SF Drabble #178 “Survey And Report”

SMS-14 punched through to the surface, and as soil and rock fell past it down into the tunnel its sensors registered the temperature rising on it’s external plating: it had breached in daytime.

The long-lost connection to positioning satellites was re-established, but the robot was receiving no carrier wave from the Colony Computer. Perhaps the transmitter was broken down. The settlement wasn’t far, though, and it could turn in its findings at any operating data port.

And they were important findings: SMS-14 had gone deeper than any of the others. It had found great riches. The colonists would be pleased.

Zombie Drabble #189 “Teamkiller”

Red knocked the pistol out of the man’s hand and grabbed him by the collar. “What the fuck, Vince?”

“Dude, what? He was all up on me.”

“So you move. It’s a zombie, it’s not like you can’t outrun it.”

“I’m tired. What the fuck is your problem?”

Red spoke as if to a five-year-old. “You shot it. They all heard. Now they’re coming, and we’re going to have to spend all our ammunition fighting them off.”

Mr. Berry interjected, “Just shoot him, pick up his gun and let’s be on our way.“

Vince’s eyes grew wide. “Wait, what now?”

Fantasy #124 “Full Moon Fever”

He could smell her. She was miles away, but it didn’t matter: he could assume any form, and many he routinely took were fast.

He crossed roads as a flash, jumped over walls a blur, going in stealth only where there were humans and lanterns. Even so it took hours to reach her Warren.

She was here, somewhere, hunting. He could smell her early kills: a rabbit and a bird, probably. He let out a long, slow howl, as was custom. He was in her franchise now, hoping for a welcome.

This is the way it has always been done.

SF Drabble #177 “Pas De Deux”

“Jump.”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“Don’t be chicken. Jump.” He leaped confidently off the edge and out into the open air.

The central core of a Polixaci liner is an vast open volume with no spin gravity. Yoshi was already a hundred yards away by the time Eloise worked up the courage to push off.

“Come back and get me!”

His strapped-on wings were bigger than hers, and he’d done this before. He swooped back towards her, gaining speed. As he passed, he grabbed her hand and they pulled together.

She was scared, but she kissed him anyway.

Zombie Drabble #188 “They Tried To Tell Us We’re Too Young”

Anna walks when she can, sprints when she must. The school is deserted, even though there is a football game scheduled for today. That won’t be happening. The world ended last night.

She isn’t supposed to be out here. She snuck out. Her bedroom window has a trellis beneath it. It’s like her parents don’t even realize she’s a teenage girl.

Anna is looking for her boyfriend the cornerback, the classic Mustang restorer, the surprisingly sensitive lover whom she has secretly sworn to marry.

If he’s already zombiefied, she will throw herself off the water tower out by the highway.

SF Drabble #176 “Father’s Day”

The game was a good one, but it wasn’t important. They’d even matched the couch and the T.V. to the ones from his childhood.

It never seemed long enough. The girl came in to softly tell him his time was up. They were good about that: giving you a gentle exit from the fantasy. Even so, when his father flickered out, leaving the recliner and beer behind, Chuck felt a pang of loss.

“I’ll go ahead and rebook for next week.”

“Excellent, thank you sir.” She smiled and led him back out to the harsh reality of the waiting room.

Fantasy Drabble #123 “Irie”

And in the blink of an eye, she was dead.

A dragon lives thousands of years if he’s careful, though few are. Midz-Aset was already nine hundred years old when his beloved Queen Irie died after a forty-year reign.

Forty years was nothing: Midz-Aset had slept longer than that once.

Laying waste to the town and the castle in his fury did not sate his anger. Even gathering the jewels and gold from the ruins and adding them to his hoard under the mountain did not quiet the ache in his belly.

He would come to consider it a lesson.

SF Drabble #175 “Brandboys”

We were up before dawn. Now we’re logged in and running down the slidewalks towards the GPS flag blinking at us between buildings. It’s not really there, of course, it’s a heads-up display courtesy of our implants. Jicky’s implant is two years old so his flag doesn’t even blink: hard to keep track of in the crowds. I remember.

When we find the release event (the location’s secret, only members get the feed before tomorrow) we’ll get our codes for our new implants. It’s already paid for, by subscription. Then it’s a simple matter of finding a participating Doc. Easy.

Zombie Drabble #187 “The Cold Five Hundred”

They’re dead. With their glassy eyes and pained expressions they stand resolutely around, a consensus of decay. There had been more, once upon a time, but shit happens: breathers shot a few, a few had burned after stumbling into fire, a few just fucked off to wherever and never came back.

This is just the ones in town.

Outside of town there might be more, and there might not. It doesn’t really matter. Nothing outside of town has any meaning to them. Though, honestly, it isn’t like there’s much inside of town they give much of a shit about either.

SF Drabble #174 “Premium Vacation”

There are five islands on New Indiana.

The big one is where the locals live, all three hundred thousand of them. Wanna be a local? Too bad. There’s no legal immigration of any kind.

The second largest is the personal property of the Emperor. Rumor has it there aren’t even any human servants, just robots and then whichever of the Imperial Family might happen to be there.

The other three are where you go when you have oodles of money and want to relax in Heaven. Tourists only, no one lives there; even the whores commute from the big island.

Zombie Drabble #186 “Standard of Living”

They just stared at each other. Two weeks in the basement, they’d run out of things to say. There was plenty of food, water; Joe Lee had gone through a survivalist phase, and most of the supplies were still good.

Arlene would have been uncomfortable even if she weren’t seven months pregnant. No air conditioning. No water pressure, so no bathing. The worsening smell from the toilet…

“We have to start thinking about leaving.”

“And go where? How we gonna take our stuff with us?”

She had no answers, but said firmly, “I’m not having my daughter in this basement.” 

Zombie Drabble #185 “Shiny Dimes”

“How we gonna get around?” Ronny asked, breathing heavily.

Emmet lifted his head out of the ditch and quickly looked around; The intersection where the highways met was choked with abandoned cars and hungry zombies. “Hey Petey, c’mere.”

“Hi Emmet. What, Emmet?”

“See that big shiny truck? How ‘bout you run up over there and see if there’s any change in the ashtray. Then meet us on the other side.”

“Okay.” the young man leaped up and was off.

“You’re a real bastard.”

“Oh, relax, Petey’s the fastest runner in town, and anyways, I ain’t gonna let him get bit.”

Fantasy Drabble #122 “Good Cop, Bad Cop”

The Detective sat, shaking his head. He’d interrogated the suspect long enough that Officer Kloss was getting tired of standing. “What now, Boss?”

The suspect grinned, thinking he had them beat. “I told you you was wastin’ your time.”

The Detective turned to Kloss, said: “Bring in Orelia.”

“Yeah, who the fuck is Orelia? She gonna blow me?”

Orelia had been waiting in the hall. The reveal was well-practiced. Her cloak absorbed all light, giving off only menace. All that showed of Orelia herself was the white glow of her irises.There are more frightening-looking witches, but not many.

“Not exactly.”

Fantasy Drabble #121 “Terms and Conditions”

When you trade away your immortal soul in exchange for Earthly success, you have to be very careful about the wording of the deal. The demon I dealt with wanted to use the standard contract as a starting point, but I laughed. We started from scratch.

No hidden costs, no time limit other than my natural lifespan, and of course, the detailed description of the success to be enjoyed. I was very specific. He just wanted to be sure that, in the end, he would take possession of my soul.

Fair enough. I plan on keeping in very good shape.