Fantasy Drabble #249 “Sleeping Beauty”

He never touched her, not ever, not even once.

There was a gate, such as one might find protecting the entrance to any castle, and beyond it a long hallway leading to the gallery containing the dais and the bed. This was his entire world, it was all he remembered. He never thought to examine what lay beyond the gate. He never wondered from whence came his armor and sword.

He did know that one day she might awaken, and then he would be done, finished, relieved of his duty. Looking at her, he earnestly hoped that day never came.

Zombie Drabble #336 “The Warcraft Tan”

The basement door was old, but thick, and he could reinforce it even further. They wouldn’t get through, not even if they pounded and scratched for weeks without relenting. There was plenty of food and drink: he’d been virtually living down here the past few years: it was where his computer was set up. The mini-fridge was stocked, and the family freezer too. He had a hot plate. If the power held he could survive for months.

He’d spent fourteen hours a day down here even before this; more on weekends. It wouldn’t be much of an adjustment, not really.

SF Drabble #328 “Escape Attempt”

He looked up, still short of breath, and with a newfound ache in the pit of his stomach. There would be shooting stars for days, all over the planet, while bits and pieces of the ship burned up in the atmosphere. None would be large enough to make it to the ground intact, and there would be no survivors.

No other survivors.

No evidence that the ship had ever been there at all, save him, and he was good at hiding. They’d only caught him this time by random happenstance. On a fluke. There would be no more of those.

Zombie Drabble #335 “Anti-Personnel”

There were tanks sitting abandoned on the highway where they had run out of fuel. Ralph’s group didn’t bother searching them, anything both useful and portable would have been stripped weeks ago. They were impressive nonetheless: enormous and powerful reminders of a civilization that had crumbled to virtually nothing in a day.

Ralph climbed atop one to get a good look downrange with the binoculars. There was no movement as far as he could see. “Search those cars over there. And there might be canned food in the camper.”

He wondered if any of the tanks’ main cannons were loaded.

Fantasy Drabble #248 “Ordering In”

It was as if the moonlight was focused on the clearing by design, to prosper their undertaking by lighting their way. She spread the blanket and began laying out her tools, neatly, orderly, as she always did.

The others would be along, in good time, to join the circle. She would welcome them with a smile and a blessing, and they would laugh and paint their faces. They would recite the words she gave them willingly, trustingly, imagining themselves part of something bigger than themselves.

Then, later, she would walk out of the circle well-fed, and into the forest alone.

SF Drabble #327 “Infestation”

“How far down does it go?”

“At least twelve levels. Some are thicker than others. The lowest level starts about four hundred meters down, and it’s a storage level, so it’s twice as deep.”

He shined the flashlight down into the hole. “Looks a lot deeper than four hundred meters now.”

“They’d be as far down as they could get, even if it meant digging. Away from the sun, the heat. They’d find the coldest, darkest place, and they’d start breeding.”

“And the colonists?”

She paused. “Why, were you related to any of them?”

“Nope.”

“Count yourself lucky then. ”