You are listening to another Clarksworld magazine podcast. I'm your host and narrator, Kate Baker.

Welcome to The Last Story for the Month of June, 26, issue 237. As always, these stories, past stories,

and hopefully many of our future stories are brought to you with your ongoing support.

So thank you if you've checked a few bucks our way via donation or patreon.com for slash Clarksworld

for buying a subscription or for going slash Clarksworld for buying a

subscription or for going to Clarksworld citizens.com. There are so many ways that you can help us

with bringing each of these issues to life. So thank you from the bottom of my heart. And also,

if you've spent the time on your busy schedules to send me an email telling you what you like

about the podcast or what stories have

particularly moved you. Thank you for sharing those with me. You can always write me at kate

at clarksworld magazine.com. Our piece is titled, Ice, Rock, Empathy. It is by Damien Netti. Damien Netti

is a Mexican writer, painter, and data analyst. His work has appeared

in Clark's World, Flash Fiction Online, The Deadlands, Rio Grande Review, the best Mexican science fiction,

2023 and 2025, and several Spanish language magazines and anthologies. He edits Sofon, a speculative fiction magazine. And if you like what you

hear, you can go back to funerary habits of low entropy entities and the face of God, a documentary.

So my dear listener, I hope that you can sit back, relax, and let me tell you a story.

Iridescent algae glowed upon the ice and rock of the world, signaling the start

of a new day. The patterns of their light, which we had trained over many estrus cycles to respond

to environmental changes and alertest of predators, indicated the presence of a visitor.

We came out of homes carved into the ice of the world to greet them.

We felt the ether vibrating around us

and saw their blurry silhouette swaying amid the currents.

...