Story Time, Volume 24
This week's @DailyMicroFiction twitter stories, plus a bonus story at the end!
The patter of rain is tranquil, cloaking the nighttime sounds of the city. On the table, a candle flickers — illuminating a boy, sprawled on a couch, reading a book.
The paper rustles as he turns the page. He breathes a breath, held unconsciously long.
The telescope’s solar panels unfurled, and soon enough Earth’s ultimate scientific eye blinked open.
Across the cosmos, an Eldritch creature sits. Planetary in size and oozing dread, it noticed it was being watched.
Curious…
It began to investigate.
“What’s our disguise going to be? Construction workers? Plumbers? Oh, how about I say I’m from the FBI?”
“None of that — we’re going to hand out flyers.”
“Flyers!?”
“It’s all we need. Trust me, nobody will even look at us.”
The astronaut stepped out of the airlock, disconnected his tether, and pushed away. The shuttle soon passed behind the horizon, leaving him adrift.
Finally, sublimely, alone. He’d found his quiet.
You can’t reason with a rock, they told her.
That hasn’t stopped her from trying; she figures that nobody’s been willing to wait for a response.
She’ll wait.
Leather boots click down the the linoleum hallway. Dark sunglasses cover her eyes, and long black curls hang like coiled snakes over a leather jacket.
She walks over to me.
"Hi, I'm Perseus," I say.
"Nice to meet ya," she says to me, grinning. "I'm Medusa."
“What’ll it cost me?” he asked the witch.
“Nothing you’ll miss,” she said with a sly smile. “Just a few memories.”
He agreed – maybe a little too hastily.
.
.
He awoke, bewildered. What was he doing here? Why was he holding a potion?
What was his name?
I know it’s a strange request. The hobgoblin eyes the microphone warily, like he expects it to transform into a sword and stab him.
"Interview, huh? Mm. Humans don't interview monsters...humans stab monsters."
"I'm hoping to change that."