Clare-Dragonfly (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
clare_dragonfly) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rainbowfic2014-08-12 01:37 pm
clare_dragonfly) wrote in rainbowfic2014-08-12 01:37 pm
Entry tags:
A Watery Grave
Name: Clare
Story: prison planet
Colors: Antique Brass 12, Now, focus on something benign. Not me! I haven't been benign since 1956!; Moonlight 14, Antediluvian
Supplies and Materials: Pastels (origfic_bingo, a hint); also used a Lilith Fair prompt, Tombstone by Suzanne Vega, though I know that doesn't count for anything now!
Word Count: 1,118
Rating: PG
Warnings: something dead
Notes: I'm trying to flesh out a few of the worlds that I haven't written so much in, so here's a prison planet story! This is actually the same universe as robot rights, though it's hundreds of years in the future and thousands of lightyears away.
Carla didn’t really understand why the others were so wary of the cave. Sure, it was a weird cave. It probably hadn’t even been there when they’d built the museum—it had probably worn away in the hundreds or thousands of years since the building had been inhabited. And there were the freaky animals in it. But they were such useful freaky animals. Even if they did attack each other far more than they should have for food and whatever else it was they wanted.
So she was perfectly happy to be the one going to the cave to fetch their water and hunt some of their food. She’d even started thinking about a series of snares and maybe fishing lines. There wasn’t anything that would compare to the fine, strong fishing line they had on Earth, but she could just use string. She was pretty sure that if she baited them with seagull feet, the fish wouldn’t bother to notice anything else.
This time she decided to take a different route into the cave. There was an area of hollowed-out rock on the right side that she thought might make a great place to catch fish. If they didn’t like to hang out there, she still might be able to herd them in. At least, she thought so. She didn’t really know anything about fish.
So when she bent over to fill her bucket with water, that was what she was thinking about: the logistics of catching fish. Her eyes were primed for movement, for the flicker of spiny silver scales—not for anything familiar.
She didn’t recognize the skeleton at first.
When she did, she almost lost her grip on the bucket, and that would have been bad, since they only had the one reliable way of getting water. But she didn’t get any water, just high-tailed it back to the museum where the others were waiting.
Three of them were on their feet already, staring at her, though apparently they hadn’t thought it worth their time to go after her. “What is it?” Jack asked, stepping toward her as she came through the back door of the museum. “Carla, are you hurt?”
She shook her head, clutching the bucket, taking deep breaths and trying to get her breathing under control so she could explain it to them. “There’s—it’s a skeleton,” she finally managed to gasp out.
Some of the others gasped or covered their mouths. Jack and Travis looked at each other. “A human skeleton?” Jack asked.
“Would I be screaming if it were an animal skeleton?” Carla asked, annoyed. “Of course it’s a human skeleton. There are other people here. Or there were.”
“We knew there were other people here once,” said Sorcha reasonably. “They must have built this.”
“Then why haven’t we seen other skeletons?” Travis asked. “I thought they must have died out so long ago that their skeletons aren’t even intact anymore. But this was a whole skeleton?” Carla nodded. “I think I’d better take a look.”
“I’ll go with you,” said Jack. He held his hand out for the bucket. “Where exactly is it, Carla?”
She gave him the bucket and clenched her hands into fists to try to stop them from shaking. “Along the right side, close to the back. There’s a sort of hollowed out area, separate from the rest of the water.”
“It’s underwater?” Jack asked. Carla nodded. Jack looked down at the bucket, turned, and headed out without a word, Travis at his heels.
Carla felt a hand on her arm and looked around. It was Sorcha, guiding her to an empty spot on the floor. She sat down and quickly felt better. But still, the skeleton swam in front of her eyes. It hadn’t been there before. Had it? Wouldn’t she have seen it? But how could someone dead have gotten past them into the cave to leave their skeleton there?
Her thoughts ran wild as they sat there, silent, Sorcha stroking her hair. None of the others spoke, either. Waiting for Travis and Jack to return. Waiting for them to explain.
