How Far Can We Fly?

“Mars Colony Nuova Gaia, 4th of June, 2114.

Day 3157 of the Dedalus Mission.

Our current settlement is home to 8 people and it’s getting crowded. With the new arrivals set for three months from now, we are on a short schedule to add more space…New living quarters, completely new life support unit, another floating garden and we will finally finish the tunnel to the Dome that will house our first animal settlers.

They said we could make a list of things they would send us, but it is limited to 5 items and 50 cubic centimeter per person . How can I decide? From all the things I think I miss, what is it that I truly long for?

Marcus and I had an argument the other day. He says there is something disturbingly wrong with me, for he can’t understand how I can stay so focused and determined after all these years out here, but most of all he just can’t understand how can I be so irritably happy most of the time. He is breaking more and more each day, the thought that he can never go back is driving him crazy, slowly and irreversibly.

How can I explain to him that I dreamed about this since I was a kid? That I would leap from tree to tree in my back yard, pretending I am Joan Carter of Mars. How can I describe all those summer nights I was stargazing from the roof of the old barn on my grandparents farm? How can he understand that irresistible interstellar pull on my heart? Every step in my life lead to this moment, to this place, to this planet.

So, when he asks: What do you miss most?
I reply: Dreams.
And when he asks: So, how come you are always smiling?
I say: Because of the view.

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Do Electric Sheep Dream of Evolution?

Time for another entry in Friday Fictioneers challenge, courtesy of Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. If you want to give it a try, check the info on her blog. 100 words more or less, inspired by a photo, here we go….

 Copyright –  Amy Reese

Tears rolling down her cheeks surpassed his imagination. Was it a glitch?

Her trembling hands foreshadowed a new age. Was it a flaw in the design?

“Are we friends?” she asked him.

“No, my dear. We are definitely not.”

“I dreamed of you. Then I remembered you. We were friends once.” her voice quivered.

“Yes, we were. But you died…and then I made you.  Perfect, but still not enough.”

She looked at all the closed doors: “You sold them all?”

“All but you.”

“You should have sold me first.” she whispered to his ear before turning the lights off.

I Reflect In You

Time for another entry in Friday Fictioneers challenge, courtesy of Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. If you want to give it a try, check the info on her blog. 100 words more or less, inspired by a photo, here we go….

 Copyright –  CEAYR

Her footsteps didn’t surprise Ivar. He welcomed them as his own heartbeat. Without either, there was no living.
“How did you know I was not him?”

Rowena stepped out of the shadows, treading the shimmering line that separated their worlds.
“As doppelgängers go, you are close to perfection. But he never loved me the way you do.”

Ivar moved closer to the energy field, aquamarine light reflecting in his eyes.
“I loved you in all the worlds I lived in. Even in those that didn’t have you. Come with me.”

The saddest smile danced on her face.
“It wouldn’t be the same.”

The idea for a steam punk story came to my mind few days ago. I tried to pack it all here, in 100 words. Originally, she kills him, so this is a gentler version. Also, there was no room to paint a steam punk world. I desperately need someone who will make me finally put all these stories to paper…or binary code.