A Mind in Motion

You want noise when something happens. A blaring warning sign. A whisper of foreboding. A chill of uncertainty. You want another person nearby. A hand to hold onto. A rush of moving bodies to motivate you to safety. A sense of unity. A pack survival mentality.   You want a tool. A device to give you advantage. Hope for success. A net for security, should you have to risk it all. A life line. What you don’t want. What you fear the most. Is the unpredictability of nothingness. Because that is where real terror begins. Humanity is so certain our greatest enemies will meet us on the battlefields in manners we understand, that we never stop to consider.... That they don’t think the way we do. There will be no siren. No amount of individuals beside you to make a difference. No technology to aid you. All there will be is a moment--a single flickering second of discord--and then.... oblivion. You see, our greatest enemies can perceive our mortal coil....

     She stared up at the colossus, it's dark metal almost translucent in the poring rain, while thunder crashed around them. Inky silhouettes of the surrounding woods danced and jerked about her periphery, flashes of lightening flickering like wild fireflies between them to cast eerie shutters of chaos and horror.      But she was unafraid.      Here, standing sentry in an abandoned farm field was their salvation.      She had heard the stories, from her parents, her school friends, even her teachers, of the mysterious mechanical giants who had once--long ago--faced the hoard and saved humanity.      They had not fallen from the sky, nor had risen from the ground below.      No, they had assembled themselves, one by one, unseen in abandoned warehouses--spontaneous creation in the absence of a creator--she had once heard it described. No one knew why. The magnificent creatures o...

Good Morning all! In my first post of this year, I told you that I was striving to have my short stories published. I also said that if any of those stories were rejected, I would share them here. Well, that has occurred so for your enjoyment, here is the first part of a little science fiction piece for you to enjoy! ***** “What is it like?” “What is what like, Nysa?” “This new place we are going to? The one you came from?” Glancing at her wife, Tasya turned to their youngest child and smiled down at her eager face. “It is like no other place in our galaxy, little star,” she replied, picking Nysa up and resting her on her lap so she could look out the viewport of their small shuttle craft. “And what is it called again,” Nysa asked, her large blue eyes absorbing each approaching planet as they slowly drifted by them. “Well,” said Sitara, double checking their flight path on the control dash in front of them before turning to her, “it’...

     There was a rumble in its depths, a Hunger that trembled the earth around it, and teeth--jagged like clustered razors--grinned with awareness. Ancient muscles, stiff from slumber, stretched and rippled across its massive cramped frame. Long toes, tipped with sharp claws the color of midnight, bent and pushed against loose rocks surrounding it, encouraging them to slide and tumble free from the surface walls of the weakened chamber it was in. Fingers that could curl into themselves like rolling tumble weeds, also flexed within its confines--joints popping and claws scratching at granite that had once been a flowing bed of magma.      Eyes, so white even darkness could not dull them out, slowly drifted open like a cluster of fluttering fireflies and finally took in its surroundings. What had once been an almost endless cavern, was now nothing more than a shallow grave.      A guttural sound, much like a trill, echoed up from its depths,...

     Nothing but clear sky and the low hum of altitude surrounded her.      The weight of the helmet she had pulled from its perch atop a marble mold now rested in her hands, its golden curves glinting against the sunlight beaming brightly from its point high above. Though it had been some time and--truth be told--she had never wanted to become familiar with said weight yet again, she found herself finding comfort in it now. Many actions well beyond her control had brought her here, but this last action would be her choice.      And she was ready to make it.      As her wild red mane fluttered in the charged air, she continued to stare down at the chaotic mass of storm clouds blocking her view of the destructive terror going on below it on the surface of Humanity's Earthly terrain. Through the howling wind, crackling lightening and deep rumbling thunder were the heart heavy tones of sirens wailing and buildings crumbling. It...