“Again?”
“Please.”
Rosa closed her eyes and opened her mouth. He popped it in. Exquisite. She’d never dreamt of anything this good.
Sweet as caramel, crunchy as butterscotch with a slight juicy quality as she broke through the crisp exterior, rather like eating fresh lychees – no, that was an unhelpful analogy – a little too accurate. You had to peel back the rough grey skin to reveal the pink exposed flesh underneath, eking sticky gobbets of ooze that stained the fingers and smelt unpleasantly like iron filings or dried blood. Rosa had seen her co-pilot lying beside her in the wreckage, his head split open like that – only pink outside and grey within.
But Gdandra was doing the messy bit for her. Yes, she had to admit these Cargahelli Grubs were ambrosia. If this was the only way – she would get used to it.
Gdandra’s claws dug up another grub expertly from its root burrow. Rosa lay shaded from the Suns and allowed herself to be fed. “How long have I been here?”
He grunted and placed another grub in her mouth.
“Mmm. Do the Suns ever set?” She made a lowering motion with her hands and was answered with the same strange guttural sound… ghdndr.
She was protected, sheltered, sustained. So what if her companion’s skin was purple and knobbly? And what if Gdandra’s claws were filthy and long and his conversation limited? Gdandra was gentle and kind and seemed genuinely to like her.
So when he – she assumed Gdandra was a male – curled himself round to offer protection while she rested, she made a decision. If she was going to be stranded here months, years – perhaps indefinitely, she should at least be open to possibilities. Gdandra seemed very sweet on the inside.
Yes, mind open – eyes closed. She’d get used to it.
Oonah V Joslin lives in Northumberland, England. Winner of Micro Horror Prizes 2007 and 2008. Most read in EDF, Jan 2008. Guest judge in the Shine Journal 2008 Poetry Competition. Bewildering Stories Quarterly 4 2007 and 1 and 2 in 2008. She has had work published in Bewildering Stories, Twisted Tongue 8 & 9, Static Movement, 13 Human Souls, Back Hand Stories and The Pygmy Giant, Lit Bits, The Linnet’s Wings, The Ranfurly Review and Boston Literary Magazine. The list is growing every month which pleases her immensely! You can link to work, follow up-dates and contact Oonah at http://www.writewords.org.uk/oonah/ or http://www.oonahs.blogspot.com. She thanks all of you who take the time to read and comment.
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27 Responses to “OPEN AND CLOSED • by Oonah V Joslin”
Comments
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January 6th, 2009 at 3:27 am
Lychees always make me think of brains – yeuch. Great descriptions, Oonah but I don’t think I’d be able to open my mind (or my mouth) that much!
Sarah
January 6th, 2009 at 3:52 am
The lady doth protest too much
January 6th, 2009 at 4:29 am
Now, now, ladies, please remember my youth and innocence.
An intriguing story, Ooonah. Sort of a Genesis reversal, I guess, with Adam holding the fruit. Look out for a world of Pinky-mauve people, NASA.
January 6th, 2009 at 5:18 am
Oonah, that was an absolutely DELICIOUS piece of writing. Unlike Sarah, you made me feel hungry in an ornathalogical kind of way. Beautiful, lyrical stuff. I loved it. A big FIVE from me and Happy New Year.
January 6th, 2009 at 5:23 am
Great descriptions, Oonah. I thought your ‘lychees’ were going to be a much sweeter meat!
Thanks for the read.
January 6th, 2009 at 5:49 am
I don’t get it. The ending left me totally confused.
January 6th, 2009 at 6:23 am
I once shocked a child by plucking a lychee from my eye socket and plopping it in my mouth to chew at noisily.
Your flash fiction is excellent, but your microhorror is delicious. Long live the techno-polymorphs!
January 6th, 2009 at 6:59 am
Thank you Oscar -I’ll look out for them
January 6th, 2009 at 7:04 am
Thank you John, Celeste – control yourself, girl
I’ll let you know…
Jim’s not into same sex aliens….
Sam, is the person still in therapy? and echo Long live the Technopolymorphs – I’m not sure whether they are pinky-mauve since I haven’t got my prize yet
January 6th, 2009 at 7:21 am
Lovely, tight writing, Oonah. Repellent and attractive, all at the same time. I love the concept of dualities, so this one’s a winner for me.
January 6th, 2009 at 7:41 am
That was sweet in a way, at the same time as being wonderfully disgusting.
January 6th, 2009 at 8:34 am
Oonah,
Quite delicious.
–dj
January 6th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Gorgeous. Delicious. Well, it the girl can’t get Adonis, she has to, hasn’t she?
Great story, Oonah.
January 6th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Only Oonah could pull this off.
Clever and fun!
January 6th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Greta, thank you.
dj & Jen, Delicious and disgusting at the same time is exactly it.
Jennifer you arte so right. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do!
Madeline, you’re very kind
January 6th, 2009 at 10:46 am
Yeah, I like that.
January 6th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Sweet. I don’t know what lychees are (I assume some kind of horrible fruit), but I do understand the subtext at the end.
January 6th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Oh, that we didn’t have to worry about! After discovering what it was that I did, she gleefully perpetuated the trick onto the sensibilities of other people.
It would be interesting to consider the evolutionary niche of a techno-polymorph, how a particular beast of technological waste responds to the pressures of its new ecosystem.
January 6th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Thought you might, Kevin
Sam that’s children for you. I was thinking of extending my Technopolymorpholgy into a novelette at some time. A couple of other projects to work on first but I thought it was a good idea. Nice if pewople are interested. Thank you for your comments.
Lychees are a delicious fruit either fresh or tinned and in Britain are often served in Chinese restaurants – they are eyeball sized as Sam pointed out
January 6th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Naughty – and nice!
Axxx
January 6th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Cool beans, Oonah! Sheryl Crow has it right in Soak Up the Sun: “It’s not having what you want, It’s wanting what you’ve got.”
January 6th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Thanks Anne
January 6th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Or “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with” Keeley
January 7th, 2009 at 2:22 am
Now you’re talking a whole different kettle of lychees, Oonah. Don’t be fooled that I’m smiling,’cos I’m the faithful type… No, don’t laugh. Honestly.
January 7th, 2009 at 3:02 am
A fun story, Oonah. As someone said, only you could pull it off that well.
January 7th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Thank you Oscar and Robin.
January 11th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
I love your stories.