like mercury colliding…

She lived a life that some would describe as being on the edge.

From a distance Miss Sue, as she liked to be called, looked as though she didn’t have two nickels to rub together. Her clothes were obviously from the Goodwill…mismatched and thinning in places that suggested years of wear. She spent most days at the city park tossing bits of bread to the pigeons and telling her stories.

Oh, the words she weaved! People stood ten-deep to listen, leaving spare change in the tattered shoebox at her feet.

She knew about things, about life. A few minutes listening made you forget about deadlines and budget cuts. It changed you.

I envied Miss Sue. Like the pigeons, she spent her days happily sustained by the compassion of strangers living the life she was born to live.

…

Call me crazy, but I quit my job today. Tomorrow begins my life as a writer. You know…I have an amazing story to tell!

~kat~ 2 November 2015

(150 Words)

This story is in response to Monday’s Finish the Story challenge that begins with: “She lived a life that some would describe as being on edge.”
 To read other stories or participate click HERE. 

It was the phone call he’d been waiting for since he became a field volunteer for CUFOS (The Center for UFO Studies). Within an hour Ned Jennings had boarded a red-eye to California. He would arrive at dawn at the Badwater Basin’s saltwater flats in Death Valley National Park.

CUFOS had been notified by Dr. Benjamin Nichols who had organized an archaeological dig at the flats hoping to find evidence of marine life that once inhabited the ancient lake of the basin. They found something more.

When Ned arrived, Dr. Nichols met him personally and escorted him to the hole. As they descended into the lower chamber, it only took one glance for Ned to realize this was what he and the others had been looking for. Irrefutable proof that our planet was once inhabited by extraterrestrials!

What appeared to be podlike burial chambers lined the walls of the underground vault. There must’ve been at least a hundred perfectly preserved bodies. Alien bodies.

He turned to Dr. Nichols to share his excitement and was met with a horrified look. At that moment he felt a cold “hand” tap his shoulder!

~kat~ 1 November 2015

(190 Words)

A short story (200 words or less) in response to Sunday Photo Fiction’s weekly challenge. Click HERE to read more stories or to join the challenge!