Tag: link

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Church of the Mech

http://gorillaartfare.com/2009/10/sci-fi-dumpage/ (fourth down)

Martin found the encompassing feeling of the abandoned mech hanger remarkable. The lofty girders above and the open bay doors along the perimeter reminded him of a church he attended as a boy before he stopped praying.

“Thanks.” The occasional single-syllable acknowledgement was all that remained of Martin’s belief.

:Roger that, Commander.: Lieutenant Abilene Guerrera’s voice spoke in Martin’s earpiece. She drove the mech guarding above him. He smiled and pretended it was Goddess responding instead. He then tried to think of what he’d say to the Lieutenant’s inevitable query. :…uh, ‘Thanks’ for what, sir?:

:[something profound and direct]:

:Of course, sir,: Guerrera replied after a delay. Her brief protocol made Martin smile and almost laugh. He imagined her turning wide-eyed and questioning to her ensign co-pilot and him, cringing, unable to offer an explanation for their boss’s sudden melancholy. They’d chew on that shit for days, he thought.

xxx words on day 788

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Trunktop

http://acreativeuniverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/error888.tumblr.com-post-714725217.jpg

Napsil stepped to the edge of the deck and peered down into the fog surrounding the trunk. Other trees—their trunks the color red becomes at night—rose from the mist below then disappeared back into it above him. Unable to focus in the clouds like this, he imagined himself floating in the sky rather than standing atop his tree-tower. Surely all he need do was to close his eyes and he’d drift away like any other atomized droplet. Vapor didn’t matter.

“We can’t do this any longer and you need to come tell the others,” said Napsil’s brother, Jate. Napsil’s eyes remained closed.

“You lead them.”

“No. That’s you, brother.”

Napsil tipped his face toward where the sun might be above them. He felt the mist coalesce on his forehead and a single drop run down his scalp through his short red hair. He brushed back his responsibility with a languid wave of his hand. “Lead them from here on. Lead them away. Lead them back. I don’t care. Neither do they.”

171 words on day 775

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First Part Hard

Update: a slightly more edited version of this post to read instead.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/glennoi/1798325422/

The boatman assured the men, Victor, Lars, and Daniel, there was a bike trail on the other side. Daniel pressed him for details.

“First part hard?” Daniel asked. He pointed to the bank where the bow of the longtail was headed then sketched a diagonal grade up the cliff wall where he imagined the trail might be.

The boatman waggled his head and said something in Vietnamese accented French. He pointed to the same spot on the bank then sketched a vertical line up the wall instead. Four hours later the three made camp at the top of that wall by collapsing in the leaves and mud next to the last motorcycle hauled up.

“We should of paid him,” Daniel said.

Lars grunted and asked, “To take us back across?”

Daniel nodded.

Lars grunted again.

“We should have,” Victor echoed without lifting he head out of the dirt or taking his eyes out of the canopy and clouds.

“Jesus. You too? You two kill me sometimes.” Lars pulled himself into a sitting position, back leaning on Daniel’s bike. “I mean, fine, we all know Danny’s a pussy, but you Victor?”

“What, me? I’m no pussy. That was four hours we could have ridden. Gotten somewhere.” Victor’s muddy bloody arm went up at the elbow and dropped pointing in the direction of their climb.

Lars fingernailed mud out of the shocks on Daniel’s front fork and sighed. “But the long way. I say this four hours saved us twenty or more down that road.” Daniel and Victor had heard this plea of Lars’ several times before breakfast, before they came across, before they climbed half a day.

“So you say, so says the pussy.” Daniel pointed to himself.

Lars snorted a laugh through his nose faster than he could get out of his mouth, but Victor didn’t give him a chance to recover before he again echoed his twin brother, “So says the pussy.” Lars choked and sputtered after that.

[a paragraph of description for pace]

“Well, we’re here now.” Everyone knew that. “Burning daylight.” Everyone knew that too.

349 words on day 731