#sci-fi ish

[genourouskel-blog]

Everyone stop what you're doing and go watch murrder drones on YouTube it looks like a promising series with a lot of po

[thetwelfthgingermage]

6 Minutes

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Characters: Natsu and Lucy

Pairing: Nalu

Words: 1,221

5.59

No one notices, but we humans take life for granted. We act like we have all the time in the world to do anything, but we don’t, or maybe we do, but they don’t. We like the quotes that tell us to live our life to the fullest because tomorrow you might be dead, but we don't listen to them. We read stories that tell a tale of two adventurous people who fall madly in love and die happy with no regrets, but we never follow their path. And when we are lying on the ground, breathing our last breath, we think “what I have I done?” and automatically, we know it’s nothing.

My mother once told me to live your life, to always plan an adventure with no destination and I didn't listen because like most, I took life for granted. I threw my moms words away with a thought that I would get in my car one day and let fate guide me to a destination, but I didn’t. Instead of taking the long and bumpy road, I took the safe and smooth one and that is the most regretful thing anyone could do.

5.06

Usually, when someone notices this, they sell all they got and buy a ticket to the place their dart hit on a map, but unlike most, I can’t throw the dart and hope it lands somewhere nice because I only have six minutes.

Pulling the door open to Dunkin Donuts, I make my way to the counter like it was any other day. “I’d like a french vanilla. Extra sugar, please.” The boy behind the counter smiles, takes my money, and tells me that my drink will be out in a second. When he hands me the cup, I mumble my gratitude and make my way to an open seat near the back.

For five years my routine has been the same: wake up, get coffee, wait for Natsu, and then head to work, but today will be different. Today I might not leave this cafe alive or maybe I won’t cross the road without being thrown fifteen feet in the air and landing with my head cracked open. It’s gruesome to think about but isn’t this what most people think when they check their watch to see they only have said minutes left to live.

4.52

I don’t know why I do it, but I roll the sleeve of my sweater up and look at the watch wrapped around my wrist. It’s like any other watch you would see in stores, but this one was given to me at birth, chosen randomly by my parents. The government had wrapped the timer around my wrist and watched as it glued itself there, never to be taken off again.

When I was young, my mother had told me the story of my giving. She said that when she had caught sight of the numbers projected off the watch wrapped around my wrist, she had cried because she knew that not only had she and father picked the worst time for any person, she knew that she wouldn't be able to do the things she had always wished to do when she became a mother.

4.06

The bell that hung over the front door of the cafe rung, and looking up, I met the eyes of Natsu. He smiled and waved and cheerfully made his way over to my table.

“Hey, Luce!” He said, taking a seat. I couldn't look at him, not when the news I would tell him in just seconds would tear off the smile on his face like a kid tearing off a band-aid.

“Hey, Natsu.”

“Ready to go to the guild? It’s gonna be busy today,” he asks, rolling the sleeves of his black, button up up and I can’t help to catch a glimpse at the numbers that are on his watch. Twenty-two years, forty-eight hours, and 6 seconds.

Looking back to his eyes, I prepare myself of the words that I’m about to say. “Natsu, I need to talk to you about something before we head over.”

“Okay, sure. What is it?”

Taking a deep breath, I try to find the sadness in what I'm about to say and all I can find is regret. Regret for not living my life to the fullest, to not finding love and having kids, and to not ever telling Natsu my true feelings for him. But along with that regret, I found happiness and thankfulness. “Remember the day we met? When you asked how much time I had left even though that was considered rude. Remember when I blew up on you? Remember how you said you were sorry and then asked me out for a drink for an apology? Well, I’m thankful for your stupidity that day. I’m thankful that even though I was about to whack you over the head with a chair, I agreed to the drinks. I’m thankful I got to meet you, become your best friend, and spend every little moment I had with you. Thank you, Natsu. Thank you.”

2.56

“L-Lucy…” His smile isn't there, only the look of sadness dances in his eyes and by just that little action, I know he knows, but I still turn my arm just enough for him to catch the numbers. And then he’s crying and no one turns to look because it’s a common thing to us. People die and some don't tell anyone until seconds before they’re gone.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble and now I'm crying because I've only got two minutes to say goodbye to the only man I'll ever love, but even though the tears fall and I can feel the pain clutching at my heart, I still feel the happiness in the situation. “I’m sorry I didn't tell you, but you can’t change it. I’ll be gone in two minutes and soon I’ll just someone you used to know.”

“No, you won't be the girl that I used to know, you’ll be the girl that I fell in love with. I love you, Luce, and I know this is a horrible time to say it, but I do and I always will.”

.59

I don't tell Natsu I love him back because I can’t bear to think of how much harder saying those three words would make this be. “Goodbye, Natsu,” I whisper instead and getting up from my seat, I reach over and squeeze his hand hoping that with the little action, he knows that I'll always love him, and then I walk out the door.

