Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer
She sat in a corner of Starbucks, talking on her phone. In the window behind her, the Earth was just setting. Her short blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail which she twisted nervously.
“How long will you be gone,” she asked. There was a hint of desperation in her voice.
“But Europa is so far from Earth, what does it have to do with us? So a colony was attacked. We don’t know those people. What did the Asiatics ever do to us?” Her voice quavered.
“Look, we can go to Venus. There’s no war there. A nice leisurely life in one of the Sun Domes…”
She began to cry. Tears streamed slowly down her delicate face. “What… what happens if… if…”
“I don’t give a fuck about the insurance, Tom. What’s going to be left to bury anyway.” She pulled the phone out of her ear and held it away as she screamed into it.
“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I love you so much,” She sobbed into the phone.
“Just please come home safe. Why did you have to join? Why? Don’t you love me? Didn’t I love you enough.”
“I know, you’ve got to go. I love you with all my heart. Please come back to me. Please come back.” She pulled the phone bud from her ear. She curled her legs under her and wept silently. She drew in ragged breaths.
In a fit of pique, she threw the phone from her. It slammed into a corner, where the battery fell out. A battery that had been dead for eleven days.
The 365 Tomorrows Free Podcast: Voices of Tomorrow
This is your future: Submit your stories to 365 Tomorrows