonas was left alone in his apartment, surrounded by an impenetrable void, the only sound his own ragged breathing.

He stood frozen in the dark, the oppressive silence pressing in around him like a suffocating blanket. His heart raced, panic clawing at the edges of his mind. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to speak, to break the unbearable quiet.

“Doris, turn on the lights,” he commanded, his voice trembling.

There was no response. The apartment remained shrouded in pitch black, as if the world itself had vanished. Jonas had never seen darkness like this before, not in all his years. The city, his apartment, his life—everything had always been bathed in the soft glow of artificial light, always under control. But now… now there was nothing.

And the silence. The terrible, deafening silence. It was as if the world had stopped breathing. He could hear nothing but the frantic pounding of his own heart, each beat a drum in his ears. Desperation surged through him.

“Doris!” he shouted, his voice cracking, “Doris, answer me!”

But the house computer, always so reliable, remained eerily silent. Panic gave way to raw fear. He turned and stumbled toward the door, hands outstretched, fumbling in the darkness. When his fingers finally found the smooth surface, he pressed against it, trying to force it open.

“Door, open!” he demanded, his voice rising in pitch.

Nothing happened. The door, usually so obedient to his voice commands, stayed stubbornly shut. He banged his fists against it, the dull thuds echoing in the empty room.

“Open, damn it! Open!” he screamed, pounding harder until his hands ached. But the door wouldn’t budge. His strength drained away, leaving him panting against the unyielding surface. For a moment, he stood there, chest heaving, before he slowly slid down to the floor.

How did this all work? He had never thought about it before. The door just opened when he asked, the lights turned on with a word, food and water appeared on command. But now… now none of it worked. He was trapped in a darkness that felt alive, a darkness that seemed to be closing in on him.

He pushed himself up and moved slowly, feeling his way along the walls toward the kitchen. Maybe, just maybe, something there would still work.

“Computer—water,” he called out, his voice shaky.

Nothing.

He groped around, his fingers brushing against the cold, empty surface of the counter. Panic flared again. How did this all work? He’d never questioned it before, never needed to. Water and food were always there, always provided by the house systems. But now… now there was nothing. Would he starve? No, he’d die of thirst first, he realized. How long could this blackout last?

He forced the thought away and turned back toward the door, desperate for a way out. He moved too quickly, and his foot caught on something, sending him sprawling to the floor. Pain shot through his knee as he hit the ground, and he let out a cry. But there was no one to hear him. He lay there for a moment, the fear threatening to overwhelm him.

But he couldn’t stay down. Crawling now, he made his way back to the door, the hard surface a cold comfort against his hands. He pounded on it again, with less force this time, but more desperation.

“Doris!” he shouted, his voice breaking, “Doris, light on! Doris, open the door, I want out. DORIS! Please...”

The words echoed back at him, empty and meaningless. Soon his shouts turned to whimpers, his voice barely more than a whisper. But he couldn’t stop. He dared not stop, because if he did, the silence would be complete, and he feared what that would do to him. He pressed his ear against the door, straining to hear something, anything. The door was supposed to insulate sounds from outside, but in the stillness, he thought—no, he imagined—he could hear other bangs, other desperate souls trapped just like him.

He had never been disconnected from his inner headphones before, never been without Doris to guide him, to keep him safe, to make everything just… work. Now, without them, the world was a void, an abyss that threatened to swallow him whole.

“Doris, light on,” he begged, his voice barely more than a breath. “Doris, open the door… I want out… please… Doris…”

But there was nothing. No response. No light. No escape. Just the cold, unyielding door and the darkness pressing in from all sides.

He kept talking, kept pleading, his words becoming a stream of incoherent babble. He couldn’t stop, wouldn’t stop, because if he did, the silence would consume him, and he would be lost in the darkness forever.

***

The door suddenly hissed open, and a burst of white, milky light flooded the room, casting away the oppressive darkness. Two silhouettes stepped inside, their forms haloed by the intense light they carried.

"Mr. Silk—can you hear us?" one of them called out, their voice steady, yet tinged with urgency.

Jonas was curled up in a ball on the floor, his eyes wide and unblinking, still fixed on the now-open doorway. His lips moved, forming words that fell into the void, inaudible to anyone but himself. He was lost in the abyss of his own mind, trapped by the silence that had consumed him.

"Mr. Silk!" the figure called again, more forcefully this time. "It's all over! Everything will be fine."

But Jonas continued to stare, his mind unable to process the words, unable to believe that the nightmare was truly over. The other figure knelt beside him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, but Jonas didn't react. He was locked in his own world, the terror of the blackout still gripping him tightly.

"Mr. Silk, you've experienced a blackout," the figure explained, trying to reach through the fog of Jonas’s mind. "The largest blackout in twenty years. But now everything is back to normal. Please blink if you can understand me."

Jonas did not blink. His eyes remained wide, unseeing, as if he were still staring into the void that had swallowed his reality. The two figures exchanged a glance, their faces hidden behind masks that gave away nothing.

An anti-grav stretcher floated into the room, humming softly as it hovered above the ground. With practiced efficiency, the two figures lifted Jonas onto the stretcher, securing him gently. They programmed the stretcher to take him to the hospital, the soft glow of the stretcher’s lights casting eerie shadows on the walls as it prepared to move.

