#42 Seeds

by Guy Anthony De Marco

Melinda peered through the cracked outer window, watching the dazzling fires dance as the atmosphere burned away. “My God, nature is amazingly beautiful, even when it’s trying to kill you.”

Hearing a sob, she turned from the deadly fairy lights to look at the grizzled veteran cowering in the bunk. “That isn’t helping, Karl. How’d you get into the Norwegian Spesialkommandos?”

“Drafted,” he croaked.

Melinda’s attention went back to the swirling firestorm on the horizon, hundreds of kilometers away from the now-waterless shores of Spitsbergen Island. She figured the sealed Norwegian global seed bank would survive the initial shockwave, but the air supply would deplete with a few hours. Melinda and Karl would be the last humans on a destroyed world.

Karl emerged and shuffled over to the window. “I can’t believe one amateur scientist in New Jersey killed us all.” He knuckled the tears from his eyes. “How long?”

“Minutes now, you can see the trees vaporizing from the national park to the south.” Melinda turned and admired Karl’s square chin. “You’re not bad for a male.”

Karl looked down at the hatch leading to the columns of seeds. “They’re going to need some water to sprout.”

The maelstrom roared its approach. Melinda pulled the pins on the four grenades in Karl’s belt, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him close. “We’ll see what we can do.”

Karl smiled gave Melinda their first, and last, kiss.

21 comments:

Unknown said...

This is gorgeous. I love your concept and the imagery of the beauty of destruction is perfect.

Dino Parenti said...

Wonderful imagery. I love most what you left unsaid.

Quincy said...

Evocative, sir, and it's nice to see the seed bank in a flash fiction piece.

Your story makes me want to know how the guy in Jersey ignited the atmosphere.

CHEERS!

Tonya L De Marco said...

Awesome!

Bob Jensen said...

Awesome indeed. Somehow I feel more comforted that Melinda will be the one signing off the human race. On her own terms at that.

Larry Santoro said...

Lovely piece, Guy. Now about that guy in Jersey...

Angel Leigh McCoy said...

What an evocative piece. Beautifully tragic. :)

Erinn Kemper said...

Gorgeous—from the title, to the roaring maelstrom, to the final kiss.

Jon Golf said...

Wow! Morbid and exciting all in one. I wouldn't expect anything different from you. As Dino said, Just enough left unsaid to intrigue.

Anonymous said...

Wow Good Job keep up the good stories. Want to see more.

Scott said...

Very nicely done. And the seed bank is a nice place for the world to end, too. Beautiful imagery, as well...

Anonymous said...

Can't say anything that hasn't already been said. A pleasure to read.

Chris said...

The part with the grenades was tremendous. Loved it.

Sam Knight said...

I love the imagery. And the romance. And the sacrifice. So many tragedies all rolled up onto one. The Greeks would be proud!

Unknown said...

Nice one Guy - the 10 minutes until the end of the world love story. And New Jersey, eh?

Yvonne Donaldson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Yvonne Donaldson said...

Well done. I like short stories. They say so much with so little.

Gilbert De Marco said...

This is truly a work of art. From the very beginning, you are on the edge of your seat, savoring each word, waiting for the next course. And the desert? It is what is not said in the story, letting the reader devour the buffet.

Jade said...

Good pacing and I like the small touches, like knuckled the tears from his eyes.

A. Araxin said...

Impressive imagery, you fit alot of stuff in a small story.

Anonymous said...

I liked how you took a sad story and made it positive. I will go look up the seed bank in norway, it looks cool and I never heard about it before.