I have a Wednesday night writing group. We do prompts, and drabbles, and it’s a good time. Everyone comes out with something so different! They’re short snippets – the drabbles are only supposed to be 100 words (eventually I got there!), a warm-up for the later prompt. I’ve decided to post my favourites, because why not? This one was more recent, and I got two in the time limit that I liked.
Destination #1
The destination is the same, always. It’s only the starting point that’s different.
How far off-shore?
How far from the equator?
How far from the punishing swell of the Southern Ocean?
How far from the agricultural run-off? How far from the thoughtless discards of humanity? How far from the bleaching heat? How far from all the tourists?
(the other tourists. My own hypocrisy burns me.)
Can I find a place where the destination is still here?
I know it when I get there. It’s always the same.
My breath deepens. My heart slows.
The destination is always, always down.
Destination #2
The new recruits are always anxious. They seem lost. The zero-gravity halls fill them with apprehension. They worked hard to get here, and they’re fierce. They’re determined.
But we were born with heavy bones, with muscles that work to push us upwards.
When we get to space, evolution is done. We’ve reached the top.
I tell them, Earth was the centre. You had a destination. That destination was the same, no matter where on Earth you came from. What was it?
It takes them a moment.
Up.
Well, I say. That’s still your destination. How can you be lost?
Nothing if not verbose 