“Lead”: A SciFanSat Microfiction Compilation

He was hit by a #lead piece fallen from the sky. Same time I was lead to him by my dog—she could #smell treats from him.
I saved his life, we fell in love.
& the piece was from his malfunctioning spaceship. So, it really was written in the stars. #vss365 #scifansat #Satsplat

— Fizzy AllsortsOfAllsorts (@Fizzytwizler) March 25, 2023

Night hushed in desert
Crimson objects way up high
lead me to the truth#ScifaikuSaturday #BrknShards #vssfantasy #SciFanSat #haiku pic.twitter.com/5XoeCSEbP2

— Indigenous Soul (@GeneVatow) March 25, 2023

It was a city of no shadows. The sky was November grey–lead grey, graphite grey, ash, charcoal. The natives had eyes like clouds. Their language was garbled, words lost in smoke.
A cry in the alley, or was it the river? The sound of a splash in the fog. #sciFanSat #lead

— Voima Oy (@voimaoy) March 25, 2023

The dragon opened wide his maw
Freezing us with dread
The force it knocked us on the floor
Like heavy bolts of lead
No fire from his belly swelled
Twas far, far more atrocious
We could not stand before the smell
Of his great halitosis.#vss365 #SciFanSat

— A. A. Rubin (@TheSurrealAri) March 25, 2023

They are a sorry sight, huddled around smoldering embers. The smell of unwashed bodies punches me in the face.

"We knew you'd come. The one who would fall from the sky to #lead us out of this hell."

What are they talking about? My shuttle just had a malfunction.#SciFanSat

— Maria A. Perez (@MariaAPerez1) March 25, 2023

Coven of misfits
I do lead
dark as hell’s seed
as artificial
as a caring God
changelings of
The Order of Night
fear us, we do not bleed
your kind we will cull
we are the fright
& could give 2 shits

You will be peeled
from your bones
& your flesh our meal#SciFanSat 🎨JHAbbott pic.twitter.com/xMrvliPTjj

— Spyder Collins (@Spyder_Collins) March 25, 2023

The #smell of rain is a telltale sign
Under a #lead gray sky
I brave the downpour to venture to our meeting place in the meadow
You turn towards me smiling, drenched and windblown.
"My love" you gasp, "we meet again. What year is it now?"#vss365 #SciFanSat #scifiart #satsplat pic.twitter.com/wexp2FqRsM

— 🤩 Debbie Iancu-Haddad 📚 (@debbieiancu) March 25, 2023

“Follow my lead.”
Grimacing, she tugged her shawl closer. The air in the club was thick with cigarettes and something dark and spiced. And likely illegal.
Fae clustered in small groups among the humans and the cloying bite of glamour caught in her throat.#vss365 #SciFanSat

— R.S.Bass is querying (@RebBassWrites) March 25, 2023

He looks at the shaft. “Follow my lead.”

The wizard places a small heavy figure from his pocket onto the ledge, and grabbing some rope it starts rappelling down.

“Where did you ever find a little lead golem?” she asks.

“You know, I’ve plumb forgot!”#SciFanSat #2WordPrompt

— Jason H. Abbott (@Jason_H_Abbott) March 25, 2023

"Be careful," he warned me. "In the DigiVerse the DigiCode keeps all the minds that stop, leads them to the memory bank."

I smelled roses, full and blooming at first spring. Wait. How could I smell her perfume? Was she here?

Tell me about her, a voice called.#scifansat #vss365

— A.L. MacDonald (@A_L_MacDonald) March 25, 2023

#Vss365 #SciFanSat #SatSplat
Beguiled by all things theatrical, the time traveler adores Lady Macbeth from lead-powdered face to bloody hands. The smell of whores’ oranges whips him into ecstasy: oh how he longs to snog that lady-boy. Alas, he leaps to the stage & breaks his leg.

— Cecily Winter: dreaming about writingagain! (@winter_cecily) March 25, 2023

i did not come here voluntarily
given choices i would have flown
to unsawn woods lush arms
safe home
but Chione would lead astray
i am in this numb space now
manifested as a southern fulmar
and we are poles apart#SciFanSat#vss #poem

— susan osborne (@osbornecsue) March 25, 2023

Eventually, I work it out—only I can #smell it. The others shake their heads. Over the days it ripens from a petrichor to an organic reek. Overwhelmed, I lead a half-life.
Much later, after the drought and subsequent floods, I understand it as precognition.#scifansat#vss365

— John Everex (@EverexJohn) March 25, 2023

🌫🌹💘🏜 #Socal Soliloquy 🏜💘🌹🌫

Beneath lead-gray skies
Smell the fragrant rose of love
As our desert blooms 💞#SciFanSat #SciFiSat #vss365 #vsspic #SatSplat #scifaikusaturday #scifi #haiku #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity #WritingCommunity #HaikuSaturday #writerscommunity XO pic.twitter.com/Xqz4In6abj

— GLHancock, MS Ψ🕊 (@GLHancock) March 25, 2023

Roster
killer
by time
privation,
conquering
the galaxy
from a
space
intruder,
deficiency
of the flesh
by specimen
mutilation,
terror
presence
for a coast
expansion,
mindset
foray lead
by the apex
predator.#SciFanSat #lead #BrknShards #vss365 #WritingCommnunity pic.twitter.com/96LU0GH6wj

— KING OF THE MEEK🏁🪐☄️ (@Efizipapa) March 25, 2023

Since lead is quite malleable and somewhat ductile, unicorns have learned to make conical sheathes for their horns. They barter with harpies for certain charms, & fairies for tiny lights. Then they cruise up & down Main Street trailing the smell of buttercream#SciFanSat #vss365

— Danielle Ste. Just (@DanielleSteJust) March 25, 2023

Pop used to say "#Smell what sells". Surprisingly my bestselling item is paintchips, which have no scent. When I roll into town, townsfolk scramble to buy my lead-infused detritus, believing they have magical properties. It's a slow sweet death. And profitable. #SciFanSat #vss365

— Andrew Anderson 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ (@soorploom) March 25, 2023

“But I love you,” I pleaded with no one.
And saw no one come back,
Felt no one’s embrace,#Smelled no one’s perfume,
Tasted no one’s kiss,
And heard no one say,
“I love you too.”#SciFanSat#SciFiSat#SatSplat#vss365#amwriting#writingprompt#writerscommunity#poem#YA

— Peter J Gilbertson (@PeteJGilbertson) March 25, 2023

“You lead and we'll follow,” someone whispered.
“You shall keep your eyes closed all the time,” another voice said quietly.
“But everybody must be hidden by now,” she said, “How am I going to find them blindfolded?”
“We'll guide you. Don't be afraid.”
“Be afraid? Why?”#SciFanSat pic.twitter.com/HdNYSpRWtf

— Luis (@elauraeterea) March 25, 2023

The #smell is what would first #lead her to her target. Reese had been around long enough to know when hunting Ultoks, the acrid burning in your nostrils meant a beast was close. #vss365 #SciFanSat pic.twitter.com/PnCUj2pDLV

— Anastasia (@aarellanowriter) March 25, 2023