Assigned Prompts
Genre: Open | Action: Collapsing | Word: Stain
Limitations: 24 hours and 250 words
One of 125 writers chosen to advance to the Final Round.
© 2021, Matthew L. Jones
The young boy sat in a vast meadow, his long bronze fingers mindlessly entwined in blue-green grass as soft as rabbit’s fur. His head is large and hairless, with a thin-slit mouth and eyes like deep black almonds.
Twin suns converge at the horizon, seeming to collapse into one as they set behind smoke-crystal mountains. On the opposite horizon, three moons begin to rise—one full, the others waxing and waning respectfully.
As the boy stares into the star-salted sky above him, he wonders what else might be out there. Were there other worlds like his? Other people like him? Couldn’t it be possible?
The child rises and stretches his slender, willowy limbs. The evening meal would begin soon, and it was time to head home.
His journey takes him along a cobbled brook, where pearlescent waters glide listlessly over jade-colored stones, and prismatic butterflies with wings of stained glass fracture the fading light into a thousand bouncing colors. Hollow whistle-reeds grow at the water’s edge, making soft music of gentle breezes.
He arrives home to find his father sitting out front, also enjoying the last of his day. The boy climbs into the man’s lap and hugs him close.
Countless light years away, an Earth boy also climbs into his father’s lap.
As they look up at the stars, the question the children ask in distant unison is the same.
“Papa. Is there such thing as life on other planets?”
Regrettably, so is the answer.
“I don’t think so, son. I really don’t think so.”
Matt Jones | Writer 
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