Lazette Gifford's Blog, page 36

Flash Fiction # 383 -- Take Flight (Drabble)

Fledglings held to the quaking branch, a place suddenly bereft of leaves, with nowhere the huddle against the cold wind.  They weren't alone in the old maple tree that had been such a pleasant home not so long ago.  The elders had gathered as well."What has happened?  Why is it so cold?"The eldest looked down from a higher branch.  "Don't worry, youngling.  We'll soon fly to pursue the lost

Flash Fiction # 382 -- Fork in the Road (Drabble)

One way led to power, wealth, and fame.  People would adore him, but only from afar.  A person in that position could never trust people since most would actually be attracted to his position rather than him.The other way led to peace, contentment, and love -- but also to hardship, moments of despair, and much harder work just to make ends meet."I can't have the best of both?" he asked."No,"

Flash Fiction #381 -- Muses (Drabble)

"They only have two more weeks," Thalia said with a bright laugh.  "So many hopefuls this year!  I love hearing the scratch of so many pens and taps of keys as they write stories.""Followed by wails of loss and despair on the first of December --""Must everything be a tragedy with you, Melpomene?" Thalia demanded and ignored the answer.  "The ones who don't complete their work get over it,

Flash Fiction # 380 -- Wept (Drabble)

They heard the voices, exuberant, filled with sounds they didn't understand except to know that they were not alone after all.

They built their ships and sailed the sea of stars, but as they grew closer, the voices grew silent.  For all the span of time they had traveled, those voices had seemed to call them closer, but now...

They found the world.  Insignificant in some ways, and oh so

Flash Fiction #379 -- Pretend

When Clara was seven, her parents moved her to the family castle far from the city. Alone and afraid, she sometimes pretended to be one of the maids.  Surely that was the best of all lives!  Esquia dusted her rooms and then moved on to dust somewhere else, free to move through the building.  Clara remained in her suite and sat with her tutor or learned to embroider from her elder great-aunt

Are you ready?

Flash Fiction #378 -- Tom Cat

Tom had never seen a reason to be polite.  People said he was lazy and useless, just because he lived with his old aunt and let her cook and clean.  She had money to support them.  Why should he work?  He'd grown up on a farm before he came to live with Aunt Sally.  He'd worked enough.He snarled at all of them, including the old witch who lived next door.He didn't know she was a real witch. 

Flash Fiction # 377 -- Reports

(Pellin is a major force in the Inner Worlds Council books.  This is just a peak at a busy day.)

Reports defined President Pellin's world; reading them, writing them, and hearing them.  Occasionally, he read his own statements to the Assembly, just to make certain they remembered who was in charge of things.  Today's reports didn't cover the critical problem that he'd placed in the hands

Flash Fiction # 376: Sunrise on a New World (Drable)

The ship landed without incident, the only time the ponderous craft had touched a world, having been built in orbit of the moon.  It would never lift again.Computers ran tests while robos disassembled the ship.  Every piece would be used to build the first settlement.Humans lined up at the bay doors, a line stretching back far into the ship.  Captain Tanton keyed the door open to Terra Nova

Flash Fiction #375 -- Terson's Choice

(A side story related to Vita's Vengeance)First, Terson had never meant to be part of Jarak's High Command.  The turnover rate at that exalted position was rather high, and the Verdi Elite who made it that far rarely retired.  Jarak's temper had grown short the last few years as people who dared to stand up to his decision to take over all the worlds in the Aquila Fringe.Second, there was