Image copyright – Mary Shipman
They are achieving what they predicted.
Read-outs from terrestrial and orbiting monitoring stations reveal a planet at peace, repairing itself while our little satellite communities hurtle round it.
Wake periods every hundred years feel just like regular family mornings, with breakfast and conversation, except we’re all the same age and not related – optimising genetic diversity. We fantasise about our return, our second chance.
Back in my pod, on the cusp of sleep, I’m a child again in my parents’ home, all the paraphernalia of our lives drifting before me in tumultuous disarray. Oblivion envelops me before my tears form.
*****
This is for Friday Fictioneers, where writers contribute 100 word stories in response to a picture prompt. Thanks to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for hosting this weekly flash fiction event on her blog, Addicted to Purple. You can read all the stories here.
Onto the page 
I really like the idea of wake periods being like family breakfasts. Of course, no time has passed for them since the last wake period. They live in a land of eternal breakfast
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Glad you like that, Neil. Eternal breakfast sounds like a good idea. Thanks for leaving a comment.
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Dear Margaret,
Very imaginative piece. A little bit of Heinlein or Bradbury I think. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you, Rochelle. They’re very nice comparisons. I like to read sci-fi, but I seem to do it in phases. I’m a bit of a sci-fi binge drinker. Then I go on the wagon for years on end.
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Wow. That hit me. Good stuff. I’m a science fiction fan, so this was nice. 🙂
Well done, Margaret!
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Thank you, Kent. That’s a lovely response. I like how science fiction lets you really contemplate the ‘what ifs’ of life.
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Great story! This scenario reminds me of “The 100”. I wonder if it will come to this one day. At least the planet is repairing itself, now it’s been left alone.
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I’m glad you enjoyed the story, Ali. I hope it doesn’t come to this, but there doesn’t seem to be much good news on offer whenever they make a doco about the state of things. Thanks for commenting, and I’ll check out ‘The 100’. I haven’t seen it.
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Science Fiction with a heart – I love it! (And I always look froward to breakfast!)
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I’m a breakfast fan myself. Best meal of the day. So happy you like my story, MJL – thanks for commenting.
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Great piece! I can sense the longing to return here.
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Thank you, Laurie. It’s good to know I’ve captured the feelings. Hard to achieve in the word limit.
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Saving humanity, this deserves tears. No second chances needed here. Lovely writing
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Thank you, Mike, for your great comment. I’m so happy you liked it.
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that’s imaginative story.
http://www.obliqview.blogspot.in
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Thank you, IB.
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I admire anyone who attempts SF, and you pulled this off really well Margaret. Beautifully done.
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I seem to find sci-fi is my ‘go to’ genre when other ideas refuse to materialise. I love reading good sci-fi, but I’m very fussy, so I get very excited when I discover an author I like. Thank you for commenting, Sandra. I always appreciate your feedback.
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Hope in a post-apocalyptic world makes a pleasant change, even if surviving the initial disaster comes at a heavy price.
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I’m glad you commented on that, Liz. I really wanted to show the cost, rather than the hope. Hope for a second chance is nice, but wouldn’t it be better if we woke up to what we’re doing in time to save having to pay that cost?
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Wow, this is such a unique concept. Habitats in orbit and leave the planet heal. Wonderful. I’ve seen the ‘wake-up-once-a-week’ theme in PJ Farmer’s Tuesday World.
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I’m wondering if our ultimate solution might have to be something like this, although I’m absolutely not a scientist. Poor old Earth needs a rest. I’m so glad you liked my story, Gah. Thank you.
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Wow science fiction with an emotional touch. I liked it.
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The emotion’s the important part, in my view. Thank you for commenting. I’m so glad you liked it.
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Reminds me of Matrix & Interstellar!
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Great stories, both. Thank you for this.
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What a beautiful piece of writing! Very creative science fiction story, that manages to take us to the everyday aspects of being human, which are both tender and lovely.
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Thank you for this lovely feedback. I’m delighted that you saw this in my story. To me, this is the core of good science fiction, of all fiction in fact – to show what it is to be human.
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You’re most welcome! I agree with you about that – science fiction without that sense of humanity leaves me cold.
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