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Health & Fitness

New Sci-Fi Hypershort by Anthony Lawrence "VETERAN"

Today's short from Fireball Pop is a global epic. What would result from an Alien Invasion? Find out right here...

“VETERAN” by Anthony Lawrence

            Well, I guess the invasion surprised most of us. We were pretty much involved in our own pointless wars. Couldn’t even imagine somebody coming from another world and trying to take over ours. I mean, we understood why they came. We had our problems with global warming and climate change, and we knew how bad it could get. But there might have been some kind of peaceful or diplomatic solution. They didn’t have to shoot first and ask questions later. But I suppose they couldn’t take any chances, not knowing us and figuring maybe we just wouldn’t want strangers with different customs, religions and ideas taking over. And they were right. We fought back like crazy.

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            But they won and we ended up with our tails between our legs, licking our wounds and stuck with their customs, religions and ideas. Sure, I survived and all that, even though I lost my arms and legs. The prosthetics they gave me work okay, but I feel like some kind of cyborg with all the sensors and biodegradable circuits they stuck in me. My scars have pretty much healed but I still scare the crap out of little kids. Biggest problem, I guess, is what they’re working on here in the hospital. Post-traumatic stress disorder gives me a lot of trouble, especially at night when it’s dark and quiet and I’m trying to sleep but I can’t because pain and the memories of the battles still haunt me.

            Mostly, it’s remembering the friends who got wasted around me and feeling guilty that I survived. I grew up with some of those guys and watching them die like that, well it just stays with you and all you want to do is somehow blot it out of your mind. You kind of look forward to the “electroceuticals” they give you that deaden the memories for a while.

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            The invaders were pretty brutal, but so were we. Funny, because the biggest surprise was how much alike we were. They looked a lot like us, humanoid and all that, different colors and languages but really the same in lots of ways. They were male and female, and some were both, just like us. And when they talk about their own world, you can see how much they loved it and how sad they were to lose it. I even believe a lot of them really regret having to invade us and kill so many of our people. I guess it’s been a tragedy for both of us.

            Wish I could have seen their world. Sounds a lot like ours, maybe a little warmer because they were closer to their sun than we are. They were the Third Planet from their star, while we’re the fifth.


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