fallslikesnow

Mid Twenty-Third Century Later, when they could think of the boat trip dispassionately, it would be clear to both of them that the whole vacation had been set up as R&R before the task ahead. They looked over the side into the startlingly deep water, depth upon depth, shading to turquoise or jade depending on how far the river bed had been burned. They easily caught a nearly tame trout and cooked it whole in the sand box, leaving the sand to produce something edible out of the fish. Before they could eat, however, they were summoned by 3Council4Dome for reassignment. The boat stopped pretending to sail and the pretty blue tiller rattled loosely as they pulled alongside a narrow pier. It was Johns’ turn to be chivalrous so he got out first and helped Sarah onto the fake limestone slab. They were met by a small wheeled drone that called itself 4HumanCompliant1028Drone3Council4dome. “And for short?” asked Sarah. “No,” said the drone, leading them up the slope towards the edge of 4Dome...

My contract had ended and until I got another one I was left to drift around the apartment, cleaning, adjusting furniture, surfing the net and so on. We had plenty of groceries after a friend gave us a ride to a bigger store so I had no reason to head to the supermarket. One day, however, I had a craving for some rich chocolate ice cream. After shouting my conscience into silence I set off down the road. Once again there was a small crowd in front of the ex-office supply store. I was startled. What else could be left to sell? As I got closer I saw that the store had been modified in strange ways. There were heavy looking struts on the windows and a peculiar and heavy looking door at the entrance. In the door was some kind of pressure outlet and from it ran a hose to a powerful and noisy machine. "Ah, madam. welcome back," the tall man said. His face was flushed a deep red, as though he'd been drinking heavily. "Are you here to see the latest part of our program?...

That summer we had no car. Fortunately we lived within walking distance of a supermarket, although it didn't seem like walking distance after struggling home with a backpack in one hundred degree temperatures. Each time I went to the store I would walk past another that specialized in office supplies. As big as the supermarket with large glass windows at the front, presumably to show off the wonders within. The fact that it was obviously failing ruined this image. The store always appeared to be a place of dust, no-one there except for obviously demoralized staff and a few zombie-like customers. Then one day as I walked to the supermarket I saw large signs in office stores' window. "EVERYTHING MUST GO!!!!" As I'm sure was intended, the red and blue stripes filling the poster around the text were less a patriotic statement than a crude attempt to arrest the eye of a casual passer-by. I stopped to see what I hopefully expected to be a train wreck. Anything that requ...

She tried to shake off the inhibitions of a lifetime and set off towards the hill. She climbed it feeling fragile and was intensely nervous, filled with thoughts of what she had been told about this mound. That witches gathered there each new moon; that the fairy folk, with their silver skins and strangely jointed limbs, lived beneath it; that it was the centre of the world and the protecting walls of cloud spun slowly around with the top of the hill as their pivot. As she reached the top she saw a fire had been lit in the middle of a wide circle of flat stone slabs. On the other side of the fire from her sat the old man, unexpectedly tall with a face invisible under his thick dirty beard but with eyes a friendly, warm brown. He said nothing, just looked at Ana as though sizing her up for some task. She felt like a free labourer being assessed by a potential client. He began to play on a small drum -- a simple repetitive beat that got inside Ana’s head. She could see the sparks risi...

Into the meeting hall came Theodore, the headman. He was surprisingly small and slender. His eyes, perpetually wide and a deep clear blue, were notoriously poor at seeing, a fact that many miscreant children had taken advantage of. Apart from the eyes he was dark with black hair and skin that looked tanned all the time. He walked off center, a syncopated lurch that was the result of something breaking in his brain some years before. Even his many enemies refrained from mentioning his ailment, partly through compassion, but mainly to avoid the explosive rage he exhibited whenever it was brought up. No matter the clothes he wore he always had his grandfathers belt around his waist. A thick strip of leather held in place by leather thongs through holes. Hanging from it, all the way around, were a score or more glossy black feathers and it was this that caused awe in those open to the emotion. Having seen a bird was singular enough. To kill and eat one, to absorb its power, was both wonder...

The children of the rich are becoming a separate species That they are taller and better looking can be put down to Good nutrition and confidence respectively But they have long thin limbs Delicate long fingers Large but flat chests They run for miles and still have Energy for enthusiastic, cool skinned, inventive sex They are being bred for some high, thin aired Shangri-La As the world below falls apart they will breathe Clean air, they will run up and down their mountain valley Use their long thin fingers to operate computers Doing rocket science They will fight wars against us low-landers As we rise from the sludge of all that is left They will leave for Mars and we will stay Failing to deal with a biosphere spasming And collapsing back to slime mould The children of the rich are becoming a separate species

The lapwing's poetic meaning is 'Disguise the Secret' and it is her extraordinary discretion which gives her the claim for sanctity . Robert Graves, The White Goddess Ana carried the basket, dry reeds woven together into lines and loops, filled with mushrooms. A basket, she sometimes thought when in one of her down moods, that was sturdy enough to carry her head should one of her frequent migraines cause it to fall off. As always she stopped at the Tall Stone, the prone Lesser Stones scattered around it, paying obeisance. and she put down the basket and walked up to the tall, misshapen spear of rock, bowing a little, respectful of the power in this place. At the height of her head there were carvings, almost invisible after centuries of erosion, covered with lichen. Above there were three spirals in a rough triangle. They were perfect, as though measured out with ruler and string. Their edges were sharp and they were deeply incised, as if with an inconceivably h...

