Hugh J. O'Donnell

I donned my helmet and stepped into the airlock. I buzzed the comms to let her know I was ready to go.
“You aren’t taking that thing with you,” she said. It wasn’t a question. I hefted the boombox to my shoulder.
“It helps me work,” I said.
“There’s no sound in Outer Space.”
“I can feel the vibrations through my helmet.”
“Fine, depressurizing in five… four… three..”
“No, wait!” I shouted, scrambling to secure my pockets. There was a klaxon and a whoosh as the air rushed out of the airlock, taking my collection of vintage cassettes with it.

Thanks for reading! You can also read Everyday Drabbles on your mobile device of choice by following the project on Facebook and Twitter!
Or, support the project by donating on Ko-Fi!

The aliens made their base on the Moon and silently watched the Earth, never making contact. They disguised their technology, and hid their signals, disappearing into wavelengths we couldn’t detect.
Eventually Humanity took its place amongst the interstellar civilizations. But Terrans couldn’t help but notice how aliens always seemed weirdly embarrassed.
Eventually, a junior delegate got the truth out of her opposite number at a peace conference. “We set up a watch post and observed your civilization for centuries,” he admitted.
“For science?” She asked. “Or because we were a potential threat?”
His three eyes wouldn’t meet hers. “For comedy.”

Each morning, he’d rise early, put on his environment suit, and head out the airlock into the wastes of Mars. He had an important job protecting the colony. He washed off the famous red sand and dirt that threatened to bury the domed city.
A robot could’ve done the work, but as the human population in the colony rose, robots became more expensive than human labor. He was also tasked with checking the ‘glass’ for damage, a job better left to human intelligence.
But he didn’t know what to do when the bird flew past him and into the dome.

The old man sat on a catwalk high above the city, smoking and watching the smoke dance. The lights turning below seemed to make it sparkle as it drifted lazily through the air before it was sucked away by the vents, almost like starlight.
Rotation made block of skyscrapers pass underneath, and he tossed his cigarette butt into a rooftop garden. He didn’t understand why humanity tried to recreate Earth when they’d established the space colonies.
As dawn approached, he rose to his feet and returned to the great wheel, spinning in infinity, trying to recapture a world long lost.

“You’re going to ask me about my ex-husband.” She eyed me over the rim of her martini glass. “It’s alright. Everybody does. He always said we were made for each other. It was charming at first, but before long he turned into his father. He was so wounded by being outcast, that he didn’t know how to be loved. So I left.”
“But that isn’t the whole story, is it?” I asked.
“That’s the thing about stories. Some end where others begin. And you can only stay a bride for so long. To the Frankensteins, darling.” We clinked glasses.

He stood in the center of the abandoned lot and spread his arms wide. “Well, what do you think?”
She looked around, taking in the dilapidated screens, the vast, weedy pavement, and the collapsed snackbar. “I think this place is going to need a lot of work. What makes you want to open a drive-in?”
“It’s 2020. Traditional movie theaters are dead. But folks will feel safe in their cars. There’s about to be a resurgence, and we’ll get in on the ground floor!”
She smiled. “Then let’s get to work,” she said.
That’s when the murder hornets attacked.

The troll stood and loomed over the traveler. “This is my bridge, and you must pay my toll!”
She glared back at him, one hand on the hilt of her sword. “Questmap.com told me there were no tolls on this route.”
“Ugh, those guys,” the troll said, and pulled out his cellphone. “Where’re you headed?”
“The ancient ruins of Fragolino,” she replied.
“That’s not even on this route! You want to go this way.” He pointed to his device.
She thanked him and retreated the way she’d came. He settled into his lurking spot and began composing another complaint email.