Fantasy Drabble #45 “Up, Up and Away”

Jope held on tight to the railings of the basket as the balloon rose. Below, the King and his wizard watched.

From his ever increasing altitude he could see for leagues in every direction. The drought was turning crops brown throughout the realm.

He could no longer see the King. Even the Palace was a speck. Soon he would enter the clouds. Once he was above them, he would start seeding them with the wizard’s powder. With luck, and if the wizard was not a fraud, it would make rain.

If only there was a way to get back down.

SF Drabble #75 “PSR-1073 rev. C”

Poser pulled himself up and over the fence. The barbed wire was no obstacle, as his skin was titanium. There might be people here, people who needed him. He’d been looking for so long and found no one…

The building was still intact, which was a good sign. The doors had electronic locks, which were no trouble.

Inside he found only bones and dust, discarded tools, cans of food open and emptied.There had clearly been humans living here in these rooms, but they had died or moved on long ago.

Poser would recharge for a while, and then keep looking.