Hypothesis

by Mistress Elsha Hawk

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We had anticipated this moment for hours. Soon the Earth would give us a view of the North America. We could check to see if it looked normal; wispy clouds, greenish land, shaped the same.

We checked and re-checked our calculations, we should be able to see the whole continent. What we could see was sickening. An odd colored cloud covered the whole land area, sort of gray, and yellow; matching the pallid faces of my compatriots.

There was nothing for us to do but work. We planted seeds and monitored growth in the greenhouse, amused ourselves by dropping food from the tower under the presumption of testing the gravity simulator. But we were all drawn to the swirling clouds and quiet speakers.

At dinnertime the hypothesizing began.
“Well, I guess Korea did it, unleashed the big one.”
“No, that’s an ash cloud. It’s Pompei and Mount Vesuvius all over again! That super volcano near Yellowstone erupted!”
“Maybe they bombed Yellowstone and set off an eruption.”
“It’s Armageddon down there.”

We were silent.

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Comments

Average Reader Rating: 5.0 stars out of 5

  1. Hypothesis

    THX 0477's Buddy Icon THX 0477

    Posted 2 months ago

    Great job with the quick glimpse at the quiet, day-to-day existence waiting for…well, really they don’t even know what they’re waiting for. And I loved how the theories combined for an atomic volcano scenario.

  2. Hypothesis

    Ana Cristina's Buddy Icon Ana Cristina

    Posted 2 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    Great build-up to that stellar last line.

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