About Life Out There

by Alyx J. Shaw
17 pages / 4700 words
Ebook zipped file contains - html, lit, Adobe and Sony optimized pdf, prc, epub

Sebastian Black is a research scientist, come from Earth to explore the flora and fauna of the strange jungle planet of Sferkkaa. However, when his small one-man ship crashes, Sebastian learns something he hadn’t counted on – namely that he is now trapped on an alien world, and no one is coming to claim him.

Originally published in Taste Test: Love Saves the Day

Sample

I woke up in the morning with a dime-sized pilot curled up against me. He was rolled into a ball of blankets, and was using me as a pillow. So the only part of me that was not cold was my belly button.

I sorted through the pile of fabric, trying to get a corner of a sheet over myself, but Tiff was a knot. I finally had to pick him up like a cat and move him so I could get a blanket over me. And, like a cat, he managed to remain asleep. I finally got under the covers, then spooned my ice cold body against his in revenge. Startled awake, he kicked me hard enough to fling me out of bed.

Want a word of advice? Don’t scare a guy who has been trained in several forms of hand-to-hand combat. There I was, lying on the floor, holding my gut and trying to breathe. Tiff peered out from under the covers at me, blinking luminous green eyes.

“What are you doing in my room?”

“You were screaming last night! I came in to see what was wrong. Last time I play hero.”

“I was? I’m sorry, Sebastian.” He pulled the covers back. “Come back to bed, I won’t kick you again.”

Sebastian? Come back to bed? Hey, maybe the day was looking up.