Extinct Doesn't Mean Forever by Phoenix Sullivan (bill gates book recommendations TXT) 📗

go back now, not to Fred, not to being a mother, not to the past. She had to move on, or go mad. “No. Goodbye, Fred.”

She hung up. All the pain she’d manage to bury since the accident tore her up. Images, sounds, Sam’s face crowded her thoughts.

But time and again Zeph’s face replaced Sam’s. God, how small Zeph was, how frightened, how alone. She thought of the secret, windowless room where he was kept, about the doctors and nurses, about the smell of his skin and the feel of his soft hair against her hand.

About that dark brown gaze that resembled Sam’s, and that was her own.

Getting out of bed in jerky motions, she tried to erase that gaze from her memory. She pulled on a robe and unlocked Sam’s room. Everything was as he left it. She pressed her hands to her mouth, feeling her eyes ache, and entered. She caressed his photos on the dresser, his favorite teddy, his toys. She was looking for a sign, she knew, to help make up her mind.

Damn it, Sam, Sammy, talk to me. Say something. Is it all right if I go? Would you mind?

But the room was silent and still, and she found nothing she could interpret as a sign.

Lucia sat on Sam’s bed, on the light blue covers, and knew that it was up to her to decide.

Some time later she took her broom and mop and began cleaning. She aired the house, scrubbed the floors, threw out old clothes and old magazines. Spring cleaning in autumn. She thought maybe she was putting off her decision, but maybe she wasn’t. She was making room, changing things, preparing. Maybe she had already made up her mind. She could swear she heard Sam’s laughter in the rooms.

In her mind she could see the fear in Zeph’s dark eyes.

She called Dr. Andrews.

“Ms. Winter.” He sounded relieved. “I am so glad you called. I don’t mean to pressure you, but Zeph has asked for you repeatedly. It’s a remarkable change, and it’s undeniable that he feels a connection to you. I had my doubts about this working out so well, but here you have it. Would you accept to meet him again? Maybe you could be friends. Zeph could use a friend, Ms. Winter.”

That was good. She wasn’t required to be his mother. Friends. She could be friends with Zeph. “Yes,” she said, “okay, when do you want me to come over?”

Lucia didn’t believe in angels, or fate. But as she stepped out of the house, a golden wind rushed through her. Lighter, she strode to her car and she thought that, maybe, she could believe in Zeph.

~~~

Greek Cypriot with a penchant for dark myths and good food, CHRYSTALLA THOMA likes to write about fantastical creatures, crazy adventures, and family bonds. She lives in Cyprus with her husband Carlos and enjoys wandering the countryside sampling local food and wine. She writes mainly fantasy and science fiction, primarily for a young adult audience, and her stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies. Her latest dystopian YA novel, Rex Rising, is available on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005GZPOQE.

Blog: http://chrystallathoma.wordpress.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Chrystallathoma

TOMORROW

Speculative fiction that reminds us of our impending mortality

and our immortal aspirations

Geri’s father is one of the scientists who finds the remains of an alien culture, providing proof we are not alone. For Geri, though, her father’s involvement with another world leaves her feeling more alone than ever.

IN RING

by Scott Thomas Smith

“I wouldn’t know.”

“You wouldn’t know, huh?” He smiles at her as if he can find her secret with his eyes. Lift her gaze to meet his. “You wear it but you don’t know where you got it.”

“It’s just a ring.” She holds her hand over it to hide it from him. She doesn’t want him to talk to her anymore.

It doesn’t matter if he knows where she got it or if she is supposed to have it; she just wants to be left alone.

“Yeah, alright. Your father is in his office. Go ahead up.”

The exchange proves once again that her father’s work is not a place she wants to be. Too many questions, too much intensity. But she has promised to visit him, and he is gone so much of the time.

 The ring, which he had given her, was brought back from there. It was all over the news, and people practically boiled over in the halls and meeting rooms of the high tech station where he worked. The scientific find signified first contact with another species — an abandoned colony on one of the newly discovered planets. Earth, still in her maiden days of interstellar travel and colonization, had already found evidence of alien life. Theory held there would be living civilizations discovered soon nearby.

She walks down the corridor to his office.

“Hello Geri,” her father says as she comes in. The room is like entering a museum. She is suddenly full grown.

She loves the ring. She loved it the moment he gave it to her. Even before he told her where it was from. The simple, glassy material set in a single colorful band, smooth all around.

When she sees the pictures of the planet it came from up in his office, she believes in the distance between the stars. The lost civilization makes sense in existing. Neither the ring nor the news stories — not even the strangers asking her questions — made her think of that world and its people as real before. But his office seems set up to point to evidence to convince her.

She makes a perfunctory hello and stands at the side of his desk to drop her backpack.

A young, red-haired man in a suit and tie comes in behind her.

“Sir, you have a phone call from a … Doctor … Wukovits? He’s calling about the … condensed life theory?”

“OK, I’ll take it in here.” As the man ducks back out,