“Take another sip of water,” Mother said soothingly.
Anna shook her head. “I don’t think it matters anymore.” Her young mind struggled to understand as she touched the plasma window of the spaceship. On the other side was the swirl of two galaxies, passing through one another. Her blue eyes perceived the color as shades of pink and red. “It looks beautiful…it’s like a rose being formed by unseen hands. I’m sad that we’ll never get there.”
The ship’s malfunctioning heating system made the ship suddenly rock.
“Yes, it’s like a rose starting to bloom. Please take another sip of water.”
Hmmmmm.
I’m not sure people really talk like this: “it’s like a rose being formed by unseen hands.”
BUT I like the concept and it gives off a melancholic feeling of the end of the world 🙂
Good imagery. I like the massive scale managed in just 101 words.
Liked this short short science fiction tale. It’s kind of poetic and lets me see a glimpse of the enormity of the Universe. Liked it.
Although irrevocably cataclysmic, a collision of galaxies—like that projected for the Milky Way and Andromeda—would be a spectacular sight. Some scientists theorize the arms of those two spiral galaxies will engage in something that might ironically look like a dance of courtship. To speak of a rose formed by unseen hands seems poetically apropos. Furthermore, in some ways our own Sun is, ceteris paribus, in a slow bloom as it exhausts its hydrogen in the process of becoming a red giant.
This story certainly captured my imagination while striking a profound chord. Especially considering the dearth of words, “Rose of Galaxies” is a visual treat sui generis. This is my favorite story on 101 Words so far.
This is a creative mixture of despair, the strength of human spirit, and beautiful imagery.
The brief exposure to the Mother and Anna in such a dire situation, amidst such wondrous visuals, has such beautiful ironic tones. I found the ‘rose formed by unseen hands’ poetic in an emotional sense, just the way a young girl would see such an event. So poignant that she grasps the unlikelihood of ever reaching it as well.
Excellent story.
What’s wonderful about this, besides the imagery as Guy stated, is the element of the girl’s delusion. Yes, their ship won’t make it, but she comments how beautiful colliding galaxies are when they are in the midst of tearing themselves apart and almost everything will be destroyed. She needs to see this destruction as something beautiful to not only calm herself, but to not succumb to the idea of her own inevitability.
Well done, Amanda!
“I don’t think it matters anymore.” Anna says. “I’m sad that we’ll never get there.”
I feel, as I mentioned in my previous comment, that Anna is well aware of their dire situation, based on her comments above. This is the poignancy for me I’d mentioned, with her additional observation of the blending galaxies and their beautiful rose appearance set against their dire situation.
So much said in so few words.
Wonderfully done, Amanda.