pmcoltrane

Monkey of code, banger-out of bad scifi stories. All tweets are fiction, even if true.

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

Someone said "love one another."

And following generations preached, scribed, and proselytized the words.

Translated, retranslated, exegeted the words.

Built a #mythos around the words.

Schismed, fought, killed for the words.

So much easier than living those words.

#vss365

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

"Our first telephone," Horace boasted. But when he lifted the receiver, a shock. A vision.

A world interconnected. Billions of black rectangles. Politics. Bawd. And countless cats.

He placed the receiver in the phone #cradle.

"I want this infernal contraption gone!"

#vss365

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

"You lied."

Green eyes gleamed. "I made no promise."

"She doesn't want me."

"The human heart is fickle." A shrug. "Not wooed easily by power chords."

"I don't want it." He shoved the guitar at the stranger. "Take it back."

"A gift, granted once, is given #evermore."

#vss365

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

"Easy there, Jim." I raise my hands.

"I'm still dreaming," he rants, wild-eyed. A flash of lightning glints off his revolver. "You're not real."

"Of course I am. Come on, why are we standing out here? We're both getting soaked!"

"Look around! The rain is #falling up!"

#vss365

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

All the paintings show the triumphal march
Trumpeters and drummers and boys at arms
Crowned in garlands, hands raised in #victory
Pointing ahead, as into the future.

But there beyond the canvas borders, the skies are smoky and the city is aflame.

#vss365

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

"I'm not marrying you!" But her laugh was light, and the shove was playful.

"Why not? Can you name a more romantic city?"

"Than Las Vegas? A dozen, easy. Besides, I don't see any ring."

My hand slid into my pocket. As she stood beside the fountains, I knelt.

#vss365 #gamble

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

Look not out your window: when you see them, they see you. Light as a full moon #midnight they creep over hill and through wood, seeking.

Listen not to voices calling to you: your safety ends where the door closes against the night.

Speak not your name until daybreak.

#vss365

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

@Sauers_ Google AI is utilitarian.

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

We detected the chi-radiation signature from orbit.

As we approached the rustic cabin from the north, the lone occupant bade our recon team enter.

And though his clothes, tools, and manner appeared #primitive, we kept eyes on our scanners and hands on our blasters.

#vss365

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

"You saw him yesterday?" Jay asked. "How is he?"

A sigh. "He played for me. He's amazing with that guitar. #Wondrous, even."

"But?"

Audrey shrugged. "His drinking habit is… similarly spectacular."

"Maybe it's time he shoots his shot," Rob said.

"Or seeks help."

#vss365

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

Remnants of a dream
Move hands and hearts to rebuild
Destination: Moon

#vss365 #remnant

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

If I could flood the #rift between our hearts with my tears, I would sail it on a ship of broken promises and dreams.

But the chasm is wider than the empty gap on the couch. It pierces the depths of the earth between us. And the living room floor is lava.

#vss365

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

@5eniorDeveloper Code review comment: document function.

/// <summary>return node</summary>
/// <returns>node</returns>
Node ReturnNode()
{

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

Tachyon warnings flashed. Warp tensor gauges hit the red-lines.

"She can't take much more!" the engineer shouted. Why were starship captains so fond of pushing the #gravity drives to their limits?

Humankind mastered fire millennia ago… yet fire still burned.

#vss365

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

Cruising sixty-five down a tree-lined highway.
With the sun flashing Morse code through the leaves.
Radio warbling an AM whine as you adjust the dial.

Your hand brushes mine on the gearshift. You glance at my lips and smile.

I wonder what you're thinking.

#vss365 #signal

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

Drinking turned his dreams bizarre. He and she were puffins on a vast Arctic ice sheet.

A low bass rumble. Ice cracked. A #crevasse opened between them. He could not see how to get to her. Or how far he might fall.

A polar bear licked its lips, eyes green and ravenous.

#vss365

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

She was too kind to me. For in my #judgment I was nothing special.

And it was my conviction I could never tell her.

#vss365

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

But it would be so much easier if I could draw myself into my shell like a turtle.

Or #immerse myself like a pig in soft mud.

Hide away from the world and its demands.

#vss365

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

My coworkers were afraid I would go mad.
But when I thought I reached the end of my #tether…

I jumped -- and flew through the air.
The end of my rope a trapeze.
Troubles and worries plummeting away.

Come swing with me.

Whee!

#vss365

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

As the waiter busses from the table
A bowl of half-eaten salad
A plate with juices of a medium-rare steak
Tiramisu crumbs and melted ice cream

Lyrics of the Cranberries #linger in the background.

She leans in. He listens.
Candle flame flickers.

#vss365

[pmcoltrane @pmcolt]

For a month he put the stranger out of his mind. Went out with friends. Laughed. Joked. Felt… normal.

But when he slept he dreamed of her. And would it not be a #betrayal if he came this far just to give up?

The bourbon was smooth. The guitar licks were ragged.

#vss365