Hi friends. Here is my 4th entry for the YC 119 Pod and Planet Fiction Contest. This is a competitor for the Very Short Fiction (750 words or less) category, in addition to being an entry in the A Day In The Life category. Enjoy this intimate look into my main character.
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The Little Things
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It is the way he walks,
The way he talks,
His voice - so lovely and soft,
Firm hugs, firm affection,
Oh.
Sweet eyes, gentle laugh,
On top of that, a sultry smile,
All these things and so much more,
The little things.
I want more.{}-{}-{}
I never really have much time to myself. A small consequence of being a corporate Caldari man. Oh and being a capsuleer doesn’t help much either. They know these things, of course. Which is why they have various augmentations and drugs to help push capsuleers to inhuman limits. The corporate sponsors like to convince you that these things come with no drawbacks. My sponsor was a good friend of mine, however; he informed me of the truth. A truth that I accepted because it was my duty to aspire and be more.
That doesn’t make these busy days any easier. It doesn’t make the back-to-back-to-back-to-back shareholder meetings any easier. It doesn’t mean frequent patrols or combat engagements don’t wear you out. It isn’t to say that trying to uphold the values of the society you love so dearly comes with any ease with all that power and influence. All those things and more remain difficult.
But fortunately some things do get easier with time. Watching the remains of body parts drift among the wreckage of the starship you just eviscerated becomes easier. Signing off on condolence letters and life insurance cashouts to the families of your own crewmen becomes easier. It does mean that a shady partnership with an unscrupulous individual with a common enemy becomes secondhand nature. It is to say that, because of your relative immortality, undocking to engage an unfavorable encounter becomes an afterthought - the loss of your crew just becomes an insignificant financial burden. All these things and more become easy.
But what of personal and spiritual satisfaction? I thought these things would blossom with time - with being a capsuleer. They didn’t.
The things I hold close - my friends, my corporation, my nation - these things brought some level of satisfaction. But between all the outings, the corporate banquets and festivals, the national prestige and accolades, I still felt the missing presence of something. What this
something was, I could not figure out. Probing into this did not turn up fruitful results. I could not find this elusive sense of fulfillment - of satisfaction.
It ended up finding me.
{}-{}-{}
I woke up to him nuzzling against my breast. Warm, bare skin to warm, bare skin. Chiseled features against chiseled features, and between them an infinite ricochet of tenderness.
“Good morning, Mateo.” I caressed his silky brunette hair.
“Morning, Korbear”, he smiled. I sighed with playful irritation. Not my favorite nickname, but certainly not the worst.
“What shall we do today?”
“Mmm”, he traced the crevices of my musculature. “How about we get up and eat some of the breakfast I cooked for us while you were sleeping? Then maybe we can take a stroll among the cherryblossoms. A picnic is there waiting for us.”
“Huh? You arranged for all of that?”
“Of course!” He looked up to me. “We don’t get a lot of time together. I wanted to make this once-in-a-blue-moon day off worth it.” He leaned in for a kiss. “Shall we begin?”
I looked out beyond our window. The morning sunlight glinted off the glassy skyscrapers of the city. The steady heat of fulfillment - of satisfaction - manifested within me.
{}-{}-{}
It is the way he walks,
The way he talks,
His voice - so lovely and soft,
Firm hugs, firm affection,
Oh.
Sweet eyes, gentle laugh,
On top of that, a sultry smile,
All these things and so much more,
The little things.
I have it all.
Author
Topic: The Little Things (Read 1630 times)