Daily Science Fiction!

Time 2020-12-31 08:03:34

Web Name: Daily Science Fiction!

WebSite: http://dailysciencefiction.com

ID:151780

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Make the universe a better place! Join Daily Science Fiction for only $15 / year, or donate any amount. Get a copy of Not Just Rockets and Robots: Daily Science Fiction Year One. 260 adventures into new worlds, fantastical and science fictional. Rocket Dragons Ignite: the anthology for year two, is also available! "Science Fiction" means to us everything found in the science fiction section of a bookstore, or at a science fiction convention, or amongst the winners of the Hugo awards given by the World Science Fiction Society. This includes the genres of science fiction (or sci-fi), fantasy, slipstream, alternative history, and even stories with lighter speculative elements. We hope you enjoy the broad range that SF has to offer. Original Science Fiction and Fantasy every weekday. Welcome! We publish very short science fiction as broadly defined: sf, fantasy, slipstream, etc. Please read today's short story below. Browse topics in the sidebar, and read what intrigues; subscribe via email to receive each story in your inbox for free; and consider becoming a paying member to ensure we can keep paying authors and providing stories to all.The smell of charred onion and annihilated garlic fills the room. Smells that make your eyes water, set off smoke alarms for miles. Smells of home.Add mushrooms to the pan and sear.Kye stares out the window, or what passes for a window here. Cherry blossom drifts on the breeze as children run through the streets, their parents casually window-shopping--no intention of buying anything more than a coffee at the local 'mart, perhaps some candy to fuel their hyperactive offspring.Remove mushrooms and brown meat in the same pan. Add butter and oil as necessary to stop it catching.Outside, a man in a light, granddad collar shirt calls to a boy leaning over the canal. He pulls the boy away, sits on the wet cobbles with him to watch the birds and the fish playing cat and mouse across the elements. The image flickers, static cutting through the view. The man is like Sol, but not quite. The arch of his shoulders is different, the tone of his hair, the angle on his smile. The child was never there, even though they tried.Remove the meat from the pan, boil eggs while noodles cook.The kitchen was never Kye's domain. It was Sol's world and that was, by all accounts, a good thing. Safer for all concerned. But now, travelling in this tin can through the stars, this was the only way to be close to him again.Sol's home would forever be the one that the window showed her. The one Ship remembered from the archives. The home that was unrelentingly lost to them now. She'd known that the home Sol loved was dying, dead. And yet she still couldn't change his mind. She tried--pleaded, screamed, cried. But he drew lines in sand that was never shifting, and Kye promised never to speak of it again.Ladle noodles equally between two bowls and cover generously with the broth. Cut the chicken and egg into even pieces and place on top.So she never spoke of it again, she just cooked them dinner.Add one teaspoon per serving.Sol had been sleeping for ever-so-slightly-longer than Ship had been passing through space. Their last meal together, their anniversary soup--a tradition, characterized by her burned garlic and dry chicken. This time, with a secret addition. She kissed him after noodles with tears in her eyes.Sol sleeps in the bowels of Ship, waiting to wake in a world that must be better than the one he loved and lost. Kye saved him from something but will never know what prize he will win. Because she is Ship's caretaker and does not have the privilege of sleep. The rest of her life belongs with Ship. The rest of Sol's life belongs with whatever comes next.Season as necessary.The EndThis story was first published on Wednesday, December 30th, 2020 Daily Science Fiction does not have a paywall, but we do have expenses more than 95% of which are direct payments to authors for their stories. With your $15 membership, less than 6 cents per story, we can continue to provide genre fiction every weekday by email and on the website to thousands of readers for many years to come. Tell me more! Support Daily Science Fiction Please don't read too much into these ratings. For many reasons, a superior story may not get a superior score. 4.7 Rocket Dragons Average Please join our mailing list and receive free daily sci-fi (your email address will be kept 100% private): Please send us feedback on how we can improve our web site to best meet your needs: Please optionally enter your email address if you'd like a reply to this feedback: We'll send your friend a link to the DSF web site, along with this optional message from you:

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Daily Science Fiction is an on-line magazine specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and everything in between. A new story is published every weekday and sent to subscribers via e-mail, and stories appear a week later on dailysciencefiction.com.

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