The bucket hit the floor heavily, slopping water over its side. Carla felt a flash of annoyance, knowing that she wouldn’t have dropped the bucket like that, before looking up.
Neither Travis nor Jack looked frightened. They looked confused. And very serious. “It’s not a human skeleton,” said Jack.
“But—“ began Carla.
He sat down cross-legged on the floor. “It looks mostly human. I can see why you thought so, Carla. But Travis and I knew what to expect, so we were able to look at it more closely, and for longer.”
“It’s shaped like a human.” Travis leaned against the wall and shook his head slowly. “It has two legs, two arms, a ribcage, a pelvis, and a head. It’s definitely bipedal. It might even look like a human if its flesh is on. But the bones aren’t quite shaped like human bones.”
“Really?” Carla tried to bring the image up in her mind again. But all she could see was bleached white bones, like the skeletons she’d seen in pictures and museums, with a terrifying skeletal grin looking up at her.
“The pelvis is longer and narrower,” said Jack. “So is the ribcage. And I think, but I’m not sure, that there was an extra joint on each of the digits.”
“So it’s an alien,” said Rita.
“Well, we are on an alien planet,” said Jack. “So who knows. Maybe we’ll find them someday.”
“I don’t think they’re here,” said Rita. “They would have noticed us messing with their museum. What’s the point of a museum that no one goes to?”
“Maybe that’s not what it is,” said Travis. “Maybe they just keep this here for… people like us.”
“What, you think they’ve sent others here?” Carla asked. The thought was horrible. Bad enough that the government had shipped twenty of them to this desolate planet, but others…
“Or maybe they were just expecting aliens to land on their planet,” said Travis. “Either way, we should look for them.”
Carla squeezed her eyes shut. “Can we move on? Somewhere else? I don’t think I want to live so close to that skeleton.”
“We should move on anyway,” said Sorcha. “Find more sources of food. Before the weather gets bad.”
“That’s right,” said Rita. “We don’t know how long it will be.”
“I’m in favor of that,” said Jack. “We can start packing up now and move on in the morning. Is everyone all right with that?”
There was a chorus of nods and mutters. Carla’s shoulders relaxed, and she sighed. Soon they would be away from here.
Story: prison planet
Colors: Antique Brass 12, Now, focus on something benign. Not me! I haven't been benign since 1956!; Moonlight 14, Antediluvian
Supplies and Materials: Pastels (
origfic_bingo, a hint); also used a Lilith Fair prompt, Tombstone by Suzanne Vega, though I know that doesn't count for anything now!Word Count: 1,118
Rating: PG
Warnings: something dead
Notes: I'm trying to flesh out a few of the worlds that I haven't written so much in, so here's a prison planet story! This is actually the same universe as robot rights, though it's hundreds of years in the future and thousands of lightyears away.
Carla didn’t really understand why the others were so wary of the cave. Sure, it was a weird cave. It probably hadn’t even been there when they’d built the museum—it had probably worn away in the hundreds or thousands of years since the building had been inhabited. And there were the freaky animals in it. But they were such useful freaky animals. Even if they did attack each other far more than they should have for food and whatever else it was they wanted.
So she was perfectly happy to be the one going to the cave to fetch their water and hunt some of their food. She’d even started thinking about a series of snares and maybe fishing lines. There wasn’t anything that would compare to the fine, strong fishing line they had on Earth, but she could just use string. She was pretty sure that if she baited them with seagull feet, the fish wouldn’t bother to notice anything else.
This time she decided to take a different route into the cave. There was an area of hollowed-out rock on the right side that she thought might make a great place to catch fish. If they didn’t like to hang out there, she still might be able to herd them in. At least, she thought so. She didn’t really know anything about fish.
So when she bent over to fill her bucket with water, that was what she was thinking about: the logistics of catching fish. Her eyes were primed for movement, for the flicker of spiny silver scales—not for anything familiar.
She didn’t recognize the skeleton at first.
When she did, she almost lost her grip on the bucket, and that would have been bad, since they only had the one reliable way of getting water. But she didn’t get any water, just high-tailed it back to the museum where the others were waiting.
