The patient had amnesia, and lacked any identification. He’d been brought to the hospital after being knocked down by a hit-and-run driver.
As a part of his therapy, he was asked to paint a landscape. He painted a barren, rocky expanse of red-gray rock under a dim and distant Sun. The staff started calling him ‘The Martian.’
He developed a taste for painting, and produced more of the landscapes with increasing skill.
On a whim, the hospital director passed one of them on to a NASA administrator he knew. She called back demanding to know where he’d gotten their photographs.

“Goddard Interns Experience a Little Mars on Earth” by NASA Goddard Photo and Video is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

My first very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow, is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!

Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 

Have a fabulous day!