Discovery
Writing With Fictionistas
Hello all! This is my entry for
“Let’s Write Together” activity which happened May 11th. The idea is to write a short story, 1,000 words or less, on the prompt provided. Details about how all this works can be found here:
So this represents my entry! I cheated a bit—I told the story of before the cliff, not the story after. That’s just how it came out. Sue me!
Prompt: Your enemies have backed you against the edge of a cliff. Far below you is a treacherous torrent of water. What happens next?
Every planet we reached was dead. All—except this one. On the Interstellar Survey Ship Observator, there were only three of us—a large crew, by the standards of the Surveyor Corps. One of us to explore the planet—that was me. One of us to keep in touch with me and send the retrieval shuttle when I called for it—that was Sarah. One of us to pilot the ship—that was Raymond.
We arrived here after what felt like months. It was the second star system we visited. In the first star system—all dead rocks. One of them had an atmosphere, but it was tidally locked so inhospitable. There were six other planets in that system, and I looked at every last one of those barren rocks.
It was tiring work, being the ground-man. Sarah would try to keep me talking. “Louis?” She would ask, sporadically.
“Yes, Sarah?” I would say, kicking a dead rock towards other dead rocks.
“What’s your favorite food?”
“Dead rocks.”
“Seriously! What do you like to eat?”
“You know what I like to eat. We have worked together for two years. You have asked me that question at least once at every system we visit.”
“What do you like to eat.” She asked again, with maternal firmness that was more demand than question.
“Spaghetti.” I said.
The conversation would go on like that.
We had that conversation on the second, deserted planet of this system. When I returned to the ship, that was when we spotted the fourth planet.
“Take a look at that!” Raymond said. The screen was showing us a blue-green sphere, an atmosphere, a decent rotation, a decent gravitation.
“Is it just me or does that look livable?”
“It sure does!” Sarah said.
“We can circle back to Number 3 after, that sound ok?” Raymond asked.
“Yeah, lets do it. I could use a change in scenery!”
= = =
I was soon deposited unceremoniously on this weird green, temperate world. The drone-shuttle landed, I stepped out with my pack and my analysis kit and my camera, and the shuttle took off behind me and rushed back to home base.
“Louis?” It was Sarah again.
“Yeah yeah, I’m here.”
“What’s it look like?”
“It’s…well, it’s green. There’s grass, there’s trees. The sky is blue, I haven’t checked the atmosphere yet—but I’m willing to bet it’s breathable.”
“That’s amazing.”
“Are you finding anything from your end?”
“We just started mapping, I’ll let you know.”
“I’m going to get to work.”
“OK. We’re about to go out of comms. Hang tight. Talk to you soon!”
I landed on a flat little plain covered partially in grass, but there were some large flat rocks that emerged from the soil that reminded me this region was mountainous. This clearing was surrounded by forest. To my left, I could see mountains. To my right—was that a tower?
I took my initial measurements and filed them away. I would wait for confirmation from the Observator that this world was safe before taking off my helmet. I decided my first expedition on this world would be to walk towards the tower.
The forest became increasingly dark and thick. It was…quiet, though, which seemed odd. Back home, I remember walking through forests and them being filled with sound. Birds, animals, bugs, wind. There were no noises here.
I had set the heading on my compass and just kept walking. Because the forest was so dark, I didn’t notice that it was night until I looked up and saw the stars.
My radio crackled to life. “Louis?”
“Still here, Sarah. I’m setting up camp.”
“Louis, we found something.”
“Me too, I think. What did you find?”
“There’s these towers.”
“That’s what I saw, too. Looks tall.”
“2 kilometers tall, each one of them. We sent the Shuttle to take some images. All of them have the same design. They look almost like lighthouses.”
“Weird. I started moving towards this one I saw but it’ll be some time.”
“OK. Get some rest—I guess you have a long walk tomorrow.”
“Good night!”
I got out my bedroll and my hammock. I set up a perimeter shield. That’s when I noticed something.
There were two lights, shining out of the forest, like eyes. They were motionless until I looked away—when I looked up they were gone.
I resumed setting up my camp, but then I looked up again and I saw two sets of eyes, shining out from the forest.
“Sarah?” I radioed.
“Yes, Louis? We’re about to go out of Comms.”
“I think there’s life here.”
“Get s……icture….ave it f….” static overtook her.
My heart pounded. This is the first time there’s been life.
I look up again—hundreds of little lights are looking out at me from the forest. I am grateful for the low blue glow of my camp, but then…the camp went dark.
I feel something crawl across my foot. I fumble for my flashlight on my belt, and I turn it on—these big-eyed creatures…I don’t know how to describe them…their mouths were unnatural combinations of pincers and tentacles. They were no taller than my knees—but the one I shone the light on stopped cold. It stared at me. It opened its mouth and let out an unearthly, bone-chilling screech—and I ran.
I ran. I don’t know where I was running. I prayed that The Observator would come back to my side of the world soon. “Sarah? Sarah?” I called between huffing breaths as I ran through the forest, trying not to trip on roots.
Eventually I ran out of the woods to a clearing—it was a cliff. I turned around, and the skittering creatures were all around me. There was nowhere to run. I looked over the edge—water, rocks. I saw in the distance, the tower, glowing near its massively tall spire.
The creatures let out a screech, and lunged forward. I had no choice—I jumped.
(1000 words)
If you enjoyed this, consider my other short fiction, which you can find in The Writing Gym! I publish a new short writing exercise every Tuesday!
You might also like my personal favorite entry into the Let’s Write Together challenge: Telephobia.
Thank you very much for reading!
God Bless!
This reminds me of a little story I wrote of an explorer discovering life on a planet.
I’m definitely partial to science fiction, so I really enjoyed this one!