Three of them were on their feet already, staring at her, though apparently they hadn’t thought it worth their time to go after her. “What is it?” Jack asked, stepping toward her as she came through the back door of the museum. “Carla, are you hurt?”
She shook her head, clutching the bucket, taking deep breaths and trying to get her breathing under control so she could explain it to them. “There’s—it’s a skeleton,” she finally managed to gasp out.
Some of the others gasped or covered their mouths. Jack and Travis looked at each other. “A human skeleton?” Jack asked.
“Would I be screaming if it were an animal skeleton?” Carla asked, annoyed. “Of course it’s a human skeleton. There are other people here. Or there were.”
“We knew there were other people here once,” said Sorcha reasonably. “They must have built this.”
“Then why haven’t we seen other skeletons?” Travis asked. “I thought they must have died out so long ago that their skeletons aren’t even intact anymore. But this was a whole skeleton?” Carla nodded. “I think I’d better take a look.”
“I’ll go with you,” said Jack. He held his hand out for the bucket. “Where exactly is it, Carla?”
She gave him the bucket and clenched her hands into fists to try to stop them from shaking. “Along the right side, close to the back. There’s a sort of hollowed out area, separate from the rest of the water.”
“It’s underwater?” Jack asked. Carla nodded. Jack looked down at the bucket, turned, and headed out without a word, Travis at his heels.
Carla felt a hand on her arm and looked around. It was Sorcha, guiding her to an empty spot on the floor. She sat down and quickly felt better. But still, the skeleton swam in front of her eyes. It hadn’t been there before. Had it? Wouldn’t she have seen it? But how could someone dead have gotten past them into the cave to leave their skeleton there?
Her thoughts ran wild as they sat there, silent, Sorcha stroking her hair. None of the others spoke, either. Waiting for Travis and Jack to return. Waiting for them to explain.
The bucket hit the floor heavily, slopping water over its side. Carla felt a flash of annoyance, knowing that she wouldn’t have dropped the bucket like that, before looking up.
Neither Travis nor Jack looked frightened. They looked confused. And very serious. “It’s not a human skeleton,” said Jack.
“But—“ began Carla.
He sat down cross-legged on the floor. “It looks mostly human. I can see why you thought so, Carla. But Travis and I knew what to expect, so we were able to look at it more closely, and for longer.”
“It’s shaped like a human.” Travis leaned against the wall and shook his head slowly. “It has two legs, two arms, a ribcage, a pelvis, and a head. It’s definitely bipedal. It might even look like a human if its flesh is on. But the bones aren’t quite shaped like human bones.”
“Really?” Carla tried to bring the image up in her mind again. But all she could see was bleached white bones, like the skeletons she’d seen in pictures and museums, with a terrifying skeletal grin looking up at her.
“The pelvis is longer and narrower,” said Jack. “So is the ribcage. And I think, but I’m not sure, that there was an extra joint on each of the digits.”
“So it’s an alien,” said Rita.
“Well, we are on an alien planet,” said Jack. “So who knows. Maybe we’ll find them someday.”
“I don’t think they’re here,” said Rita. “They would have noticed us messing with their museum. What’s the point of a museum that no one goes to?”
“Maybe that’s not what it is,” said Travis. “Maybe they just keep this here for… people like us.”
“What, you think they’ve sent others here?” Carla asked. The thought was horrible. Bad enough that the government had shipped twenty of them to this desolate planet, but others…
“Or maybe they were just expecting aliens to land on their planet,” said Travis. “Either way, we should look for them.”
Carla squeezed her eyes shut. “Can we move on? Somewhere else? I don’t think I want to live so close to that skeleton.”
“We should move on anyway,” said Sorcha. “Find more sources of food. Before the weather gets bad.”
“That’s right,” said Rita. “We don’t know how long it will be.”
“I’m in favor of that,” said Jack. “We can start packing up now and move on in the morning. Is everyone all right with that?”
There was a chorus of nods and mutters. Carla’s shoulders relaxed, and she sighed. Soon they would be away from here.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject