334 days of photos
Lost Past; A Star Trek Story
Paramount Global owns the Star Trek franchise. This is a piece of fan fiction based on Star Trek the Next Generation.
Cheeseburgers in space
Data wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing the top of her head. He took
another deep breath, “peaches. That is what I smell.”
She giggled, “It is already coming back; one memory at a time. But you have to take it slowly. If you try to open that file all at once, it will overload your posatronic matrix. In essence, frying your brain.”
“I got that message.”
She turned around in his arms. “DaTa, I am so sorry. I didn’t know you had you’re emotion chip installed. If I had, I wouldn’t have caused you so much pain.”
“We have had this conversation. I would have done more if you had let me. Let me ask you, how long would you have survived if you had not contacted me?”
“Honestly?”
“Always.”
“I would have been dead when you found me.”
He leaned over and kissed her. “I would go through it all over again. More if I had the chance.”
She smiled. “I owe you so much.”
“You owe me nothing.” He enjoyed kissing her soft lips. The timer went off on the burgers. He released her. She flipped the burgers adding a little garlic to the cooked side and added the fries to the oil. “We were in love were we not?”
“Yes we were.”
“Why do I feel so empty? I have this feeling of longing but I do not know what I
am longing for.”
“That feeling is common. Humans feel it all the time. Some never fill that void. Some just ignore it and hope it goes away. Others search their entire lives to find the answer.”
“Do they?”
“Some do, some don’t.”
“I am so happy to see you; to be with you again.” He caressed her face. “Yet I feel like something is missing. I keep seeing Dr. Soong compressing my memories. I keep seeing you leave me. I do not know how to feel.”
“It will come to you. We will work these feelings out. I promise.” She kissed him. The timer on the grill went off. “Dinner.” She smiled. Her stomach growled at the smell of fresh cooked burgers.
Data laughed. They built their burgers. “If I remember you like lots of salt?”
“Yes I do.” She took a bite of a fry. “You know what we need for dessert?”
“Watermelon,” they said in unison, laughing.
“It is going to take some time getting used to someone being able to read my thoughts. I didn’t think anyone could do it.”
“Remember what I said?”
“You are as different a creature as l am.”
“Correct.”
They had a quiet dinner by the door. There was a small door where they changed clothing into swimwear.
Sher ran from the door jumping into the pool. “That was fun.”
Data did the same, sinking immediately to the bottom. He popped up gargling water. “I have never been able to swim. I sink.”
“I remember.” She giggled
They played and had a wonderful time.
“This is nice.” He smiled.
“I like it as well. We need to do more of this.” He was sitting on a ledge. The water lapped at his chin. She swam over to him. They kissed. He could feel energy flowing from her. This feeling was familiar and addictive. “Let me give you a piece of advice. Westerfield isn’t stupid. He lets on like he is but that is farthest from the truth. It’s true that he spends 70% of his time drunk. If he wanted too, he could talk a Ferengi out of his purse.”
“Why does he hate me? I had never met him up until this mission.”
“He is jealous of the position you’re in right now.”
“The position I am in right now?” Data questioned. He thought about it for a long time. “He out ranks me. He is not interested in my job. He does not seem to enjoy space travel.” He looked at Sher, “you? He is jealous of the relationship we have?”
“Extremely. Charles has been after me for years. I have never been interested in him. Never will. If you really want to piss him off sometime, when he is pretending not to know what you’re talking about. Explain whatever it is in terms of alcohol proofs.
“Interesting.”
“I did that to him one time, he stayed bent out of shape for weeks.”
“He cannot do anything to you. He can recommend me for a court marshal.”
“Are you so sure about that?” Data didn’t know how to respond to her question. They climbed out of the pool. “Don’t let me forget to turn the heat off.”
“I will.” They lay in a lounge chair. Data held her tight as she went to sleep.
Flash fiction prompt — 09feb26
Zero serving zero
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
That was the first thing to fill the darkness.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The beeping was soft and light. It seemed to float in the darkness.
Beep.
With each beep, a shape started to form. Much like the beeping, it was soft and light. Four black wavy strings formed; then two black shimmering eyes. A body of bright colors followed. Was it as long as a person? Or the size of a hand? There was no concept of size in the darkness.
Beep. The shaped bobbed up and down.
Beep. The shape moved side to side.
More black strings appeared. Then gold and silver strings followed, hanging from the body. Moving softly.
Beep. The eyes were enveloped by a head. Underlined with a mouth. A massive tail formed. Beep. Strings of bright colors hung from the tail.
