The Snowbank Orbit

On a cold winter night, an elderly couple step outside their home and witness something extraordinary in the sky—a vast, glowing curve of light, drifting across the heavens like a cosmic snowbank. As they watch, the wonder of the universe stirs memories, regrets, and tender hopes, drawing them into a moment where time, love, and eternity converge.

First published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1962, Fritz Leiber’s The Snowbank Orbit is a quiet, haunting meditation on age and the human spirit, told through the lens of science fiction. With his trademark blend of cosmic imagination and psychological depth, Leiber transforms a fleeting celestial vision into a timeless reflection on what it means to live and to love.