A Matter Of Degree

To explain what had happened to me, my friends showed me a movie called “Blast from the Past,” about a man who spends 35 years in a nuclear fallout shelter before entering the world.

Like him, I’d lived my 22 years underground with my family, never knowing there was anything above us.

Now, looking at the blue sky, sun, stars, and trees, I was sad to have only experienced light from cooking fires and candles.

So my friends showed me another movie called “Encino Man,” about a Cro-Magnon man who’s thousands of years old, frozen since the first Ice Age.

From Guest Contributor Susmita Ramani

Falling From The Sky

In the Arctic North, a flock of snow geese were all aflutter. It was time for them to fly south. They gracefully ascended on the Arctic winds.

The birds flew through the ribbons of primary-colored lights adorning the vast sky.

Further south, a very strange sight appeared above them. Falling through the sky, a human with man-made wings was flailing his arms as a flurry of feathers erupted in all directions.

A group of the geese flew to the man, clutched the wooden wing frames, and escorted him gently to the ground.

"May Zeus reward your kindness," said the man.

From Guest Contributor Deborah Shrimplin

Baby Boy

When you opened the door, Rob stood with a bouquet of red roses and a smile on his face. He had been deployed over a year ago, and you didn’t know anything about his mission, only surmised the danger.

You greeted him with a hug and kiss, crushing the bouquet, then stood back and clutched your chest, while tears streamed down your cheeks. “I can’t believe you’re home!”

You took him by the hand, pulled him into the house and hugged him again fiercely this time.

You had something wonderful to show him.

The baby boy upstairs in his crib.

From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher

The Polish-Russian Frontier

Eurasian red squirrels live on the border of Poland and Russia. During severe winter storms they shelter inside their nests lined snuggly with twigs and moss. Ralph and Rayette were two Eurasian squirrels. After a fierce four-day blizzard, Ralph poked his snout out. It was 15 below…

“Look at the snow drifts, Rayette.”

She knew that when she’d seen one drift she’d seen them all.

“Hey, I forget, do we live in Russia now?”

“No, Ralph… The Russian frontier's 20 yards that way.”

“Well, that's a relief.”

“Huh?”

“I don't think I could survive any of those brutal Russian winters.”

From Guest Contributor David Sydney

The Wall

The city was surrounded by a wall. In the distant past, whatever architects built the city had ensured there was plenty of room to expand, with the wall erected far from the center. They probably believed there was so much space that they'd never run out. Or that the city would die before it grew so large as to matter.

But here we were teeming like a coffee cup, the only thing holding the place together an invisible tension that might burst at any moment.

No one knew what, if anything, existed beyond the wall. Only that it was dangerous.

For the prompt Frontier

Lost In Space

It is a sweltering summer evening, and Dad bursts through the back screen door, home early from work, carrying a paper bag stuffed with green frilly leaves. “Look,” he beams unpacking the strange-looking vegetable. “Something new. It’s called Romaine lettuce.” He tears off a long tapered leaf and glides it over my upturned hand. “Try it,” he grins. “It flies—like a supersonic r-r-rocket!”

It is the age of Sputnik, Explorer, ballistic missiles and orbital launchers, and we kids are all enthralled. I bite into the crisp, tall leaf, savor the pleasantly cool, exhilarating blast and I am riding high.

From Guest Contributor E. C. Traganas

Frank's Permission

Frank Grumley was old school. So, Ralph, who wanted to marry Claudette, spoke to her old man...

“It's right to ask for my consent, Ralph, because marriage is a frontier, and I want to protect my daughter. But about your work…”

“You mean, quantum electrodynamics? It's at the frontier of quantum mechanics.”

“Whatever.”

“I’ve been studying high intensity fields... You know -- where empty space itself becomes radically active.”

“Huh?”

“But I'm giving it up. I have an opportunity to go into my Uncle Harry's cement business.”

“Ralph, have you seen our driveway?... You're sounding more and more like a son-in-law.”

From Guest Contributor David Sydney

For the prompt Frontier

The Projects

Bailey and Lex were proud of the fact their neighborhood was in the projects They were pioneers, venturing into a dangerous frontier to make this part of the city livable again. Whenever they entertained houseguests--an infrequent occurrence since most of their friends were too scared to visit this part of town--they always mentioned the sacrifices they were making for the greater good.

Projects was a good name. Something like an experiment. Something only the bravest couples dared participate in.

Most of the time, Bailey and Lex endured their hardships stoically. But sometimes they missed having a Starbucks nearby.

For the prompt Frontier

Crossing The Line

“How can a guy talk with a girl without looking foolish?” asked Paul.

“I’m not the one to ask. Last date dumped me, said I’m boring,” Don grimaced.

The buddies commiserated over their lunches in the school cafeteria when an attractive dark-haired girl glided past them.

“That’s her!” Paul announced. “I’ve been eying her for…”

“Go for it! Be your charming natural self, bro.”

Paul rose from the table to catch up with the girl of his dreams. He asked if he could join her. She accepted.

It was a new frontier he was willing to cross into and experience.

From Guest Contributor Krystyna Fedosejevs

For the prompt Frontier

Devonian

Someone had to do it. There had to be a first fish that struggled onto land roughly 380 million years ago in the Devonian period. It so happened to be Mel. Ed and Gosnold were two Devonian fish who waited in the shallow water for Mel to return.

He was almost completely out of breath.

“So?”

“What’d you mean, Ed?”

“So, what was it like?”

“Oh, yeah, dry land… Well, it was dry. And it was sandy.”

“Do you think there's a future on dry land, Mel?”

“Could it be the next frontier, Mel?”

“Nah, Gosnold… It's just dry sand…”

From Guest Contributor David Sydney

David is a physician who writes fiction in and out of the EHR (Electronic Health Record).

For the prompt Frontier