Autumn on Mars
A science fiction novelette by Matthew Crane.
A Modern Odyssey, Chapter 4: I Don’t Mind The Cold
I actually didn’t hate having to stop. It’s weird, and I’m a weird person, but I like being outside. Just me and the suit. No central heating, no noise, I think the oxygen they put into those things makes you unnaturally happy, and I just love being able to move around.
I should probably talk more about the heat thing. It’s because Hot is Warm, and Safe, and Home. It’s good to be home, but I’d much rather be out in the cold. Because I’m weird.
So during our second break, which was frustratingly half a KM short of this cool looking rock formation, well, I walked over to it and I climbed it. I’d got about half way up it before my radio kicked in.
“Trip?”
That made me jump.
“Ahhhh! Mika?” I landed a bit behind, and I’m pretty sure it was Super Graceful, “Oh… I’m sorry”
“What for?”
“Leaving you and just walking… I’m sorry” I sighed.
“I think that would be a faux pas”
“A what?” (well it’s french, how was I supposed to know?)
“A bad idea. Dad wouldn’t like it. But I just wanted to see what you were doing”.
I looked behind me. She was standing there looking up at me from the ground. I did a hop of shame back down.
“I’m sorry. This should have been our trip, but it’s mine”
She smiled
“Trip’s trip”
“no”
“Mika’s Trip?”
“Yes, but no”
“Mika’s trip with Trip” I could hear her grin.
“I’m going to leave you behind again”
No I wasn’t.
“So what are you doing out here?” she asked.
“Well, I had this idea. When we go and climb those things over there”
“They’re over there”
“Yes. And when we get Over There, we should probably know how to climb better”
“But we climb all the time all around home. I think you just thought these rocks looked cool”
“Hey no! these are the most boringest rocks I have ever seen”
“Really?”
“Really”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’m not going to look at them again, because they’re so boring”
“Hmm… well I don’t think you would mind if I See you at the top. bye!”
The only reason she won was because she tricked me into giving her that head start.
Don’t underestimate Mika. She’s smart. Too Smart.
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