Seeking Mercury Rising
Microfiction
She looked up the mountain, seeking Mercury rising through the morning mist. Where had she gone wrong? She balled her gloved fingers into fists.
Truth told she had expected a landslide. She flexed her fingers and knelt to the quaking ground. She drew a spiral in the remnants of what had been a forest, or that’s what her parents had said.
She sipped her steamed milk — goat. She was yet to acquire the taste. She swallowed, ignoring her tongue. She was good at numbing her senses. Being overly sensitive taught her that it was easier that way.
Thirst quenched, she continued on, expecting to stop twice more before the Zipper. She had come this way before many times, but never all the way.
She had needed to figure out the ascent, which trails to avoid. The first time had been when she was six. Her mother insisted on a night hike. Minding your senses in the dark is just a basic life skill.
The terrain, of course, was different now. Survival was much more than
just basic life skills.
She wanted to call her mom in Arizona. It had been a decade since the canyon collapsed, and they had not restored communication. Just as well, she thought, soon she would be off this stinking planet.
© Samantha Lazar 2020/2021
Author’s note: Working on the continuation of this story, but I love that it fits in with Melissa Coffey’s fortnightly prompt:
