#flashfic

“The cure for the common cold lies within our grasp, Sir.” I expected him to pat me on the back, but instead his eyes have gone shifty. I try stating the obvious. “The humans will have no recourse but to bow to us now.”

He rubs his long, pointy green chin. “I think we need more study.”

“But, Sir!”

“Never mind, Major. Arrange to have the next shipment brought into my lab forthwith. And don’t forget to restock the anal probes.”

Odd, I think after he walks out. I would have thought the nasal probes more necessary for further study.

A picture,
the scent on the clothes you left behind,
and a memory
is all I have left.

She places the photograph on the table beside the mirror in her bedroom and stands back to look at it. The frame is guilt and the image is one of profound regret. A ball forms in her chest, a balloon of grief waiting to burst.

But the time is not right. She can’t let it go. Not yet. There are many things to do; arrangements to be made, people to see, hands to shake, and mouths to feed. Explanations to be invented.

And then there was the private eye to take care of. He knows everything.

Her political aspirations can afford no compromise.