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    Particulates: A New Edition
    Particulates: A New Edition
    Particulates: A New Edition
    Ebook72 pages49 minutes

    Particulates: A New Edition

    By Heather Bron

    ()

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    About this ebook

    A new edition with 35 bonus stories!

    From the small grains of sand on the nearby shore, to the outer reaches of the galaxy,Particulates: A New Edition features 135 small tales of exploration, alienation, and humans out of their element.

    Each micro-fiction story is exactly 100 words, making them bite-size diversions into the limits of our imagination, or the possible future right around the corner.

    A few bits:
    #8: We found footprints on a dead planet, so we followed them, sort of.

    #36: A pill bug in Ohio asked a question.

    #75: Red and orange lights flicked on and off with a secret music, while cool air billowed around the base of the rocket.

    #109: "There are too many suns here."

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBRBBooks
    Release dateSep 12, 2024
    ISBN9798990780804
    Particulates: A New Edition
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      Book preview

      Particulates - Heather Bron

      100 words about Particulates

      The genre is a challenge and I toyed around with the 100-word story to practice concise and consistent writing. I never imagined it would be delightful.

      Feel free to argue that some of these are vignettes, or images, or scenes and not stories. I don't mind what you call them, but at least read them all. You may find one that speaks to you. It won't take long. They are short.

      After the first 100, I decided to re-release the volume with 35 more stories under a new pen name (previously known as BronMcD).

      Thanks for checking out my little book.

      Heather

      heatherbron.com

      {1-10}

      1

      I discovered the portal on an early Sunday walk. Shaded by a copse of trees, the stone triangle steamed in the Darbyshire fog and smelled of ozone. The opening, seven feet from base to point, shimmered in translucent gold. When he finally arrived, Dr. Robertson suggested it was a doorway and tossed a stone through the center. Ripples fanned out in the golden sheen, but the stone never landed on the other side. Suddenly, Dr. Robertson jumped in himself, larger ripples this time. Moments later, the rock landed on the far side of the portal, smoking and scorched. We waited.

      2

      The atmospheric heat melted our first landers. Then we bombed the surface. As we closed in, the first humans to attempt a landing (the low-bid contractor assuring us of the hull strength) we looked down upon a pock-marked landscape. We felt like vermin, scurrying into the dark. The deepest hole was our target. Named after a joke, Falstaff yawned, deep and inviting, a kilometer deep crevice created by that low-bid contractor. Somehow, we’d leave the cool dark of space, zoom past the molten air into the cool dark of the planet. On the trip out, we laughed at the irony.

      3

      We lined the bulbs in tight little rows, hoping to make the garden look lush and vibrant. The captain spat in the dirt, saying that we’re just painting our own gravestones and we should dowse for water. She walked away, as she always does after giving orders. Breck and I smiled at each other, knowing the underground water was a waste. Only the rain came clean and safe to drink, for flowers too.

      I pulled out another small bag of tulip bulbs. Found these in the burnt-out garden center. I think they’re pink.

      Breck nodded. The captain will like them.

      4

      Settlement Day parades always last too long. I’m starving.

      I know, I know. Let’s get back before the crowd heads to the transports.

      Walking against the flow of onlookers, the men pass the parade’s starting area. With most people following the colorful hover-floats and revelers, it’s quieter here, nearly deserted.

      Reminds you of the early days.

      Yep.

      We spent so much time walking the perimeter after we landed. We should do that again.

      The taller man grabbed the other’s hand and blushed. What about right now?

      Now is good. Leave the parties to the newcomers.

      Smiling, they retraced their steps.

      5

      We downloaded my grandmother for Jason’s history presentation, but the file fragged and we couldn’t afford a reload.

      What about one of your dad’s uncles? He had two in the war.

      Jason pouted. I can’t use Dad’s relatives. They’re too local and they’re all downloaded by now.

      I sighed. Wanna try Uncle James?

      Jason gasped. But, mom. Uncle James was a traitor.

      The kid wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t getting his homework done either.

      Misunderstood, I said. Call it a conspiracy.

      He scowled at me, hanging his head. I’ll just take a zero, and padded softly out of the room.

      6

      We didn't care about the broken sleeping pods. Revived only a month early we started on germinating some of the terraformers. Twelve samples of a hardy Irish moss thrived under the caring hands of the gardeners (they hated being called astro-botanists), who worked as if their lives depended on it. But none of our lives depended on it. We wouldn't be around to see Mars take on a greenish hue. But these sleepy six weeks circling the planet, we watched

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