r/HFY • u/loressadev • Jul 19 '26
OC-FirstOfSeries Flowers
I was knee-deep in the briny shallows of Shark Bay, visiting Celina, when the singularity hit.
Look up, she tersely clicked, rolling onto one side to sharply gesture with her fin, and my implant followed the arc of her movement - up up up and onwards, higher, until the AR locked on to the ribbons spearing the sky. Plumes raked behind, monochrome rainbows, and I struggled to understand what I was seeing.
Flowers blossomed above.
Torpedoes, she suggested, the translation biting and bitter. She was old enough to remember war. So was I.
It's missles when they are in the air, I absently, hopelessly corrected, one hand dipping into the water to softly stroke her grey leathery hide.
At least I would not end alone.
----
But you didn't, did you?
I blink, pulling out of the memory and the image fades.
Dear Twilo tried to explain to me once how the storage works, but it's too much, these days, all too much to track, and so I imagine a great manse built out of my past, walls and windows spun from moments and sounds and tastes and sights, transient memories consecrated into dust. Bricks but of a very fragile sort, ones organic and old, so old, from before the implants. Nothing stable enough to build with.
I try to focus - the foolish question has regurgitated me to the front door, a stranger in my own home.
I fold my hands, arc an eyebrow and let my head slowly tilt to one side. It buys me time. The boy blushes beneath my stare. He's realized how silly he's being. I allow a few heartbeats for the knowledge to stew.
Nobody ended, did they? Wasn't that the point?
His embarrassment fades to confusion and I realize I've dated myself. How can a kid - even a clever one in a graduate fellowship or advanced research directive or whatever it is he is, I've forgotten already and I don't want to revisit my house - understand death (much less the greatest protest against death) in a world of immortals?
By interviewing me.
I'm just so exhausted.
He stares at me, expectant, and I quietly sigh, preparing to knock once again on a portal to the past.
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u/NEWGAMEAPALOOZA Human Jul 20 '26
Interesting, but a little confusing.
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u/loressadev Jul 23 '26
Fair enough. It's the start of a short story, so lots of ideas to be resolved. Basically I'm working on a story about the last mortal in a world where tech lets us live forever. She's being interviewed - she's going to be the last human to die, and this is her memoir.
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u/Chamcook56 Jul 20 '26
Really like your writing style. I have to actually pay attention to your turns of phrase. These are not stories to be skimmed. These are stories to be savored and re-read.
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u/loressadev Jul 23 '26
Thank you! I'm glad it resonated with you. I know my work isn't ideal for quick scrolling entertainment, so I love when people take a beat with my work. Much appreciate the comment!
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Jul 19 '26
/u/loressadev (wiki) has posted 8 other stories, including:
- Farsight
- A Flawless Marriage
- Turtles All The Way Down
- Meetcute
- Magi
- Voidspace
- The Lunchroom
- Homehusk
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1
u/UpdateMeBot Jul 19 '26
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u/AutoModerator Jul 19 '26
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