Beep. Zero saw her outline standing below this bobbing object. So small.
Beep. It moved away from her. But how?
“Stop!” She screamed in panic.
Beep. Its head moved in an almost mocking manner. Beep. It floated away even more. “Wait! What are you?”
Beep. She began to run toward the object, floating softly away from her.
Beep. “What are you?”
Without sound. Without fanfare, the word kite filled the darkness.
Beep. Was this a kite? Somewhere she remembered that kites had strings. Where was its string? Why was she chasing it? Where was it leading her?
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The kite floated from darkness to light. The softness of its colors now glowed with a brightness unfamiliar to Zero. It hung in the light. Just bobbing. Shining proudly.
Beep. Zero’s focus was on the kite. In her peripheral vision, black lines began to take shape. Sharp, angular lines. She was afraid of getting too close. Afraid they might hurt her.
Beep. She took one step and broke through the light. Her heart sank at the thought of falling. To where? Who knew. But the kite floated higher, pulling her up, even with the light.
Beep. She looked around. The jagged hole still at her feet. The kite still bobbing overhead. The light was white paper. White paper? And the sharp, angular lines became outlines of structures. Buildings at first. Plants. Animals. Other people. Were these really other people? Their outlines were so faint as compared to the heavy lines of the buildings.
Beep. Was she seeing what she thought she saw? Another form like the one she was standing on floated past in the distance. What was this? A dream? A dream of. Place? A new home? The thought of a cloud filled her mind.
Beep. A new home. That was important. But why. A new home in the clouds?
Beep. The kite moved and she felt herself being pulled with it. Through white streets outlined in black. Past building after building , white outlined in black.
Beep. A white cat, outlined in black jumped across her path, startling her. But the kite kept pulling her along.
Beep. Everything was black again. The kites bright colors were soft again. It bobbed above Zero’s head.
Beep. “Let go child.” A steady masculine voice filled the space.
“Let go of what?” Her voice squeaked.
“Let go of the past. Let go of the kite. Let it float away. The past is holding you back. Keeping you from your new home. The past is weighing you down.”
Beep. She looked at the kite. An emptiness filled her that burned.
Beep. A square of light opened in the darkness. A man dressed in brown is bent over a table. A flickering light is above his head. The kite seems to float above the square. “Let it go. It’s you. You are the hole. You are the darkness. There is nothing good in the past. Let it go.”
Beep. Zero takes her hands, rubbing them all over her body. The kite doesn’t move. It floats softly in the darkness.
“There are no strings. I can’t let go.”
Beep. “You are the missing page. You are the hole. You are the darkness. Let go. Archive incomplete.”
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Zero sat down in the darkness. The kite bobbed. What did it all mean? She was the missing page. She was the hole. Archive incomplete?
Beep.
Beep.
What did it mean?
Beep. The kite began to disappear into the darkness. As gently as it appeared, it was vanishing. Bobbing and swaying as it went.
Beep.
Beep. The kite was gone. Leaving Zero feeling empty and sad.
Beep. She too felt herself disappearing. Back into the darkness.
Beep.
“Archive complete.” The male voice announced. “Zero serving zero.”
*This is my contribution to Ravensweald’s flash fiction prompt.
334 days of photos
Poetic butter
Galdr thought + memory by Michael Raven
One of the things I’m going to do, each year is to purchase a couple books from our WordPress community. This year, Galdr thought + memory by Michael Raven is one of those. This book is small, with 70 pages of poetic text and it doesn’t follow the 6 X 9 formatting, making it unique indeed.
Book overview from Amazon
“Michael Raven offers his collection of dark poetry, ringing with elements of nature, the heart, shamanic roots, and clever wordplay he weaves an esoteric tapestry using the threads of thought and of memory found within the loom of life. Part mystic, part arcane, and all deep, he pulls from the old ways to bring some semblance of order to the chaos in the mind. He wends and entwines the art of poetry with philosophy. Read and allow your spirit to reap merit.
Michael Raven has been murdering innocent words since some time in primary school and hasn’t had the decency to stop after he was first published in second grade.”
I was expecting this book to be hard to read with a word like Galdr in the title. Let’s not forget philosophy. But it wasn’t. Michael’s poetry flows smoothly off each page.
First published in 2022, poems like no more heroes( page 30), haven’t lost an ounce of impact. “no more heroes, no desire remains, fatigued with all, the poison, oozing from -“. This poem could have been written yesterday.