When I step onto the sidewalk, I look up to the sky. The sky is clear of any cloud, a warm breeze sweeps through the city and as I wipe the tears away, I smile. Though I have many regrets, I cherish the moments that I don't regret. I don't think about all the time I wasted thinking that someone day I would throw that dart at the map, because, to be honest, wouldn't anyone do the same if they knew six hundred years, and six minutes is the life they were chosen to live. I can’t be the only one to do it.

0.01

Right?

0.00

[bkfrgr-blog]

No One Will Come Back for Us by Premee Mohamed

This collection of seventeen short stories is dark and weird and frigging awesome, and would serve as an excellent introduction to Premee Mohamed’s writing for anyone looking for one. I should note, before I begin, that if the stories here had been arranged in another order, I might well have felt differently about the three stories that didn’t quiet float my boat. But the collection starts with…

No One Will Come Back for Us by Premee Mohamed

[bkfrgr-blog]

The Giver by Lois Lowry

This is another book I read towards the end of 2025 and didn’t have the bandwidth to post about at the time. First published in 1993, it’s well known to many, and I was certain I’d actually read it until I saw it referenced in an article about dystopian stories and realised I hadn’t; (after further investigation I worked out that it was Lowry’s Number the Stars that I’ve read – which is about…

The Giver by Lois Lowry

[anneswritingnook]

Snakes Abound

Hello hello and welcome to this week’s six sentence story based on the word TONIC. This week I went with a bit of an odd take on tonic, specifically the use of it as a “tonic to cure all ills” that I know I picked up in a show I was watching, but I have no idea what. Anywho, I hope you like it, let me know in the comments what you thought! There had been snake oil salesman as long as there had…

View On WordPress

[captainrasmot]

From the Heavens, to the mud

This is a RP prompt for @darkgoddesslaine ,deciding to have a bit of fantasy fun with this one. Taking some inspiration from “John Carter of Mars” for how to approach this. ))

Rasmot rubbed his face while looking over the varied and numerous star-charts and maps. In a short period of time he had been through numerous systems and gone to numerous stars. And all of them had no way to lead him back home. Instead it was just more and more unrecognizable space. Even if he was in a Galaxy he knew about, it wouldn’t help matters. The maps they had of the Milky Way were severely limited and sparse compared to their own space. Rasmot shook his head before starting to chart another course to another system. As his hands flew over the holographic panels and displays the screens started to fade. It was almost a wink but it was a genuine problem.

He moved from the chair and started his way to the back before he stumbled to the deck. There was a perceivable shift in gravity. As though everything was either suddenly heavier or not the way it should be. Alarms sounded and his eyes went to the forward window. A blue shifting wave of energy rippled in front of the ship. The fading and winking holographic screens warned of an unknown dimensional event and Rasmot scrambled. Stumbling and crawling towards the Stasis pods, he smacked his hand on the manual release and strapped himself inside. The only way he would survive anything was in the stasis pod, so he had to trust it. He manually closed the hatch and gripped the straps for dear life. His entire world started to flip and turn upside down as a bright light burst in front of his eyes-

-and he was elsewhere. Rasmot took several moments to glance around. It was a house of some kind. Old and rugged. Wood floors and walls, and lanterns decorating the awnings and interior of the home. Shaking his head he tapped his gauntlet.

No response.

Rasmot tried his visor and got the same thing. No response. Everything that he had either wasn’t working or seemed to be drained completely of power. Rasmot looked to the palms of the gauntlets and let out a sigh of relief. The glowing crystals in the center of the gauntlets were still glowing with power. That meant that everything he owned was just shorted out. Rising from the bed, Rasmot inspected the house. Thick layers of dust coated the furniture and features. No one had lived here for a while. And yet the wood and furniture was still pristine . . . preserved in some way. Gravity was at least normal, he was thankful for that. A little lighter than he would like but tolerable.

He inspected the cabinets and closets and found something he could wear. Simple clothes but they would do. Rasmot shifted out of his normal clothes and donned on the found ones, better to make a low profile than spook any pre-FTL races or species. He found a bag and shoved everything but his boots and gauntlets into it and hefted it on to his shoulders. Wearing a brown Leather jacket, dark green lens glasses, simple green shirt and some black slacks he scoured the house for food or a weapon. He found some reasonably okay bread and cheese in one pantry and an old pistol. Single shot but it used cartridges. Bullets that had a bullet shell and powder built in. Even though the pistol looked like a flintlock. He grabbed the hand-gun and several cartridges and stuffed the bullets into a pocket of the jacket while he holstered the weapon underneath.

Rasmot focused on one of his gauntlets. Old talents and skills came to the forefront as he spoke several ancient words and chants, the crystal surging with power and the gauntlet winking to some small portion of life. He toggled the locator and found out his shuttle was close by. Rasmot quickly grabbed a map and marked down where it was before the gauntlet shut down again. With a nod he pocketed the map and headed in the direction where the shuttle probably crashed landed. As he stepped outside he was confronted by open country side and forests. Rasmot almost laughed as it reminded him of his younger years. Shaking his head he started off on his journey through this strange place. Not knowing what could lie ahead.