Acing Tidal Scions

by Heidi Berthiaume

Genres: Short Stories; Sci-fi Anthologies & Collections

Synopsis

16 speculative fiction adventures, ranging from fantasy to science fiction to magical realism. No horror. Each Single Page Story is about a 2 minute listen.

The titles are based on anagrams of "social distancing" and were used as writing prompts - none of the stories are specifically about the coronavirus (COVID-19) or the pandemic.

Here are the first seven titles and the first sentence of their related story. Some titles remained connected to the final version of the story. Others, not so much.

1. ACING TIDAL SCIONS – Laura flexed her hands, watching through her VR goggles how the gloves of her spacesuit did the same.
2. CALICO DATING SINS – After two attempts to upload his profile picture, Snowball finished his listing on the CatNip app.
3. CASINO ACTS IDLING – Ellis and Cavney stood in the street, taking in the destruction.
4. CLASSIC INDIGO ANT – I thought he was a mannequin dressed in a gas mask and suit of dusk orange with a windowpane pattern.
5. CLINIC GOADS SAINT – Penrose's monitors caught on fire, freaking out the intern.
6. COLD GIN IS IN A CAST – When my desdeer Gin lost one of her hind legs fighting a sand snake, we augmented her other leg instead of putting her down.
7. DANCING TO SILICAS – BreakRod entered the 200th Annual Ten-World Rally in his trusty, rusty minivan.