Teasers & Previews
The Complexitor’s plans for revenge on the DMIC had take a back burner to more domestic concerns the past week, namely, what to wear for his — he could barely think the word — date on Friday.
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I told Uncle Kevin where I was going tomorrow. He smiled slightly, but didn’t say anything except to remind me to finish up the vinyl siding. I got the same kind of feeling that I did when Mrs. Cutler and Madame S were talking about a lot changing in one summer, like he knew something that I didn’t. Before I could ask him what he was thinking, he had left the room and started working on various papers scattered around the kitchen. I knew better than to disturb him, so I went upstairs and crashed.
“Come on, hurry up,” Sarah thought, with her foot pressing the pedal all the way down. Even though the speedometer needle pegged the red zone at 30 mph and the electric engine whined in protest, the rover didn’t seem to go quite fast enough. Her heart thudded excitedly in her chest as she neared the needle-like spaceship in the distance, a sliver of silver in the night.
Friday sent its electric wires to bus stops and breakfast tables, to car rides and sidewalks, gathering students to Westchester High, breathless with the oncoming weekend. Some looked forward to dates; others to time spent away from parents; others to band or football; but only a select few in the school’s hallways looked forward to karaoke night at the DMIC headquarters.
The next day, I woke up to the sounds of birds and cars. The birds were a lot closer of course. In fact, they were right outside my window on the sill cheeping their heads off. The cars made the usual long droning sounds of taking off and then tapering off into the silence. It was like the soundtrack to a movie. I just laid there, and eventually reached around to the pictures I took recently.
As I flipped through them, I realized that there weren’t any people in them. Lots of strange angles, some cool devices from where Uncle Kevin worked, and the sunset on my first day here. It felt empty, like I had just captured the outside of things but I was missing the inside. Before I left, I was going to take pictures of — people. Friends wasn’t exactly right, but I wanted to remember them: Kirandra, J, Uncle Kevin — everyone. It would be a lot better than forgetting, like I had never been here at all.
Sarah had spent the previous day in a state of effervescent expectancy. She had cleaned every room, rearranged the decorative plants, dusted, and mopped. During his last visit, Daniel said that he missed the taste of home-cooked food the most during the monthly route along the planetoids. “I know I can trust you with this,” he had said. She had asked why sharing it would be a problem. “I don’t want anyone to think that they have to do things for me,” he had told her. She felt like he had just placed a beautiful star into the center of her chest, a shining secret that only she knew. “If I make something for you,” she had asked, looking at the crew and feeling the heat in her cheeks, “that would be ok, wouldn’t it?” He had smiled and said, “Yes, only if you do it.” She knew just what she would make him — apple tarts. Her pies usually ended up a total loss, but somehow, she could always make those. Maybe it was because it was something that her mother had taught her? Probably.
August 15th, –05.
It is still dark outside, but then it is always dark outside. I don’t know why I say “still” as though I’d wake up to the sun, because that’s impossible. Most of the time, I know this, but every now and I wake up and half-expect it, and only then do I slowly remember that there will never be a sun.
Seven colonies scattered along the shipping lanes to a distant star.
Seven colonies alone in the cold lightless void of space.
Seven colonies connected only by holograms and voices.
The final frontier as it will be and as it must be.
Lonely Planets.
Winter 2010.
The stories of Scintilliarium are in no way dead! I’m getting my feet wet by upgrading the look and feel of the site. I’ve been playing with the multi-page thing, and so now each page should be easier to navigate. I’ve tweaked the theme a bit too and next on the list is better titles when you search for the pages. The big holdup, although my IF game was my main project for a while, really has been doing a character sketch of Sarah in Lonely Planets. I found the most detailed character sheet EVER and so I’ve been filling it out. I’ve learned a lot about her (which seems strange given that I’m the author, but hey) and I didn’t want to actually continue until I was sure that I knew her. So yeah. Look for something this month, and hopefully in small sizes, so I can update more often.
Today WebFictionGuide decided to ban me (or at least that’s what I’m 99% sure of). I’ve been hesitant to go off on webfic “communities”, but once you get banned, it loosens the tongue. You feel like you have nothing left to lose, and I really don’t.
