Passengers

by Michael Seese

Friday dawned, and sitting there in my inbox was another Flash! Friday challenge. Remember, I'm trying to defend my crown as two-time champion. (I may have to talk to Pat Riley about three-peat.)

The last two, "The Farm" and "Alone" I really felt good about. I'm not as sure about "Passengers." We shall see on Sunday.

Here is the photo. 

It's the splashdown of the Gemini 5 capsule in 1965. And here is "Passengers."

The two grown men splashed like giddy boys at summer camp. They would hold onto this memory, that of cool water.

“After six months on that barren rock, this is a dream come true!”

“Lieutenant, you and I just lived the dream of every American.”

But dreams sometimes can go astray…

“The first men to walk on Mars. I think that merits the cover of Newsweek.”

“Personally, I think it merits a date with a centerfold. Don’t tell my wife I said that.”

“Need to know basis, Colonel. Speaking of ‘the equipment,’ thank God the recovery ship is here. I need to GO!”

“You have permission to evacuate your bladder, Lieutenant. I don’t think the ocean will mind.”

Had he known Lt. Gage’s blood was teeming with an alien microbe that would voraciously consume the planet’s water, Col. Hart might not have been so cavalier with his assessment, sparing Mother Earth the fate suffered long ago by her red sister.

Feel free to share comments.

Two In A Row

By Michael Seese

First the commercial:

I recently published a long short story, Rebecca's Fall From... to Amazon. Tomorrow (Wednesday) it is free. (Otherwise, it's $0.99.) If you've got a few minutes, PLEASE download a copy. Truthfully, I would love to hear your feedback.

Why is it free on Wednesday, you ask? 

Because I am celebrating TWO WINS IN A ROW!

I didn't get a chance to post my latest Flash! Friday entry on Friday or Saturday, because we took our trip to the Century Inn for the music party. (Loads of fun.) By the time we returned on Sunday, I learned my short story, "Alone" had won. I am only the second two-in-a-row winner.

This is the photo we worked from:

Here is "Alone."

They’re all dead. And it’s my responsibility. Mine alone. I am the Captain, after all.

The scalding sands -- and the memory -- may well have been the fires of Hell. With no clouds above, the sun is a relentless, yet honest, adversary. I wondered if I had erred. Should I have done otherwise?

When setting sail, some of the more superstitious men voiced concerns.

“Trafficking is wrong.”

“They’re just children.”

“Using them like that is against the laws of man. And God.”

But lucre has a way of muting morality.

As the storm turned their ship into kindling and their bodies into chum, the crew looked to me for guidance. They prayed I would help. I turned a blind eye. Indeed, not only did I ignore their pleas, I doubled my vengeance. Because they were right. Their actions were against the laws of man.

And God.

Such is the burden I bear as the Captain of all men.

And here are the comments of judge Aria Glazki.

Where do I even start with this story? It stayed with me as I read the others, which may say it all. “Lucre has a way of muting morality” is a very strong center for this piece — that awareness of man’s fallibility, while also a distance from understanding that draw of riches, highlighting the difference between man and God, in a story that on the surface only likens the two.

The initial misdirect of the Captain’s involvement that makes such perfect sense in retrospect; the repetition of the line “against the laws of man. And God,” coming first from the doubt of those involved in a heinous choice, and second from the weary resignation of the one charged with being the “Captain of all men”; the chilling and poignant message of the burden inherent in being God; the pain and the solitude of being the one responsible… Overall, there’s just so much in these few words.

Was the Captain arrogant in creating man? Were the men arrogant in praying to the Captain while knowing they broke those aforementioned laws? Is the very expectation of them being good, and the vengeance that follows when they’re not, also arrogant? An answer isn’t simple in this incredibly complex, thought-provoking story.
 

My interview will be posted here tomorrow.

And as always, feel free to share your thoughts on "Alone."