Niles Reddick

Niles Reddick writes from his home at Cherokee Lake in the Appalachian Mountains and is author of a novel, four short fiction collections, and two novellas. His work has appeared in over forty anthologies and in more than five hundred pubs including The Saturday Evening Post, Flash Fiction Magazine, Bending Genres, Citron Review, Midway Journal, and Vestal Review.

The Planetarium

Most people in the community didn’t know, or care, about the planetarium at the small, private Methodist college. If they’d driven by, they might have noticed the add-on to the four-story science building on its backside with a half-moon dome roof jutting upwards toward the heavens. If it had been a human body, it would have been a mole or tumor, but the dean believed the addition would bring much needed funds, and besides, the donor who wanted to see the college add the planetarium and integrate it into the curriculum had given enough to cover the building costs. The NASA scientist alum wasn’t able to fund the inside décor, the projection machine in the center, the seating, or the multiple shows needed for a start-up, all of which required redirected funds from the Humanities.