Monday, September 29, 2008

Great Hites # 20











Download GreatHites 20 Audio


And hear the promo for Chasing the Bard.

Great Hites # 20
The Earth Stood Still on the Day We Wed - By Robert Jahns
The Earth Stood Still - By Anima Zabalada
Last Man Standing - Jeff Hite
  
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The Earth Stood Still on the Day We Wed
By:Robert Jahns


A cold breeze caressed your china white face. Your mother was
beaming, your father held a secret tear. The old preacher droned on in
a monotone voice, reciting the Bible's ceremony. He had no emotions
left in him, just a job too simple for his high self-esteem.
The ancient church pews threw out groans from the maple seats. Sounds
of children's giggles made you smile. Uncle Al's hearing aid squealed
incessantly, yet he could not hear the painful electronic screams.
All fell silent. The clouds froze in the sky.
Uncle Al stood and shouted, "I was wrong. It's global freezing!"



THE EARTH STOOD STILL
by: Anima Zabaleta

Find more from Anima at
zabbadabba

The earth stood still the day we were wed:
I remember the laughter we shared, the tears that we shed.
The house we built together, of fieldstone and log,
The birth of our daughter, the adoption of Scruffydog;
And the day we found out the cancer had spread.

You were a saint, who could fish and could cook;
Sang songs in your sleep, looked good with a book,
Planted a garden in spring, canned the results in the fall,
Painted stunning watercolors, split wood with a maul;
And made me shiver, with that one special look.

Here we stand now, in the lee of this hill,
Wondering at your bravery , when you were so ill.
You shared all you had your last final days,
I cried inside and out, trapped in your gaze.
Why does the earth revolve? I want it to be still.


Last Man Standing.
By Jeffrey Hite


"Look, there will be plenty of time to toss your life away, human, today may not be the best day."
"And when would you suggest that I do it Crag?" Brent stared into the face of the alien, who had now become one of his only friends.
"I am sorry for your loss Brent, but it will do your kind no good for you to die uselessly," He said compassionately. He was right of course, even if Brent hated to admit it. It would be beyond useless for him to add his life to the billions that had already been lost.
"You are right of course." Crag removed his hand from the air lock controls and took a step back. "I want to see it!"
"That is not wise."
"I don't care. I have to see it. You brought me all the way back here I want to see it."
"As you wish, but you will have to stay in the twilight area. The extremes of either the day light or the dark side will be too much for your environment suit."
"Very well. when?"
"We will be in orbit in a three standard hours," even though he had been with them for over a year of his own time, he still had to think about how long that would be. After a few moments of thought he decided that he would have time to cleaned up and get something to eat before he would need to start getting ready.

*****

Five standard hours and a very bumpy shuttle ride later, they stood on Liberty Island, and looked over the remains of New York harbor. Three miles to the east, seas were frozen, and to the west the lands were scorched.
"Who is this statue of?" Crag asked breaking the silence that had lasted since they had landed.
"I don't know who it was modeled after, but it was a gift from France a country to the east of here, to the land to the west of us. It was a universal symbol of freedom and democracy."
"Not so universal, I would guess, I didn't know what it meant."
"Yeah." Brent said with a snort. There was a long silence after that until he finally ask the question he had wanted to ask for over a year. "Why did they do it Crag?"
"Brent as I have said before I do not pretend to know the reasons for many of the things the galactic government does."
"But they had come to us. They wanted to know more about us, then, then this." He swept his arms wide in either direction to show the utter destruction.
"I don't know my friend, but I am glad that I was able to rescue you. I just wish I could have helped more of your people."
"It was my wedding day, and they stopped the earths rotation, they killed my wife." He said barely controlling the sobs that were trying to break through.
"They killed many millions more and would have killed you too had I not been here."
"I know."
"We must leave soon, that suit was not designed for you, and it is beginning to show signs of malfunctioning."
Brent looked for the last time at the planet of his birth, and wondered if there would ever be a time when he would feel at home again, and doubted it.

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