I’ve not been able to do much the last two weeks. Last friday was the final reconstruction of my knee which culminated in SIX separate surgeries at once (that I know of). It is beyond painful know, relearning to walk so I haven’t done much beyond make up exams for my classes.

I figured I’d give one final snippet of my story Homestead at the Beginning of the World in the Fix the World anthology. I’m happy with the reception my story has received. This is more than 6 lines by far but I’m doing this high as a kite from the pain killers so if I can even get it posted is a miracle. Kjell is hanging out cranberry harvesting with Sam’s friends Hope and Tim and their kids

Kjell settled on his belly so he could sun his back and promptly fell asleep. He didn’t wake until something icy slithered down his back. He startled awake to find Sam running a cold bottle of water down his spine. Sam grinned at him.

“Wakey, wakey sleeping beauty.”

Kjell grunted rolling up into the sitting position. “Prince Charming is supposed to wake her with a kiss.”

“I would but Hope would explode into hearts and flowers and pester us the rest of the afternoon with her matchmaking.”

“I would,” she assured him unpacking a picnic basket.

“Did you get a nice nap?” Sam asked.

“Yeah.” Kjell rubbed his eyes.

“Man, you are so green!” one of Hope’s kids exclaimed. “That’s so weird.”

“Dylan! That’s rude. Apologize,” Hope snapped, and Dylan mumbled a halfhearted ‘sorry.’

Kjell glanced at his torso. He was pretty damned verdant at this point. “I suppose it is a bit strange.”

“Did one of those damn devil Derjviks do that to you?” Dylan asked, ignoring his mother’s ‘language’ comment.

Kjell nodded. “When I was a baby. I don’t remember it. I’ve always been sort of the color of grass.” He offered the boy a wan smile.

“If they were still around, my dad would kick their butts for you.” Dylan punched the air for emphasis.

“I have no doubt of that.”

“Here, have a sandwich. It’s chicken salad,” Hope said, and when Kjell eyed it suspiciously she sighed heavily. “It’s really chicken. Dammit, Samwise, quit telling people Tim eats aliens. We haven’t done that in years.”

Kjell didn’t comment that statement obviously meant alien truly had been on the menu. He took a tentative bite, treated to something mustardy and creamy at the same time. “This is delicious.”

“Thank you. I try.” Hope beamed. “It only has a little bit of powdered Derjvik bone in it.”

Kjell stopped chewing.

“He went even greener!” Dylan crowed.

BLURB –

We’re a world beset by crises. Climate change, income inequality, racism, pandemics, an almost unmanageable tangle of issues. Sometimes it’s hard to look ahead and see a hopeful future.

We asked sci-fi writers to send us stories about ways to fix what’s wrong with the world. From the sixty-five stories we received, we chose the twelve most amazing (and hopefully prescient) tales.

Dive in and find out how we might mitigate climate change, make war obsolete, switch to alternative forms of energy, and restructure the very foundations of our society.

The future’s not going to fix itself.

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