1. " The secret of the lapwing is, disguise the secret. " (Robert Graves, The White Goddess) 2. The Lapwing is hopping across the grass Its play of a broken wing convincing all critics And attracting them away from the nest. 3. Small black eyes peering out of the hedgerow Constant patrols to secure the perimeter Lacking any defensive capability beyond the wing trick The Lapwing scans the sky for signs of hope 4. We will summon all of our resources And those of our allies Spy satellites the size of pickups Will gently rotate and re-focus  Ballistic, sub-orbital Spy planes will fly overhead taking 10,000 pictures a second Glittering machines The size and shape of spiders Will skitter through the hedgerow Looking for the nest 5. To be the first to fly across the field of broken bones And see the roadway of shards the dead will walk upon To fly across, along, up 6. Against a sky that looks as though The blue were matte paint Hastily slapped on the...

My poem " The World Behind the Sky " has just appeared in the April edition of Deathly Romantic.

We dug back into the shoreline according to some plan dictated by Constancy. As far as we could tell, we and the other crews were were making complex the simple, beautiful curve of our coastline. Curves were becoming irregular fractals once the high basalt dams came down. The serious questions were, "Why do this?" and, "Why do it so inefficiently?" *** I had a feeling I'd find Neil getting drunk somewhere on the Sea of Tranquility seafront. He always liked high class bars with nice views, when he was sane and presentable enough to get served. Sure enough I found him at a table looking out over the Sea of Tranquility, kept company by a G&T. I sat opposite him and ordered a coffee from a sullen looking waiter. "So what's going on Neil? Why was I brain-screwed by Constancy then bugged by her?" "A black dog and a white dog fight, which one . . . ." "No Neil, no more of that shit. Answers please" "Loo...

Owning an unusable gun gave me the itch to own a usable one. Being in my early twenties and also being a barely functioning addict of several substances I found this to be difficult but possible. The gun itself was a simple magnetic projectile device and came with a solid block that could produce 100 slugs. I was picked up inside an hour, the motes having reported me to Constancy. The sheriffs who brought me in laughed all the way back to the station, telling me that the gun would be back on the streets the next day. Another gullible fool would follow me into the mines. *** Joes' Neuro and Optosurgery Shack was, by common consent, the best in the Ship. Belying the North Pole style name it was actually on the shallow part of the South Pole end-cap. Normally I could never afford even an eye colour change here, let alone the extensive implants I had in mid. "So what exactly did you have in mind Mr. Stone?" the reception functionary sneered. To be fair, I had stopped at a cou...

I decided to let Neil stay a few days. We were both screwed up. Perhaps between the two of us we could make a non-screwed up person. Maybe we could go to a meeting or two. Or go to a pub. I was OK with either. "Over there, Neil. Go pass out again." Obediently he collapsed onto a mattress up against a bare brick wall. Above his head was a print of early ship construction. Scaffolding around a series of misshapen rocks. I called up my system and the room filled with pristine, simple graphics. I didn't care about the calls, mails and constructs spinning wildly in one corner. I'd already screened them back at Tranquility on my bracelet and paper. Nothing that couldn't wait until tomorrow. I invoked my high level Sea of Dreams Ecological Council clearance (a green ghost emerged from my forehead and flitted to the commlink box). The room filled with a graphic representing the Sea, all blacks and greys. Tiny patches of white around our reclamation projects. Short of rest...

I have visions of a world of ice, two dogs slipping on a frozen lake, chewing on a human corpse. I staggered out of an AA meeting on 76 North, 42 Spinward. I say stagger because I had been drunk going in and was drunk coming out. It's wonderful how the traditions insist that even someone like I be allowed in: stinking; dirty; interrupting everyone with foul mouthed war stories. Truth be told I'd chosen the Sea of Tranquility group for my re-entry to the rooms out of spite. It was a high end group: lawyers, engineers, politicians. Dressed well with the clear wrinkle-less complexions of regular anti-senescence treatments. They deserved a taste of life in North. Once outside I began to hurry to the metro station. I was sure that after my performance in the meeting some perfect alcoholic would call the sheriffs. I didn't need getting picked up for vagrancy so I scuttled down the middle of the cobbled street, saluting the Highlands with a bottle of vodka. I n...