“Absent”: A SciFanSat Microfiction Compilation

broken rainmaker
somebody has drawn a cloud
in its dust

open hothouses
droid bees fly queries
over empty beds

a barcoded crow
collects absence in its beak
drops caws #vss365 #scifaikusaturday #SciFanSat #vssnature

— Jenny Gaitskell (@JennyGaitskell) January 22, 2022

Once there were portals everywhere–the blue eye of the pond in the clouds, the alley hidden by lilacs, like doors opening. Now there are only the faces of things. The magic and mystery are absent, like a door closing. #SciFanSat #absent

— Voimaoy (@voimaoy) January 22, 2022

The revenant mob gathers in the Lazarus Rain. Half-burned, my child’s corpse moves among them.

Kate’s soul is absent, but knowing it might have my daughter’s memories, I pray it doesn’t while holding her baby brother.

“Mommy’s hiding in there,” it says.#SciFanSat #2WordPrompt

— Jason H. Abbott (@Jason_H_Abbott) January 22, 2022

The #rain fell despite the absence of clouds in the sky.

Here and there, freshly scorched bodies lay twisted, bones picked clean by vultures littered the verges.

The path was clear when I started but was getting slippy now.

I turned back, opened my eyes.#vss365 #SciFanSat

— Ellen✍K (@poeticnihilist) January 22, 2022

The students wondered why the teacher was absent from school. Again.

Her flying car probably broke down, Bill said.

Maybe she's caught in a temporal loop, Nala said.

Nature forbids time loops, Steve said.

You always say that, Al said.#scifansat #vssnature

— Irene is on hiatus ❄💙 (@_Irene_Dreams_) January 22, 2022

Every other drop was #absent, as though half the world was disappearing into shadow. I turned to call to you, but you were gone, gone like the #rain. I found you days later, staring up at me from a puddle, your voice rippling its surface, trying to explain#vss365 #scifansat

— Once upon a Steve 🐺🌼🦊 (@PatchieSteve) January 22, 2022

During the long summer, it wasn't just the #rain that was absent. Even through the transporters grind a silence grew; her eyes lingered on the western horizon. I searched for words each night. Didn't go beyond a,"You okay?"
She’d nod, smile and say, "And you?"#scifansat#vss365

— John Everex (@EverexJohn) January 22, 2022

#Lost and absent of mind, my mini robot army, you could never accuse of.

Following my each and every instruction; this puny planet’ll be mine.

Death toll high at my command…just the beginning.

#SciFanSat #vssmurder

— Fizzy-AllSortsOfAllSorts (@Fizzytwizler) January 22, 2022

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but without the brain, the heat can no longer feel.

The brain misses, though. It longs for something to fill the empty chest cavity, where the leftover blood drips down and echoes like soft rain. #SciFanSat #vss365 #satsplat

— A. A. Rubin (@TheSurrealAri) January 22, 2022

"When love is #absent," mom would say,"look for kindness. When hope is absent,look for an escape."

The land had seen no #rain in 2 years.Everything was dead or dying.

'Forgive me,'I whispered to Earth.'You belong to the Sun now.' & I stepped thru the portal.#SciFanSat #vss365

— Elizabeth Spring (@ESWarriorPoet) January 22, 2022

Forgetting descends
In the heavy #rain
Never to feel the#Absence now
Of memories that
We had already lost#vss365 #SciFanSat #poetry#poem #poetrycommunity

— Anna✨💫✨ (@annaburnswriter) January 22, 2022

Through the #rain, I see that the statue of the #manticore is now #absent. I can only assume that the #mob has torn it down. Such short #memories, and no idea of the danger they'll soon face…

I wake in a cold sweat, clouds gathering.#vss365 #vssmagic #scifansat #2WordPrompt

— That Burnt Writer (@ThatBurntWriter) January 22, 2022

#scifansat

"How can this be?"

I shrug. "The body lacks warmth. The heart beats not. The usual life signs are #absent."

Watching him with lewd grin. A departure from the customary screaming and bucking against shackles.

"Your Rose has a form of life, but not as we comprehend." pic.twitter.com/efPyPayL7L

— John Tannhauser (@JohnTannhauser) January 22, 2022

I have a hunger never absent to reach for the stars in a rain drenched sky & skim fingers across your arm while we chase the gods thro a multitude of galaxies to say

We the immortals here belong

I fear they'd laugh#FromOneline#SciFanSat#vss365

— DW Keene (@Dragonandelf) January 22, 2022

The android, #absent a prime directive, did the best it could in the circumstances: a #rain of projectiles, a civilian population, an only partially-understood downloaded military ethics treatise.

What happened next would be classified as dystopian by a human.#SciFanSat#vss365

— Danielle Ste. Just (@DanielleSteJust) January 22, 2022

Bitrate calculates a vector to insert Lily into orbit around L2, rigs her for low power, and tucks in to wait for his #absent partner. It’s not long before LiDAR picks up Jack of Hearts burning out of the planet’s gravity well…with Crazy Rosemary in pursuit!#SciFanSat #satsplat

— Eric Gallant (@eric_gallant) January 22, 2022

After your funeral, Dak gives me a paid leave of absence. Says it’s mandatory. Tells me to go stay in that meditation center on Europa.

I go to Triton instead. I always wanted to see Neptune up close and imagine I can see the diamond rain.#SciFanSat #SatSplat #vss365

— Armond Boudreaux (@armondboudreaux) January 22, 2022

She touched the door handle, taking a deep breath.

"Oh, it's raining," she sighed. "How I love the #rain."

He gently pulled her back.

"Not today, mom."

She drifted, like her #absent recognition.

He checked the locks on the capsule hatch again.#vss365#scifansat#satsplat

— A.L. MacDonald (@A_L_MacDonald) January 22, 2022

All the kingdom lay frozen, armored in shimmering ice. Like the sleeping heart absent the warmth of love's sweet summer.#microprose #mywords #scifansat pic.twitter.com/25934dkDPE

— (Quiet) Storm ☽✪☾ (@MadQueenStorm) January 22, 2022

I fly through worm holes
to heal from your absent love
The stars aren’t enough#SciFiFri #stars #romance#SciFanSat #absent#SciFaikuSaturday #fly#SciFaiku#Haiku#Poetry#SciFi
📷 iStock pic.twitter.com/UVDd5HXIEw

— Alan Vincent Michaels (@AlanVMichaels) January 22, 2022