by Mary E. Lowd
They are the waves
The waves are their dance
Flippers shuffle
White caps crest Continue reading “The Playful Dance of an Otter”
An e-zine about spaceships, aliens, science, memory, motherhood, magic, and cats.
by Mary E. Lowd
They are the waves
The waves are their dance
Flippers shuffle
White caps crest Continue reading “The Playful Dance of an Otter”
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Commander Annie and Other Adventures, November 2023
The trunks of the trees stretched up toward a sky blocked out by clusters and clumps of orange and red autumnal leaves. The trunks were smooth, black, regular. Minutus loped between them, slaloming through the woods on long legs, bushy with her burgeoning winter coat. She was alone. She’d been alone since her latest litter had grown into full-coated, long-legged adult wolves of their own. With their own lives. Continue reading “The Soul of the Forest”
by Mary E. Lowd
Gold come to life
Her scales glitter and shine
Queen of a domain
That ranges far and wide Continue reading “The Dragon Queen”
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Commander Annie and Other Adventures, November 2023
The universe is fundamentally composed of irony. We live in a story, and that story has a genre. It is a satire. Let me repeat the most important idea here: the fundamental building block of the universe, the smallest, indivisible component is irony. When you take an umbrella, and so it doesn’t rain — dramatic irony. The viewer, whoever or whatever exists outside the universe, or perhaps simply the personality of the universe itself gets to laugh at you. It knows; you didn’t. Dramatic irony. Continue reading “When the Universe Listens”
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Commander Annie and Other Adventures, November 2023
Each stitch was a nightmare. Heidi stabbed her fingertip, jamming the pointy needle through the unruly fabric. Sometimes the fabric bunched up into a stiff, impenetrable clump under the needle’s point. Other times, the needle sailed through… only for Heidi to find she’d accidently sewn two layers of the ballgown together. Then she had to rip the stitches out, taking her further from the finish line. Continue reading “Rumpel’s Gift”
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Commander Annie and Other Adventures, November 2023
QuestCrusher20 zipped through the zone, zooming from one quest to the next without reading the text. She didn’t need to. Just follow the dots on the game map, and like breadcrumbs they led her from a cluster of satyrcorns to kill for their horns to an area strewn with mecha gears that the friendly robots of Robotica needed her to gather. Quest after quest, she could figure them out on the fly, and it only slowed her down to read the flavor text or listen to the NPCs tell their backstories. Continue reading “Speed Questing”
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Commander Annie and Other Adventures, November 2023
The water splashed under Huckle’s boot in the most satisfying way. Repeated little stomps made smacking sounds and rapid ripples. Big stomps from running jumps made a slapping sound and spattered the water high enough to annoy his dad.
“Come on,” Terrence said, grabbing his eight-year-old son’s hand and pulling lightly enough to cajole the boy but not hard enough to hurt him. “If we hurry, we can make it to both Arrin Abbey and the Westle Church before lunch. Wouldn’t that be fun?” Terrence spoke with the tightness in his voice that meant he was trying not to sound annoyed. But he was. Huckle could tell. And Huckle decided to push at him. Continue reading “Huckle’s Puddle”
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Commander Annie and Other Adventures, November 2023
Once upon a time, there was a soul that wanted to anchor itself into the world. The soul watched all the creatures in the world, trying to decide what shape its anchor should take.
The mouse was small and could explore tiny places.
The deer had long legs and could run through the woods.
The bird had wings and could soar through the sky. Continue reading “Greatest of Them All”
by Mary E. Lowd
Crystal and glass
As galaxies pass
She reflects them all
In her many facets
by Mary E. Lowd
An excerpt from Otters In Space 4: First Moustronaut. If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1 or return to the previous chapter.
The Lucky Boomerang stayed docked at the interstellar space station for more than a month before it was time to head home to Earth, bearing a treasure trove of new knowledge, strange goods, and even one of the translator parrots who wanted to come along.
Trugger and the mice had become regular customers at several of the food carts during their month-long visit, and Kipper learned about interstellar law. Most importantly, she learned that the humans running the space station — Crossroads Space Station — wouldn’t trade or deal with societies that didn’t afford equal rights to all their members. This meant, if dogs wanted to oppress cats and ban them from traveling to space, then these humans wouldn’t want to have anything to do with them. Continue reading “Otters In Space 4 – Epilogue”