Space Games (1st Place)

Timothy laughed. “What are you babbling on about? And what was your name again?”

“I’m Jacob Ansley. As I was saying I’m an amateur astronomer and I found something.”

“A silver ponytail flying through space? What kind of moron do you think I am? I am the head of this observatory and you want me to swing a multi-million dollar scope nearly 47 degrees? You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I’m telling you.” Jacob pulled out a star map and pointed to a sector. “It’s right there, and it is large. I mean super big. I’d say the size of Mercury easy.”

Timothy shook his head. He grabbed a clipboard and peered at the night’s schedule. “I can’t believe I’m doing this. But as luck would have it, I can reschedule tonight’s observance.” He punched in the coordinates and waited ten minutes as the scope repositioned. Both Tim and Jacob fell silent.

“Thank you, Tim. You’ve given me a great gift. If you look through the scope now…”

Tim stepped up and looked into the viewfinder. He adjusted the focus and jerked back. His face showed surprise, his eyebrows dipped, and his forehead wrinkled in wonderment.

“I just saw…”

“A huge silver ponytail flying through space?”

“Yeah. And it looked like it was eating an asteroid, or playing with it? I’m… I’m… I don’t know what to say. The thing appears to be alive. If it does eat asteroids, Earth might be in trouble.”

“I didn’t think of that,” Jacob commiserated.

Tim looked through the eyepiece again. “There’s another being approaching it, four times its size. And it’s… it’s…” Tim looked at Jacob.

“It’s doing what?”

“It took a huge asteroid and threw it. The first being went after it.”

Jacob sat down astonished. “Fetch?”


299 Words
Flash Story Limited to 300 words, Must contain: Ponytail, Silver, Gift


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