Forge
Billy has a boring office job, & that’s ok. Once, his dad took him to work at the forge for the day. They poured steel the old-fashioned way & a drip slopped on his shoe. It didn’t burn through – but everyone cried “insurance” & Billy decided he’d do that someday.
Jul 23, 2021
The Future
The future:
A hobbled old woman goes to the hospital. An hour later, she leaves with no need of her cane, no pain, no bottle of addiction, no change in life duration, no loss of pride, with all her bits and pieces inside. 1 law will do the trick – no one gets rich off the sick.
Jul 22, 2021
Curled Horns
Dr. Hayes clicks to the next slide: an image of his patient’s head, the hair held back for the camera. The doctor’s colleagues are fascinated as he explains, “Mrs. Smith complained of itching, bumps under the skin. The X-rays show masses – curled horns growing in.
Jul 21, 2021
Diamonds in the Night
Sparks glint like diamonds in the night – the embers glowing, a tapestry of flowers alight. The potion sent me through a door from this world, to my omnicient ancestors who greet and hold me with tender delight.
Jul 20, 2021
Guillotine
The colonists left Earth searching for a new home, but got lost along the way. Air ran low, power too – and when desperation and paranoia took hold, the crew relieved the captain, dragging her off to the laser guided guillotine.
Jul 19, 2021
Suicide Booth
The mayor cut the ribbon & cameras flashed. The papers said, ‘Brave new choice facing us.’ Our town’s first unit – soundproof & secure. No one hears the screams inside the new suicide booth. Just a day later, the mayor gets a letter that his own kids went through.
Jul 18, 2021
Waves
On an island surrounded by waves & crashing depths, I’m alone but for a madman. He scares the albatross away, knocks my shelter down – he’s insane. Splashing to the water’s edge, he says, “I must end it!” And when he dunks his head under, I drag him back again.
Jul 18, 2021
Few
Einstein, Hawking & Higgs. We used the equations, overlapping terms & mathematical connections. We built the machine, but few understood it. The computer predicted tesseracts, folded space – then beings came through – glimmering geometries no one knew.
Jul 17, 2021
Select
Vicious aliens
Select advanced weaponry
Earth life will soon bow
Jul 16, 2021
Swamp
Tom shows me a dog leash, torn & bloody. He says, “Me and Duke was down by the swamp – and this THING comes out of the water…”
“A gator?” I ask.
He starts loading his shotgun. “I don’t know what in the hell it was, but it sure weren’t no gator.”
Jul 16, 2021
