Caretaker Gravis watched from the observation deck across from docking bay five. The mining cruiser Silverback made final launch preparations in the moss-green light reflected from Atlantis III 450km below. He didn't wait for the launch, instead darkening the viewing glass and shutting off the artificial gravity on this half of the station. All crew were… Continue reading Caretaker
Tag: Writing Prompt
He Walks
He walks. Each shuffle step covers a thousand miles, and the scraping sound of leather shoe against asphalt wears away at his pride like high grit sandpaper. Someone makes eye contact with him. It's fleeting, and he sees the familiar in every face he passes as it confirms he exists only for a moment at… Continue reading He Walks
Unnamed Emotion
Dessius Rush removed the maintenance panel from the docking coupler, just as he'd done hundreds of times. But even with all his years of weekly inspections, it had locked up. And now of all times... His sweat dripped down into his eyes and stung sharply, and he could taste salt on his upper lip. He… Continue reading Unnamed Emotion
And the Leaves Will Brown
The caravan drove onward, following purposely toward its own end as if to a slaughterhouse, suffering under the eternal indifference of the Texas sun. After these months together, bound by trappings of shared experience to which all social animals are susceptible, the time was coming to scatter to the wind. The ache to fight it… Continue reading And the Leaves Will Brown
Let Me Tell You What I Did
Let me tell you what I did. But first, let me tell you who I did it to: Braxton Teller. That's Sheriff Teller, or Bloody Braxton, or the Savage Strangler. They're all one and the same. And I buried him. I didn't kill him; that would make me a killer, and killin' was his sin,… Continue reading Let Me Tell You What I Did
It Grew to Be More
My name is Simon, but everybody calls me Jack. I am, truthfully, not certain why. They just always have. And I let them. It lets me pretend. Slowly, over many years, Jack evolved, and on a different path than I did, I should say. At first it was minor details: the types of jokes he'd… Continue reading It Grew to Be More
Lantern
"What good is a lantern that doesn't light?" "I already told you, it'll light when we get to the right place." "How are we bloody well going to find it in the dark?" I didn't respond, just pressed onward past the long grasses and into the tree line. The moon was out, we had that… Continue reading Lantern
A Letter From Talis Cayman to Avin Debberon
Avin, Should this letter find you, it's probably too late for both of us. I've made a grave mistake in coming to the isles, and I fear they're scheming to swallow me up. Most everyone is dead: Winters fell into a crevasse, and while we tried to reach him, we could find no bottom and… Continue reading A Letter From Talis Cayman to Avin Debberon
The Wall
It was the wind that woke him. He kept his eyes closed and listened to his cape flapping in the air like a banner to a kingdom long forgotten. If he concentrated, he could trick himself into thinking the swirling, breezy, whooshing sounds were waves crashing upon an endless shoreline, the water almost close enough… Continue reading The Wall
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