Read "The Man Who Awoke" by Laurence Manning online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
It was night and great blue sheets of flame lit the sky with a ghastly glare. Suddenly a blinding flash enveloped him-he felt a million shooting pains in every limb-he was lying on the ground helpless and suffering-he fell into a brief unconsciousness.
A dozen times he awakened, and each time he shrieked with the pain in his whole body. He opened his eyes upon a small room lit by a penetrating blue electric bulb. Numberless times he tried to move his right hand to shield his eyes but found he could not force his muscles to obey his will. Days must have passed as he lay there, sweat dotting his brow with the effort, and finally one day his hand moved up slowly. He lay a full minute recovering. He did not know where he was. Then from the depths of infinity a little memory came into his dulled brain, a memory with a nameless joy in it. And slowly his surrounding struck new meaning and a vast thrill coursed through him. He was awake! Had he succeeded? Was he really alive in the distant future?