A Godawful Small Affair

by Wil Wheaton

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“I want to move to Mars, and open up a bar,” Gregor said.

Matti inhaled deeply, and let a cloud of pale blue smoke surround his head.

“What would you call it?” Matti said.

“Moonage Daydream.” Gregor said.

They sat together on a crumbling balcony, exposed rebar and radioactive dust, and waited for the rocket, three miles distant, to launch.

“What’s it mean?” Matti said. He flicked the butt of his cigarette over the edge, and watched it fall out of sight.

“It’s the title of an old song,” Gregor looked past the rocket, to a horizon he knew he’d never cross, “from about a hundred years ago.”

“Nobody’s going to get it. Why would you pick something that old?”

“Because back then,” Gregor said, “people had hope.”

The ground shook, and they watched the rocket climb into the sky.

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Comments

Average Reader Rating: 5.0 stars out of 5

  1. A Godawful Small Affair

    Melia's Buddy Icon Melia

    Posted 3 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    Damnit now I’m going to have that song in my head all day. Great story. Wistful. Makes me curious to find out when and how they lost hope.

  2. A Godawful Small Affair

    Kermitgorf's Buddy Icon Kermitgorf

    Posted 3 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    Great sci-fi ficlet, ‘Hope’.. good ending. Enjoyable characters, cool conversation, nostalgic of the past.
    LoA

  3. A Godawful Small Affair

    Wil Wheaton's Buddy Icon Wil Wheaton

    Posted 3 months ago

    Thanks! I’ve been listening to Ziggy Stardust like crazy, and also reading some post-apocalypse SF, so I put the two together.

  4. A Godawful Small Affair

    Hobo Beard Bob's Buddy Icon Hobo Beard Bob

    Posted 3 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    I guess Major Tom was in the ship :p

  5. A Godawful Small Affair

    J. Dack's Buddy Icon J. Dack

    Posted 3 months ago

    Most excellent. I give it 4 & 1/2 out of 5 blasted womp rats.

  6. A Godawful Small Affair

    Eckhouse's Buddy Icon Eckhouse

    Posted 3 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    And visions of David Bowie, John Simm, and Philip Glenister began to dance in my head… awesome.

  7. A Godawful Small Affair

    Will Hindmarch's Buddy Icon Will Hindmarch

    Posted 3 months ago

    4.0 out of 5 stars

    Great atmosphere. Couldn’t help myself.

  8. A Godawful Small Affair

    Nouvelle Bardot's Buddy Icon Nouvelle Bardot

    Posted 3 months ago

    damnit, david bowie is going to be singing in my head all day now. not to mention a few naughty moonage fantasies. interesting play on the ziggy stardust thing.
    LoA

  9. A Godawful Small Affair

    Nouvelle Bardot's Buddy Icon Nouvelle Bardot

    Posted 3 months ago

    damnit, david bowie is going to be singing in my head all day now. not to mention a few naughty moonage fantasies. interesting play on the ziggy stardust thing.
    LoA

  10. A Godawful Small Affair

    stylorouge's Buddy Icon stylorouge

    Posted 3 months ago

    Keep your mouth shut,
    you’re squawking like a pink monkey bird
    And I’m busting up my brains for the words

  11. A Godawful Small Affair

    Sary Nore's Buddy Icon Sary Nore

    Posted 3 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    kickass and deliciously weird, to say the least.

  12. A Godawful Small Affair

    White Hat's Buddy Icon White Hat

    Posted 3 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    I like that Matti’s first question was as to the name of the bar, rather than, say “why?”
    Well deserving of fiveosity.

  13. A Godawful Small Affair

    M. Fotinakis~Η Φοτιςμένη~'s Buddy Icon M. Fotinakis~Η Φοτιςμένη~

    Posted 3 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    Very moody Wil, I like it! Kind of made me think of those space-drama animes like Cowboy Bebop (and I mean this in the best way possible).

  14. A Godawful Small Affair

    User 7624's Buddy Icon User 7624

    Posted 3 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    It’s a god awful small affair to the girl with the mousey hair…

    Great story, Wil!

  15. A Godawful Small Affair

    Sturek's Buddy Icon Sturek

    Posted 3 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    Great story ! I am really looking forward to more Fiction from you.
    Oh and thanks for introducing me to Ficlet.

  16. A Godawful Small Affair

    .:band baby:.'s Buddy Icon .:band baby:.

    Posted 3 months ago

    Hmm.. intersesting. I liked this and how it’s a conversation! Nice job.
    LoA

  17. A Godawful Small Affair

    Justin Lymner's Buddy Icon Justin Lymner

    Posted 3 months ago

    Nicely done. Thanks for posting a link on your blog for it.

  18. A Godawful Small Affair

    I LOVE FRANK IERO AND WILLIAM BECKETT!!!'s Buddy Icon I LOVE FRANK IERO AND WILLIAM BECKETT!!!

    Posted 3 months ago

    very good

  19. A Godawful Small Affair

    Blood Red Sky's Buddy Icon Blood Red Sky

    Posted 3 months ago

    what does LoA mean

  20. A Godawful Small Affair

    kjaneway's Buddy Icon kjaneway

    Posted 3 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    This wormed its way into my brain, and wouldn’t let go.

    There’s something very awesome about that.

  21. A Godawful Small Affair

    Jeanne Shade's Buddy Icon Jeanne Shade

    Posted 3 months ago

    Love this. You should definitely write published fiction in the future. And as previous commenters have noted, David Bowie is now stuck in my head.

  22. A Godawful Small Affair

    One Time, One Chance's Buddy Icon One Time, One Chance

    Posted 3 months ago

    i don’t know that song, suprise suprise. let alone who this David Bowie is that everybody has mentioned in their comment.
    oh well.
    but i liked this nonetheless=]

  23. A Godawful Small Affair

    invisibility_disability's Buddy Icon invisibility_disability

    Posted 3 months ago

    nice. :)

  24. A Godawful Small Affair

    flute faerie's Buddy Icon flute faerie

    Posted 3 months ago

    I really liked the last line. Cool story!

  25. A Godawful Small Affair

    I LOVE FRANK IERO AND WILLIAM BECKETT!!!'s Buddy Icon I LOVE FRANK IERO AND WILLIAM BECKETT!!!

    Posted 2 months ago

    Blood Red sky,I always wondered that too.

  26. A Godawful Small Affair

    Garreth 's Buddy Icon Garreth

    Posted 2 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    Luckily I am a country music fan so David Bowie is not stuck in my head lol Thats a pretty deep piece Wil. Makes me also think of what is going on with the melting of the ice caps up north, and reminds me of a book I read in school yrs ago, 1984. Excellent work my friend =)

  27. A Godawful Small Affair

    Capital "W" Writer (LoA's Geekus Awesomeus)'s Buddy Icon Capital "W" Writer (LoA's Geekus Awesomeus)

    Posted 2 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    I am embarrassed and ashamed to say that I am a Bowie fan (heck, a music fan in general), and I am not familiar with that song.
    accepts appropriate beating humbly
    I enjoyed the story, and I love the last line. Wonderful job!

  28. A Godawful Small Affair

    thebetweenspace's Buddy Icon thebetweenspace

    Posted 2 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    A ridiculously good story. I love the bit about hope.

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