I only just saw this 2013 story recently, and it’s the kind of story that… lingers. It’s short, only a little over 3,000 words, and worth every one of them.

E. Lily Yu published “The Urashima Effect” in Clarkesworld, where it is available to read right this instant and you’d be a fool not to do so.

The story takes place in two parts. Primarily, a researcher and solo advance landing party for an interstellar colony wakes up from deep sleep and acclimates to his environment as the ship begins decelerating from relativistic speeds. The second part of the story is the recordings that the researcher’s wife left for him to pass the time during his deceleration, which tell a folktale that carries much more of a message that mere entertainment.

As I said, it’s the kind of story that lingers. It’s precisely the kind of cerebral, soulful, SF that I love, and I’d recommend it to anyone.