“You know damn well it’s not a question of whether I’m able to do the job,” she snapped. “I have twice his experience, not to mention at least twice the number of limbs, depending on how you count the cybernetics. He still has to do his own damn work.”
MicroBlogVember
“No, really,” he said. “We’d love to stay. In any other circumstance, we would. But….” He glanced over at his husband and took his hand, then turned back to their host, forcing himself to look into the wet, empty sockets where its eyes should have been.
Floating above the planet, tethered to the shuttle as he worked, was one of his favorite places to be. At least it was until he felt the first tentative touch of something on his arm, pulling him away from his station—and knew it was inside his suit.
Perky and bubbly as ever, the real estate agent opened the door and ushered them in, exclaiming as he did that, “you’ll be amazed at the space in this one!”
He watched them fall into the void until they were out of sight, then carefully locked the door.
They had always hated the cold, growing up. Thick clothes and as many layers as possible defined the winter months. But now, as they felt the heat of the overworked reactor move through the ship, they actually looked forward to feeling the cold of space.
He had said he wanted to be a star his entire life. They didn’t understand until he started to glow, incandescent, heat pouring out of him, immolating everything around him as he grew ever larger, brighter, and hotter. He finally got his wish.
“I thought you said this haunted house was supposed to be frightening,” he complained.
“No,” she said calmly as she led him onward. “I merely promised you’d be frightened. I didn’t tell you when. Or why.”
It’s not the scarecrow itself that’s bothersome. Okay, we don’t know who put it up, and it’s a bit disquieting that it’s dressed in our child’s old clothes. But it’s the slowly oozing goo that constantly drips off of the stick fingers that really gets me.
She was used to seeing the street disappear into the distance in fog, or in the dark. Seeing it fade away into nothingness in the bright light of mid-day, however, was a new experience. As she started walking, she wondered if she would fade away as well.
They had been observing the planet for close to seven orbits around its star, and yet they were still avoiding making contact. Never before had they found an advanced species where every identified language had the concept of “being mean”.