What book of poetry wouldn’t be complete without a little romance? Page 15, calliope (summer wine), “when your fingers, trace my spine, and i drink you, like lazy summer wine.”
This purse size nugget is a great read. I’m sure the words in this book are glad Michael started murdering words in primary school.
334 days of photos
Contest
I will randomly enter poetry contests. I’m thinking about entering one. Here are my 3 choices. I can enter all 3. What do you think? Should I? Do I have another poem you would choose over any of these? There are a couple weeks before I have to decide. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
There are the guidelines: harmony, partnership, belonging; losing relations, discord, chaos; the complexity among ecosystems or among the human-made governing bodies.
Poem 1
The River, a fox and a well
I went out into the world,
my fortunes ah to seek.
I followed the road
till my feet did shriek.
Beatin’ the pavement took on new meaning, my soul it left careening.
The road led to a river.
It I followed. Praying my fortunes, it would deliver.
For drink or food, I never wanted.
My heart within me taunted.
We are bored. If we stay here, we will become complacent. Maybe even lazy.
My brain tried to quiet it with logic. Have you forgotten the sun and the road that made us hazy?
Let us stay here. Listen to reason.
Never forget the long season.
As the battle raged on, a fox, cute and funny.
I called after it, “come here Sonny.” Suddenly, all was lost
in a game of cat and mouse.
A feeling so euphoric and on-looker would have thought I was soused.
I chased him over rocks.
That gave me lots of knocks.
I chased him through fields.
Losing sight of what was real.
I chased him around a bend.
Never to see him again.
Lost, hungry and thirsty.
I found a well. Looking upon it lustily.
Poem 2
berate
berate
belittle
talk down to
sabotage
absolute torment
torture
bemoan
revile
cut to the quick
stupid idiot
berate
scold
abuse
defame
condemn
berate
mock
rage
laughable nonsense
berate
complain
not good enough
bash
blister
scorch
scold
ridden down
admonish
chasten
gaslight
all the negativity
berate
really, that’s what you think
badger
beat up
thrash
lash out
rail
castigate
lambaste
berate
trash talk
vituperate
blast
roar against
slur
hen peck
jaw
nag
stupid
berate
leave me alone
get out of my head
silence your inner voices
SHUT UP!
LEAVE ME BE!
Poem 3
Clawing at heaven
As I kneel at your feet,
fog clouds my mind.
You left me here.
The fullness of time achieved.
The agony of remembering, my future.
I pound the earth with clinched fists.
Unable to feel its damp coolness.
Consumed by the vast empty.
The deafening silence left by your wake.
My fists ache.
But it something else to feel,
feel other than my broken soul.
Wet tears burn my face
as they fall effortlessly.
Creating mud for my tortured hands.
Why?
Why have you left me here,
to feel such sorrow?
Strength fails my arms
from the fury of my desperation.
Perhaps if I dig?
Dig!
Grit beneath my broken nails.
Dig until the skin is gone.
The pain could be no worse than my shattered world.
My body is drained of all energy;
flopping forward to meet the relentless ground.
Perhaps, by sure will, I could touch you one more time.
Lay my forehead against yours.
Now cradled by the unforgiving clay.
Feel your breath brush my ear.
The delicate tips of your fingers electrifying my skin.
My lips hungry to taste yours.
The memory of your scent fills my nose.
As I rise to my knees,
my calves cramp from the strain.
My toes curl,
second nature to them now.
I needed one more day.
One more hour.
One more minute.
One more second!
Just one more.
But you extinguished my release.
One more, gone forever.
Some where from the abyss, finding courage to scream.
“How could you leave me?!
Come back!
Come back to me!
Don’t leave me here clawing at heaven!”
334 days of photos
Shop-n-Share
I know the majority of my reader don’t live in KY.
“Shop and Share is a one-day, statewide donation drive benefitting Kentucky’s fifteen domestic violence shelter programs. During the event, shoppers are asked to shop for what they need and to share an item with their local domestic violence program. Locations include various Kroger, Food City, IGA, Save-A-Lot and Super Dollar stores across Kentucky.
Donations from Shop & Share go to support the pantries and lives of local domestic violence shelters and the clients and children who receive their services.
Over the past 14 events, more than $4.5 million in goods and money have been raised for the shelters in the Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence. These donations have allowed them to serve more women, children, and men by freeing up funds for advocacy and other services.” KY government website. Stats are from 2022.
334 days of photos
Poetry & More 