The Storyletter - Surprise Sci-Friday Flash Fiction
Someday I hope to lay claim to the first and last Sci-Friday of each month, but I’m not ready for the commitment! However, today is a little foretaste of the glories to come. I follow The Storyteller (and you can too!) and every so often there is a Prompt for flash fiction. This go round the prompt was The Unknown. As I pondered the unknowable, I remembered Raymond Chandler’s letter in which he mocked scifi: “Did you ever read what they call Science Fiction? It’s a scream. It’s written like this: ‘I checked out with K19 on Adabaran III, and stepped out through the crummaliote hatch on my 22 Model Sirus Hardtop. I cocked the timeprojector in secondary and waded through the bright blue manda grass. My breath froze into pink pretzels. I flicked on the heat bars and the Bryllis ran swiftly on five legs, using the other two to send out crylon vibrations. The pressure was almost unbearable, but I caught the range on my wrist computer through the transparent cysicites. I pressed the trigger. The thin violet glow was ice-cold against the rust-colored mountains. The Bryllis shrank to half an inch long and I worked fast stepping on them with the poltex. But it wasn’t enough. The sudden brightness swung me round and the Fourth Moon had already risen. I had exactly four seconds to hot up the disintegrator and Google had told me it wasn’t enough.'” Then he added, “They pay brisk money for this crap?” Not only is that hilarious (and more than a little true), you’ll also note an early use of “Google.” So with the Unknown under my belt and Chandler humming in my heart, the story An Unknown popped out. I hope you enjoy it. He flipped up the proboscis of the aquatic creature to reveal a series of concave hooks before some humid orifice. "Bring out your Catenator and garvenize the bivalves," he said. A bright blue ooze spilled out and crept to my sneakers. "Hurry," he said to me. "The bosons scatter! We only have entelechys before she hops again." The man's voice was like an echo. He made sounds that seemed to shift intelligibly —or near enough— as they reached my ears. I was micro-seconds from misunderstanding, until a subtle din shifted the noise into language. "Okay," I answered and reached out to feel the juddering creature. Its skin was rough and cold, but a living cold, animate. It was shocking that something alive could be so heatless. I felt along its grunge, feeling pinpricks of static shock my hand. When I checked my fingers, they were bleeding from innumerable, razor-thin cuts. I wasn't even sure it was my blood until the wind felt out my wounds. The man paused his action of (I think) gyroscoping some cavity, and frowned. He was about to yell, knock me out of my stupor, when his face went bricky. Lidless wonder gripped him as he suddenly spun around in the street and took in the city, the howling traffic and early summer day. "Where the gultinoid are we?" he uttered. Then his eyes seized upon me. "You're not Blentin," he said in a hush. A honk from four cars back, from someone unable to see the specifics of the delay, caused the unknown stranger to leap back into the suffocating creature. He twisted his wrist, initiating a change in his garment. It rippled and spiraled colors. His collar tightened and projected a shield, armor-plating blossomed on his chest, shoulders, and forearms, his boots emitted a thin fog, and his eye-piece went opaque with charts. He whimpered and his body hunkered down defensively. Even to me, when I took in the wide and vertical chasm of downtown, the hullabaloo of noon, cellphones, screaming gulls, the salt-sun air, every kind of commerce, crime, wonder, and isolation, I was dumbfounded with impossible strangeness. A crowd was gathering. We were live-streamed. I lifted my bloody hand, calmly, and said, "It's okay." My voice carried the echo. I could hear it translate into strange sounds. "You're in Seattle." If you liked that, don’t forget you can pick up my book of micro-fiction Oddly Concerning for free on Amazon. Oddly Concerning was written during Oddtober, my monthlong micro-fiction challenge. I also completed the challenge last year. You can download that collection, titled Widdershins, here: Be sure to check out The Storyletter. Feel free to share with your friends and thanks for reading.
|
Older messages
To Build a Store | Using print on demand to create additional revenue streams
Saturday, April 1, 2023
XPress Access | April 2023
Showcase: Timber Ghost Press
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Small press for all things creepy, weird, and disturbing!
The Day I Burned
Saturday, March 25, 2023
The Storyletter cross-posted a post from Kindling Winston MaloneMar 25 · The Storyletter Dear Reader, The Storyletter's "Exploring the Unknown" prompt is generating some awesome entries
Storyletter Thoughts: Mimetic Growth
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Theories by people much smarter than me
Deposing the Imposter | Survey Results
Sunday, March 19, 2023
March 2023 Newsletter
You Might Also Like
The Best Thing: October 29, 2024
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
The Best Thing is our weekly discussion thread where we share the one thing that we read, listened to, watched, did, or otherwise enjoyed recent… ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Hailey Bieber's New Moisturizer Healed My Flaky Skin Overnight
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Smooth as butter skin. The Zoe Report Beauty The Zoe Report 10.29.2024 (Beauty) Hailey Bieber's New Moisturizer Healed My Flaky Skin Overnight (Trial Run) Hailey Bieber's New Moisturizer Healed
New from Tim — "Learnings from 1,000+ Near-Death Experiences — Dr. Bruce Greyson, University of Virginia"
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
The latest from author and investor Tim Ferriss ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
The 25 Best Glutes Exercises to Build Your Butt
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
View in Browser Men's Health SHOP MVP EXCLUSIVES SUBSCRIBE The 25 Best Glutes Exercises to Build Your Butt The 25 Best Glutes Exercises to Build Your Butt Add these exercises to your workouts to
Is It Better to Invest Little by Little or All at Once?
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Instagram Won't Snitch If You Screenshot. Time in the market beats timing the market—but only if you can stomach market volatility. Not displaying correctly? View this newsletter online.
The Perfect Plan to Getting Lean After 40!
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Special Offer From Our Friends At Men's Health Unlock the Secret to Getting Lean After 40! View in Browser This is a weight loss plan you can stick with Designed for guys over 40 who don't want
The Most Wholesome Halloween Celebration in Town
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Today in style, self, culture, and power. The Cut October 29, 2024 SCENE REPORT If You Give a Bookworm a Costume Competition Partying with the Giving Tree and “a pile of burning books” at the NYPL
Dua Lipa Matched Her Panties To Her Trench Coat Like A Pro
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Plus, Molly Shannon on life at 28, Margot Robbie's exposed bra, your daily horoscope, & more. Oct. 29, 2024 Bustle Daily A smiling woman poses in a white blouse and denim, with a vintage photo
The best mushroom recipes, according to Eater staff
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
One of NYC's hottest bakers gets her own spot
5 Wild Moments From Timothée Chalamet’s Look-Alike Contest
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Plus: Daniel Craig & Drew Starkey fall in love in the first trailer for Luca Guadagnino's next film, 'Queer.' • Oct. 29, 2024 Up Next Your complete guide to industry-shaping