I remind myself that I wanted to be here. I volunteered for this mission. Space was always the goal. Even if the alien planet I’m on is a lightless rock a billion miles from the closest bar and the surface temperature is fifty Kelvin with a windchill. I try not to grumble as I set up the experiment. I pound the stakes into the bare ground, fill the chamber and wait, feeling more than a little foolish. Capcom is in my ear, telling me to be patient. Sure enough, a deer is eating out of the birdfeeder within twenty minutes.
Mother Brewer stood before her cauldron and stirred the mash. She was the product of five generations of ale-wives, and her beer was the best in a hundred miles. She had made a good living until the innkeepers and merchants scared off most of her customers by spreading rumors that she was a witch. She still needed to feed her family, so they ‘generously’ agreed to buy her stock at half the usual price. The brew was ready. Mother Brewer grinned wickedly as she poured the glowing amber liquid into kegs. Those fools would regret just how right they were.
The morning after the election, he woke early. He was still exhausted from giving his concession speech the night before. The loss was crushing. He really thought he’d done it this time. He was going to set everything right. His future was a red carpet, rolling out ahead of him, until the numbers came in. He made a cup of tea and turned on the news, trying to figure out what went wrong. In the afternoon he set up the time machine and set the engine for a month prior. He’d get it right, no matter how long it took.
The chair didn’t go with the rest of her furniture, and it barely fit in her tiny apartment. It was a heavy piece of dark oak transported from the other side of the country. She kept the chair in the corner of her living room where it sat unused except when she needed an extra seat for company, or on days when she needed it the most. When she came home exhausted or frustrated, she would pull out the old kitchen chair and sit down. She would feel the phantom touch of her grandmother’s hand on her shoulder, reassuring her.
The old fire god huddled in his celestial realm, trying to stay warm. He’d been powerful once, worshiped everywhere. Millions of tiny flames lit the darkness, and each breath of smoke carried his essence. Even if his worshippers never knew it, he blessed them all. But his enemies and their mortal agents had banned his worship and now his very image was outlawed. Now he was weak and cold. New gods rose to take his place: gods of mist, nature goddesses and mechanical deities he couldn’t understand. They all said they were his children. All he wanted was a cigarette.
The village had a tradition. Every youth spent a year traveling abroad. It was a rite of passage that signified their adulthood. The children would choose their destinations, and their parents would make the arrangements. Most boys took apprenticeships or jobs on ships or caravans, and came back having learned a trade. Most girls stayed with distant relatives or family friends, and many came back with husbands. Some never returned, and were mourned as though dead. The practice ended when the War started. After the village was bombed, friends from all over the world came to mourn and help rebuild.
We are so back! Welcome to Everyday Drabbles, a daily 100-word short story. After participating in The Dog Days of Podcasting by recording some of my favorite stories from my original run, I got inspired to get the project going again. Please bookmark this site to read a new story every day, and subscribe to receive a weekly summary email in your inbox!
Hello Readers! It’s finally summer, so I hope you’re staying cool wherever you are! It has been a minute, but this is the (allegedly) weekly update of what I’ve been up to and what’s coming up.
News!
Safety Guidelines My short poem Safety Guidelines was recently published in the poetry zine Dreams and Nightmares! The issue is a bit difficult to order, but click the link to find out more about the magazine.
Reviews!
Hugh Likes Comics: Zatanna: Bringing Down the House I was snared by Mariko Tamaki and Javier Rodriguez’s new take on DC Comics’ magical heroine Zatanna, which puts a Noe-Noir spin on the character, starting her out as a Vegas stage performer haunted by trauma. This is the first issue of the story, and it’s a great jumping on point, with no canon knowledge necessary.
Hugh Likes Fiction: The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed This dark fairytale novella is a short but brutal examination of the rules of power, how to bend them, and how they break you. A sort of inverted retelling of Hansel and Gretel, it’s the story of a woman sent into a magical forest to rescue the two young children of the Tyrant who conquered her village. Tense and thrilling.
It’s the summer, and not too much is going on that I’m ready to talk about yet, but I can announce that I will be appearing at the Better Off Read Festival at Artpartk on August 31st! I’ll be selling books and other goodies, so please stop by and say hello! My very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow, is still available from amazon or your preferred online book retailer. Stay cool, and I’ll see you next week!
In this episode, Michelo Chariot returns, but it’s too late for him to become Domon’s nemesis. Plus, Wong blows smoke, Chibodee is chased off the road in his flying car, and Allenby rushes the mic. Plus, Team Neo-Russia can’t be blown up by someone else’s bomb, and Gundam Heaven’s Sword can transform, but still looks like it’s wearing a silly hat.
Astro’s Playroom Developed by: JapanStudio, Team Asobi Published by: Sony Interactive Entertainment Played on Playstation 5
The Skinny: A colorful and vibrant tech demo that might finally give Sony the Mascot Character they’ve been looking for.
Entering the Video Game Console market as a 3rd entry in the mid-’90s, Sony historically struggled to create a family friendly mascot to represent its brand the way Nintendo’s Mario and Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog did. The transition from 2D to 3D games made the sorts of platformer games they starred in trickier to pull off, and Sony was famously resistant to older 2D and sprite-based graphics. They had a few entries like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon, but they didn’t quite carry the day. They didn’t have that same main character energy. Sony soon found its footing as a more grown-up console fronting game franchises like Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid, and later God of War. But a true mascot platformer remained out of reach. But with the release of the Playstation 5, which includes the pack-in tech demo Astro’s Playroom, they might have finally done it, with a short, snappy little game that shows off the system’s capabilities with a hefty dose of Playstation nostalgia. Astro himself is a cartoon robot that lives inside your PS5. He and his friends do the work of bringing you your games, and the game consists of a hub area and four zones that each represent different parts of your Playstation’s hardware, such as the CPU, themed as a busy speedway of flying cars, or the cooling system, which looks like a beach resort. It’s fun and clever, and the levels are challenging without being too tricky. They also make full use of the PS5’s Dualsense controller, teaching players how to use the upgraded shoulder triggers and the other new features of the system in a low-stress environment. Each level has its own mechanics as well as sections that transform Astro into a vehicle such as a robot gorilla who climbs using the triggers or a frog that hops using the analog sticks. The game is also loaded with Playstation references and easter eggs. Throughout the levels, Astro will come across his fellow robots ‘filming’ scenes from various Playstation franchise games in little costumes. You might pass by a bot dressed as Kratos or Ratchet and Clank, posing like a part of that game. Each set of levels is also thematically tied to a specific Playstation console generation, with hidden collectables from that era, such as consoles, controllers and accessories that can all be viewed back in the hub. Players also find puzzle pieces that create a Playstation-themed mural on the hub walls. Astro’s Playroom is a great little tech demo that is just the right length and level of challenge as well as finally scratching that nostalgia itch for Playstation fans. It is included with the PS5, so if you own the console it is well worth checking out if you haven’t. Sony recently announced a full-game sequel, Astro Bot, coming this fall.
Hugh J. O'Donnell 