This is my story for last week’s Muse on Monday prompt. You can find the one for this week here. Ultimate Hide & Seek The games never changed, just the scope and effort that went into them. Dodgeball in elementary school had evolved in high school into a similar game played on unicycles with baseballs,…
Tag: fiction
Jumping Day
Jumping Day The Flea has just started lowering, preparing to jump. And now, as the Springmaster, everything is up to me. “Thank you for coming,” I say to the assembled inhabitants of Kirppu. There are seven hundred of us in the small city built on the back of the Flea. “As you know, we are…
A Real Vacation
A Real Vacation Allison woke to the sun shining through the tent door. She made breakfast and sat looking out over the valley. This is what I need. A real vacation. The breeze smelled like pine. Too much? No, just right. Relax. You are alone in the Scottish Highlands for four days. Enjoy it. The…
Nip and Tack
Nip and Tack 48 Peacock Lane was breathing comfortably. Structural anesthesiologists were monitoring it, and the surgery crew moved in. “Anything major?” Jim asked the lead surgeon as he assembled a reciprocating saw. “Nah, just light touchup work. Some rotten siding. Cosmetic stuff.” “It’s a new world.” Jim shook his head. “Sometimes I wish houses…
Broken
Broken I’m almost done the dishes when the unthinkable happens. My hand, slippery with suds, grasps my glass and it slips, falling onto the floor with a sharp crack. I stare in horror at my only glass, lying in four large pieces and a scattering of shards. Immediately I start gathering them together, trying to…
Creeping Things
Creeping Things Footsteps creep by outside, military-style boots. Breathe slowly. Militia, looking for conscripts. Or target practice. Stomach rumbles. It’s been hours. Low voices. So hungry. Moving away. Something creeps across your hand. You grab it instinctively. It squirms. You stuff it in your mouth. Crunchy. Suddenly you’re a kid again, hunting crickets in the…
When our World Moved
When Our World Moved Could I move the glass telepathically? Pure fantasy, but so was this date a year ago. Anything to impress her. I chatted superficially, willing the glass to move. Bang! Glass and water flew everywhere. My face exploded in pain. Despite everything, my spirit glowed. I was telekinetic. Later, as I was…
Three Books
Three Books There were three books that had a big impact on Hudson. The first was Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card. Hudson picked it out at the library during one of their reading periods in fifth grade. It was the first time he realized that books could actually be interesting. After that, he read…
Pantheon Search
Pantheon Search The air was greasy with the tang of raw adoration. The audience was already rapturous, and the excess worship was making Larry giddy. A cherub pointed, and he was on. “Welcome to Pantheon Search,” Clotho, one of the judges, said. “You are . . . ?” “Larry.” The audience tittered. “Truly a divine…
Beauty Killer
Beauty Killer Every day I go destroy the most beautiful things in the world. I’ve seen murals that made me cry from sheer awe, moments before my flamethrower melted them out of existence. “Eighteen buildings cleansed,” I say. My boss nods, impassive. “How many new occurences?” “48 yesterday, just in your area,” she says. We’re…
