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Tuesday, April 26, 2016

On Floating Bodies - @MicrocosmsFic

The final story/component for this week's Microcosms prompt.

On Floating Bodies

Archimedes danced in her head as the ocean surface rose above her. In these last moments, she only wanted her daughter, not the man whose laws were sending down into oblivion.

The density of the escape pod wasn’t enough to counter the water weight it had taken on in the downpour overhead. Captain Darla fought against her safety harness. Amidst the chaos, an old pain formed in the astronaut’s knees.

Eureka. A memory knocked out by the violent impact returned. Reaching between her knees she pulled the secondary release. The chair uncoupled sending away from Archimedes and toward the surface, rescue and ultimately her daughter.

Monday, April 25, 2016

Space Launch Complex - @MicrocosmsFic

After the first story on this week's Microcosms, I thought it would be fun to see if I could write four independent stories that could also be strung together to become something bigger. Here is #3 this week.

Space Launch Complex

“Do I have to call you Captain here?”

“No, you just call me Mom.”

Darla’s knees hurt against the steel grid of the launch pad flooring. Her flight suit wasn’t made for saying good bye to five year olds. She stood back up and gave her husband a final kiss in the cheek. They’d said their goodbyes last night.

Her daughter pointed at the thunderhead forming in the distance.

“If it storms, can you still stay with me and Dad?”

Darla bent and kissed her on the head one final time. It would need to last her a whole year.


“Don’t worry, we’re going to beat the rain.”

Sunday, April 24, 2016

The Fluid Mechanics of Rain in Zero Gravity - @MicrocosmsFic

Going for 2 at this week's Microcosms.

The Fluid Mechanics of Rain in Zero Gravity
The spheres were perfect floating in front of the crew’s faces. Other astronauts looked to the stars for proof of a higher power. Captain Darla found her creator in the flawlessness in these translucent orbs.
Water had gone everywhere. Larger globules were the result of a friendly water fight celebrating their return to Earth after a grueling year in orbit. The smallest spheres: her tears in knowing she was never returning to space.
The water shifted unnaturally, then accelerated uniformly toward her.
“We’re gaining gravity!” She didn’t know who screamed, but someone seized her and threw her into the nearest escape pod as an electrical fire lit through the cabin.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Nautilus: Above and Below - @MicrosocmsFic

Got one in a little earlier than normal for Microcosms.


Nautilus: Above and Below

In her last video log for her daughter, Captain Darla remarked how cumulus clouds looked just like mashed potatoes from her vantage point on the space station. Underneath, bobbing on the ocean waves strapped into her emergency capsule, the clouds looked heavy; threatening  to fall and crush her.

She struggled against her harness, certain her femur had shattered with the impact. The captain felt what she most feared hit her cheek: a raindrop. The sprinkle accelerated into a downpour. Her safety belt was jammed. Panicked, Darla redoubled her efforts to escape from the safety device before the pod filled with water and dragged her to the bottom of the Pacific.


Sunday, April 17, 2016

Overcoming Patience - @MicrocosmsFic

This week at Microcosms the default prompt included SteamPunk. I just can't do that to myself again, so I re-rolled.


Overcoming Patience

Amos was still blocks away from the table where the kindly old woman at the front of the bread line would hand him a stale loaf. It was barely fit for ducks.

The Depression hardened his little heart almost as much as his parents abandoning him at the church. It was time to test the treasure he’d found in the burnt crater behind St. Germain’s this morning. Amos held up the glass disc and pressed the protruding button. A green arc of light struck the hunched man in front of him. The man evaporated, leaving a pile of dingy clothes.  Amos stepped forward and waited for the device to recharge.