Man Alone

"Man Alone" by Don Berry is a science fiction story set in the late 1950s, focusing on Colonel Richard Harkins, an astronaut who struggles with a deep mental crisis after his return to Earth on the "Phoenix I". The story explores the themes of psychological isolation and the effects of space travel on the human mind. After successfully returning the mission, Harkins cannot emotionally reconnect with anyone at Gila Base IV, signaling distress and actively avoiding human contact. Blind and deaf to the world, suffering from headaches, and tormented by unseen beings, he slips further away. The joint efforts of the military and psychiatrist Colin Meany lead them to try to revive Harkins' connection to reality through memories of his wife, Martha. But he is overwhelmed by the vastness of space, ending in tragedy and highlighting the profound loneliness when a person is confronted with the size of the universe.