"Do you think he'll be all right?" one of the figures asked.

"They usually aren't," the other responded with a sigh, his tone heavy with the weight of experience. "But there's always a chance... Still, it's worse than expected."

The first figure nodded solemnly. "Yes, 3,211 victims so far... Even the second backup generators failed."

The anti-grav stretcher began to glide out of the room, carrying Jonas toward the long corridor. The two figures followed, the sound of their robotic, metallic voices trailing off into the distance as they moved on to the next emergency.

Thank you for reading 2030 A.D. You can also find it on Amazon if you would like to have it on your Kindle (click View Full Writing).

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New Story: THE MISSING DAY - A Frank Mercer Mystery

Becheru D. Dan — Sun, 18 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

He’s not just solving murders. He’s solving revisions. Frank Mercer knows he’s a character in a detective story, and he’s built a career on cracking cases even when the author changes the facts mid-chapter. But when a self-aware enemy starts deleting a missing day to rewrite an alibi—and to funnel the plot into a cheap, forgettable twist—Frank realizes the real battle isn’t in the streets. It’s on the page. With evidence fading and memory slipping, he must plant truth inside the scene, derail the bad ending, and prove that even fiction can’t erase a stubborn detective for long.

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New Short Story: Mark Died On A Thursday

Becheru D. Dan — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Mark wasn’t supposed to die that day. But since he did, he finds himself interviewed by Bob—a rookie Collector from an independent afterlife startup that’s desperate for souls.

In a cosmic marketplace where Heaven has gone corporate, Hell has gone populist, and even Death struggles with PR, Bob tries to sell Mark on the comforts of eternity. The only problem? Mark isn’t buying it.

Mark Died on a Thursday is a darkly humorous and deeply human exploration of life, death, and what comes after—an afterlife where philosophy meets paperwork and choice itself becomes sacred.

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New Short Story: Portrait of Love

Becheru D. Dan — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In the fog-drenched countryside of 17th-century England, Lord Alistair Hawthorne's beloved wife, Lady Eleanor, is wasting away from an incurable illness. Desperation drives him to seek out the mysterious painter, Lucien Devereux, known for portraits that seem to breathe with life.

As Lucien's brush works its magic, an eerie transformation takes hold, and Eleanor's beauty appears to return. But there is a cost to this miracle, one only Lucien understands, for his talent may be more curse than gift.

‘Portrait of Love’ is a chilling tale of love, loss, and the dark allure of art that captures more than just beauty.

Amazon Kindle Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DL5Z95YV

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Dive Into Noir: Between the Lines: A Short Story Has Arrived!

Becheru D. Dan — Sat, 14 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

It’s raining in New York, and things are about to get a whole lot darker. My latest noir mystery, Between the Lines, is officially live. Follow Detective Frank Mercer as he dives into the shadows of 1950s New York, chasing a trail of secrets, lies, and dangerous déjà vus.

If you’re in the mood for a gritty case filled with twists, turns, and a healthy dose of mystery, you’ve come to the right place. The streets are slick, the stakes are high, and nothing is as it seems.

So grab your trench coat and fedora, because this is a story you won’t want to miss. You can pick up your copy on Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DGQLLZCH

Thanks for sticking with me, and I’ll see you in the shadows.

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New Short Story: The Author

Becheru D. Dan — Tue, 3 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I’m excited to announce the release of my latest story, The Author!

In The Author, a man wakes up with no memory, surrounded by ancient books and a mysterious typewriter that can make anything he writes come true. As he unravels the secrets of his past, he discovers that his words may hold the fate of the world.

This is a tale of mystery, suspense, and the dark corners of the mind. If you love stories that challenge your perception of reality and keep you on the edge of your seat, this one’s for you!

The Author is now available on Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DFXYB1QD

Check it out, and let me know what you think. Your feedback means the world to me.

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New Short Story: Full Circle

Becheru D. Dan — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I'm thrilled to announce the release of my latest sci-fi short story, Full Circle.

In a world on the brink of annihilation, humanity’s last hope has already failed. The asteroid known as Nemesis hurtles toward Earth, its impact certain and catastrophic. Dr. Marcus Kane, once the leader of the team tasked with saving the planet, is left with nothing but guilt and a bottle of whiskey—until a mysterious visitor from the future arrives with a startling revelation.

Full Circle is now available on Amazon Kindle! Dive into the adventure and discover whether humanity can change its fate before it's too late.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DFHRR87N

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5-Star Review Highlight: The Worlds of Origin

Becheru D. Dan — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I'm thrilled to share an incredible 5-star review from K.C. Finn at Readers’ Favorite for The Worlds of Origin! Here’s what they had to say:

"A Sweeping Science Fiction Epic"

“Author Becheru D. Dan has created an expansive and intricate universe that has some deeply committed world-building over an extensive period of imagined history... high-stakes action and intense suspense take over. Treachery is the name of the game, and there are plenty of clever and unexpected surprises that offer big thrills and have you racing into the next chapter... The Worlds of Origin is sure to impress readers with its ambitious scope and thought-provoking themes, making it a captivating read for science fiction fans everywhere to enjoy.”

— K.C. Finn, Readers’ Favorite

https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/the-worlds-of-origin

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