I am very young, barely out of my hydrogen years, and almost out of gas.
“Is this death?” I ask.
“Commoner,” they taunt. “Stick to your own class. Leave the upper classes be.”
Rotating, I spot the middle-aged stars, Sulfur and Silicon.
“Will I disappear?” I try.
Sulfur sniffs uncomfortably. Silicon awkwardly scratches an itch.
“We are too busy to think about nonsense.”
They sound afraid.
Ancient Iron, so close to death herself, lumbers nearby like space debris.
“Will you remember me?” I manage.
With extreme effort, she lifts a rusty smile.
“There is a red giant asleep within you.” Her voice is flinty. And kind. “Remember you? Little one, unleash your potential and you will light up the sky.”
Karin Terebessy likes to write speculative flash fiction stories. Her work has appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Stupefying Stories, Flash Fiction Magazine, Sci-Phi Journal, and other ‘zines. She is currently attempting to write a novel based on her short story “Mood Skin” which appeared in Stupefying Stories in 2016. You can follow Karin on TikTok @karinbendsreality or find her on Instagram at karinterebessy.
Her most recent appearance in Stupefying Stories was “Chasing the Moon,” a story that placed very high in our Top Ten of 2024 list. Coming in right behind it was one of the most powerful and disturbing stories we’ve ever published, “Broken.” Before that she gave us “Bandages” in Stupefying Stories 26, but she’s been with us since “The Memory of Worms,” in the now out-of-print Stupefying Stories 16. In addition she’s given us many SHOWCASE stories, including, “Robin’s Egg,” “Not Quite Ready for Armageddon,” “The Finder of Lost Things,” “Mood Skin,” “The Real Reason Why Mrs. Sprague Came by Her House So Cheaply.”
If you liked this story, check them all out. It will be time well spent.
The Pete Wood Challenge is an informal ad hoc story-writing competition. Once a month Pete Wood
spots writers the idea for a story, usually in the form of a phrase or a
few key words, along with some restrictions on what can be submitted,
usually in terms of length. Pete then collects the resulting entries,
determines who has best met the challenge, and sends the winners over to
Bruce Bethke, who arranges for them to be published on the Stupefying Stories web site.
You can find all the previous winners of the Pete Wood Challenge at this link.
This time the challenge was to write a flash fiction story of no more than 150 words in length, inspired by and using the phrase, “out of gas.”
Special Thanks to Paul Celmer: for going above and beyond to help with this challenge!
9 comments:
Great short piece -- so expressive in a few words!
This is so simple and perfect. We should endeavor to keep it in our own cores.
Thanks!
My thoughts exactly!
A brilliant piece capturing a profound aspect of the human (and teen!!) psyche wrapped in intriguing creativity and fun!
What a thoughtful comment! Thank you!
Nicely done. I tried writing one with the "gas" as a phase of existence (solid to liquid to gas and beyond), but the story ended up becoming abstract and frankly shallow, so I submitted another instead. Your story has emotional depth in a handful of words.
Ooh! I wonder if the solid-liquid-gas idea of yours would work if you gave it more room. It sounds like a really intriguing idea for a story. 150 is quite restrictive and your idea might need more space to come to fruition. I expect we’ll see some variation of it from you one of these days!😊 Thank you for the kind words about my story!
Could be used to teach astronomy! Love it! Gave me a great sense of peace
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