r i g h t  h a n d  p o i n t i n g

short fiction  short poetry  short commentary  short..uh..art

 

 

     
  Afterburner

 Monte Davis
 

 
     Euphoria comes with speed.

     It fills your veins when you straddle the jetcycle, then boils as you power ahead.  Road stripes merge to form a pulsing, yellow ribbon.  You're a bullet, cheating wind, teasing Death.

     You squeeze the turbine shroud with your thighs and tap the red button with your thumb.  The afterburner roars, forcing your eyeballs against your brain as the world blurs.  You smile against the g’s, for you are but a mortal man.

     And yet you have ridden thunder.

     Something's wrong!  A shimmy in the cycle's frame, growing like your panic.  You fight the handlebars.  The horizon tilts.

     Asphalt. 

     Guardrails. 

     Bits of your body slide ahead, trailing blood.  You've bought it again.

     “Want another try?” the tech asks, his wire-fed voice tickling your brain like a metallic whisper.

 

 

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Monte Davis's work has appeared in Leading Edge, Zahir, NFG, Space & Time, and others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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