Flames devour the clouds, while we stare in open horror. I do not know if there will be any more rainbows during my lifetime, because I do not know if there will be any more rain. I heard a rumor that some corporation signed a deal that was read to grant the cloud herders the right to do this, to vaporize our clouds and chase the vapors into their ( Read more... )

When the plague came, we lost most of our doctors before we realized that the plague had a dark sense of humor. No, really! Wear a bio-hazard suit and it went after you twice as hard, three times as hard, calling in all the neighbor pathogens until it got you. The scent of alcohol sanitizers brought it running (the only way they figured that one ( Read more... )

I am obsessed with paper. I think this would be easier if I lived in another country, one that shared my obsession. Japan, perhaps. Paper walls, paper folding--it would fit. America is more difficult. Paper is thing to be thrown away, not to be treasured, ironed flat, and saved. Usually not even to be recycled. We have trees; we can just make more ( Read more... )

Performing live without being allowed to look at the audience that you're performing for is a heck of a lot harder than you might think. Sure, normally when you're up on stage with the lights shining in your eyes, you don't see much more than blurs and maybe a few rows in the front anyway, but that's totally different than being forced to basically ( Read more... )

The plans for the wedding were going as well as any interspecies and intercultural event could--right up until they got to the wedding chairs. The idea of sitting at a wedding would signal defeat to the Zalts, and the traditional Indian family of the bride would be horrified at the idea of leaving out such an important part of the tradition. This ( Read more... )

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Insomnia can be a serious problem when you've got an alien parasite living in your head. For one thing, consciousness or semi-consciousness allows a kind of access that the dreaming mind blocks out. Sure, once you accept a parasite, you're going to have weird dreams. It's kind of how they communicate. You’ll have weird dreams and strange impulses ( Read more... )

You're a fool to break the rules, even if you don't understand why they're there. Especially if you don't understand why they're there. "Don't step into an elevator shaft" is a pretty straightforward rule, and we can figure out why that's a rule, and if we have climbing gear and rope, well, that's not such a disaster to break that rule. It's the ( Read more... )

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