Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
Floofstruck (floofinition) – 1. To become completely enamored with an animal.
In use: “As soon as he saw the big old Great Pyrenees sitting on the floor, panting, tongue drooping from his mouth like a rug being aired, he was floofstruck. There was no question that he and this dog were meant to be.”
2. To be startled or astonished by an animal.
In use: “Four AM, a massive meow lifted Jill out of a deep slumber. Turning on the light, she was floofstruck by a small tabby — she didn’t have a cat!”
I was brought on to help create a new vehicle for people to travel. As I walked with the team, talking outside, I saw a small red and yellow snake. Ideas lit up my mind. I sketched out a plan for us to develop a design based on a snake. Objections quicky rose. Growing more excited, I explained how we would use small segments, giving the snake great flexibility. Each segment would be a living, working or storage compartment, etc. Our travel snake would be able to turn in multiple ways.
They told me it was supposed to be for space. I got more excited, telling them that we can develop multiple small segments, just like the other segments, which would be used for propulsion. They could be interspersed along the snake’s body.
While I was telling these things, the snake was being built. Without a short while, I saw it fly over some brown mountains and land nearby. I skipped through the sky to it. The snake’s segments were much larger than I’d suggested and its overall length blew away my expectations. Someone said, it’s getting ready to go.
By that point the sun was setting. The cloudless sky had grown deep indigo and purple. A few stars and satellites populated the zenith. Looking up, I watched the white snake, people visible in windows lit with a soft yellow-tinted light, climb into space on a blue flame.
Veteran’s Day in ‘Merica. Today is a holiday, Veteran’s Day, in the U.S., so happy Veteran’s Day to my fellow vets. As they say, thank you for your service. My service wasn’t very hard duty, which I did for over twenty years before retiring. Many others followed darker and more tortuous paths. Lives were lost. Bodies and minds maimed. Not a pretty tale, and sometimes, their losses were based on false narratives. The history of war and what it does to combatants. My sincere appreciation and respect to you.
It’s Friday, 111122. That could be an elegant piece of arithmetic: 11+11+22. It’s climbed to 38 F. With the sun’s help, we’ll hit 50 F. It was fairly cloudless at daybreak, so dawn was a slow, spacious event, with sun’s official arrival pegged at 6:56 AM. As the world turns, the other end, aka sunset, will be at 4:53 PM. It’ll be mostly sunny today. The November snow has fled all but the highest of the high peaks.
Now, a little weirdness. I awoke with the Easybeats and their 1966 song, “Friday On My Mind”, in the morning mental music stream. I thought, I used that as theme music not too long ago, didn’t I, Mr. Neurons? Looking it up, I confirmed that I used it last year.
On Veteran’s Day of 2021.
I asked Les Neurons, why would I think of that song two years in a row on Veteran’s Day? They giggled like children playing a prank.
Well, just to show them, I decided that the song would not be today’s theme music. The Neurons soon helped me out with a new song. As I made my coffee and fed me cats, I was thinking about Veteran’s Day and my last days of military service in 1995. Click, The Neurons turned on a song I was listening to in those days, Foo Fighters and “This Is A Call”. Thinking of that beat and the song lyrics, I decided, yeah, that will work. “Good job,” I told The Neurons. “Coffee,” they replied. I snickered. “What was that? I didn’t catch that.”
The Neurons weren’t amused.
Stay positive, test negative, etc. I’m going to give The Neurons their coffee now, before they attack me. Have a good Friday, 111122.
Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 