Tag: science fiction

Everyone’s dying

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On the first night of Christmas, my true love gave to me… a cough.
By the fourth night, the virus had spread throughout the neighborhood.
And on the twelfth night, the CDC put the city under quarantine.
Men in Hazmat suits go door to door, picking up bodies and handing out drugs that we know won’t do a damned thing to cure this superbug.
The news says that it’s in Boston, Chicago, Moscow, Tokyo…
The Chinese deny making it. The Arabs blame “Zionist scientists.”
Everyone’s dying.
So is the fire. We put the suicide capsules in egg nog, and drink.

Gadgets

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The gadgets you buy today will be the junk of tomorrow.
So why not buy junk now and just be a bit behind the curve?
It’s cheaper, less stressful, and you know the things will be tried-and-tested as opposed to the buggy releases available at the bleeding edge.
The guy that I got my secondhand artificial heart from was buying a newer, fancier model. He thought it would be more reliable.
It glitched while he was in an elevator. By the time they got him to the hospital, he was dead.
While his former heart keeps on ticking in me.

Printer

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The printer is jammed.
The printer always jams when I need it most.
Somehow, the printer knows I’m in a rush, and that’s when it chooses to jam.
Chooses. Yes, I said chooses.
In fact, I bet there’s a chip in the printer that tells it when I need it most.
It syncs up with the chip in my head. The X-ray resistant chip.
I know that you don’t believe me, but if you’d just let me open up my skull, I’d show you.
It’s not buried deep. Just a little hole, and you can peek inside.
Here’s a drill.

Pennies from Heaven

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Every time it rains, it rains pennies from Heaven.
Falling like bullets, they pierce umbrellas and shatter car windshields.
Dozens of people don’t make it to shelter and lay in the streets, bleeding or dead.
Birds, too.
After the storm passes, ambulances pick up the injured and dead, and we sweep up the broken glass, tow away wrecked cars, and bag dead animals.
We used to gather up the pennies and head to the bank, but now we bring them to the foundry.
They melt them down for the zinc and copper.
One day, they’ll finish the giant protective dome.

Dr. Frankenpizza

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Every evening, after Dr. Frankenstein would fail to bring his creature to life, Igor ordered a pizza and have it delivered to the castle.
“What would you like on your pizza, Master?” Igor asked.
“Does it really matter?” Dr. Frankenstein sighed, sweeping the ashes off of the lab table, mopping up blood with a rag.
“Right, Master,” said Igor.
Thirty minutes later, a knock on the castle door.
Igor carefully sneaked behind the delivery boy and brained him with a club.
“Will this one do?” said Igor.
“Certainly,” said Dr. Frankenstein, smiling.
“And about the pizza?”
“Ugh. I hate pizza.”

Static Wave

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Instead of saying her first word, my daughter opened her mouth and a wave of static filled the room.
The lights flickered for a few seconds before they caught and stayed lit.
I was expecting a Mommy or Daddy, like most kids, but the doctors warned us that the high percentage of nanoparticles in her system may alter her development slightly.
My wife and I said “Good, Marcie!” and tried to be supportive, but her grimace matched mine.
Still, despite the setback, not bad for 5 days old.
We’ll finish uploading Calculus tonight and start work on her Quantum Physics.

Time Kennel

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I think putting my dogs in the kennel while I travel is cruel.
So, I put the dogs in the Time Kennel.
It’s not like the Pet Freeze service. Those folks are butchers, freezing and thawing pets. They end up shattering or roasting them half the time.
No, these folks use a quantum bridge tunnel to send your pet into the future, right to the time of your return from a vacation or business trip.
To them, you’ve never left.
They lose fewer pets. Although, when they do, at least your dog has a fighting chance in the year 5000.

Unusual Creatures

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I know you’re familiar with butterflies.
But are you familiar with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butterflies?
They look like butterflies.
They fly like butterflies.
And, if you lick them, they taste like butterflies.
But the truth is, they’re not actually butterflies.
They are Something Else.
Unless you have a microscope, you won’t see the gearworks poking through the body that make the wings flap. The faint glow of lights in the eyes. And there’s no way you can hear the faint ticking.
So realistic. So beautiful.
You’ll believe it’s a real butterfly. And, really, isn’t that all that matters?

Never explain the light

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There is a light under the water, about a mile offshore.
We sent a crew out.
They never came back, no answer the radio, either.
You can’t see it in the daytime, but at night, it’s bright enough to light up the ocean.
We called the Coast Guard, and they said to just let it be.
“What about the crew?” I asked.
“Hold a memorial service,” said the Coast Guard. “And fish elsewhere.”
They won’t tell us anything else. The Navy just sends us to the Coast Guard.
Whatever it is, it’s getting brighter.
And now, it’s starting to sing.

Falling

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I miss falling leaves.
I used to make a cup of tea and watch the leaves fall from the trees at sunset.
From her days as a kitten to old age, the cat would pounce them the moment they hit the ground.
Here in the space station, everything’s falling together.
No leaves.
No trees.
No cats.
No cups or spoons for tea. Just a plastic bag and straw.
I close my eyes and try to remember the leaves. Sunsets. Tea.
I can’t.
The videos you send aren’t the same, either.
Eight months to go on this mission.
And then… falling.