Fantasy Drabble #343 “Afterimage”

He stopped, knelt, placed his hand against the ground, stayed there for what seemed like an eternity. The others seemed inured to this behavior. Shayl asked someone, in a whisper, “What’s he doing?”

Before anyone could answer, he stood, looked around, looked at Shayl. “There was a city here. Many people, many buildings.”

“When?” She asked, looking around, seeing only bare rock and desolation.

He shrugged. “Ten thousand years? Twelve? Long time.”

“But how do you know these things?”

“The past is here, now, if you know how to see it.”

“…Magic.”

He laughed. “Yes, magic. I will teach you.”

SF Drabble #425 “Mars Ain’t The Kind Of Place”

The computer intoned, “Receiving an audio message from Harold.”

“Put it through to my suit comms.” She pulled at the burned-out component again, but it just wouldn’t budge.

“Message begins: ‘Listen Cecily, I know you’d rather not be bothered with any of this, but Vince was fighting in school again today, and Gynny won’t eat anything I make her. I need you to record a message for them. I’m at my wit’s end. That’s it.’ Message complete.”

“Record reply.”

“Recording.”

She looked down at the butterscotch-tan planet rotating below her. “Fucking handle it, Harold, I’m a little busy right now.”

Getting It In Under The Wire

“Was she fun?”

“What? Who?”

“Mom. Was she fun?” Sybil sat on the couch next to him, careful not to disturb the oxygen tubes running from the tank to his nose. “All I got was do your homework and eat your dinner and be back by eleven or you’re grounded. Mother Mom.”

He chuckled, a sandy wisp of air. “You didn’t know her young.”

“Why I’m asking.”

He was thoughtful for long enough that she wondered if he had forgotten the question. “There’s a big white picture album in my closet upstairs.”

“Get it? Why?”

He chuckled again. “You’ll see.”