Otters In Space 3 – Chapter 7: Jenny

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space 3: Octopus Ascending.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

“What was it with this admiral and seriousness? It’s almost like he wasn’t an otter at all.”

Jenny wanted to push all the buttons.  So far, her science officers — Felix and Amoreena — had only let her press one.  After a lengthy discussion where Ordol helped translate the language on all the newly-flooded Europa base vid-screens, Amoreena had figured out how to turn the base’s heaters on.  And only just in time.  Europa’s oceans were no longer covered in ice, but they were frigidly cold.  Much longer and they’d have had to improvise space heaters or begun wearing their spacesuits which would have been ungainly and clumsy underwater. Continue reading “Otters In Space 3 – Chapter 7: Jenny”

Otters In Space 3 – Chapter 6: Kipper

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space 3: Octopus Ascending.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

“The Pine Nut Patisserie was crowded. Shoulder-high squirrels skittered around Kipper, their ears twitching and tails waving like streamers in many different winds.”

Kipper followed Tamantha down a path between two of the towering buildings.  Red and gray-furred squirrels passed by, their movements sudden and jerky.  The way they moved — stopping and starting — made Kipper feel twitchy.  Yet, their tails flowed smooth as rivers.

Behind the row of buildings that faced the street, there was a pedestrian square, surrounded by cafe awnings and outdoor seating.  Squirrels in wicker chairs chattered and dined on crunchy-looking pastries.  Ladders and open-air skywalks laced through the space above them. Continue reading “Otters In Space 3 – Chapter 6: Kipper”

Twenty Years

Twenty years ago today, I stayed up all night talking with my spouse about whether we could afford for me to quit the horrifyingly bad coffee shop job that I’d had for one day and instead write full-time.

We walked around Green Lake at dawn, and I dropped off my resignation letter at 6am. I haven’t quite written full-time during the twenty years since then, because I’ve also been parenting two kids, now sixteen and ten.

During the last twenty years, I’ve written: Continue reading “Twenty Years”

Otters In Space 3 – Chapter 5: Kipper

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space 3: Octopus Ascending.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

“Why in the hell was she about to let a bunch of otters drag her down to the octopus oligarchy when there was a whole squirrel culture here for her to explore?”

Kipper packed a few clothes and pictures of her littermates, nephews, and niece inside plastic sleeves to protect them.  It wasn’t much, but it was more than she’d taken with her the last time she went away.  She was in more of a hurry this time, but it was less hectic.  More purposeful.  More planned.

Trudith drove her to the airport.  It had been hard saying goodbye to her family.  It was awful saying goodbye to Trudith, her best friend on Earth.  There’s nothing like a sad black lab mutt with melting brown eyes to crumble your heart to pieces.  Even three cute kittens couldn’t compare. Continue reading “Otters In Space 3 – Chapter 5: Kipper”

Otters In Space 3 – Chapter 4: Petra

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space 3: Octopus Ascending.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

“Would the kittens like balloons?” the waiter asked, nearly cringing. Clearly, it was a question he was required to ask — not one that he wanted to ask.

Petra hated waiting.  The waiter was taking forever, and her three kittens were crawling all over her and Lucky, grabbing at the silverware and condiments on the table.  The paper packets of sugar had already been counted, arranged in patterns, and finally scattered across the table top.  Why did kittens have to make restaurants so hard?  Why couldn’t they sit still? Continue reading “Otters In Space 3 – Chapter 4: Petra”

Otters In Space 3 – Chapter 3: Jenny

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space 3: Octopus Ascending.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

“…Jenny realized that a lot of problems with the Europa base could be solved by flooding it. Cats and dogs were a lot less likely to fight over a base filled with water.”

Safe inside the ancient octopus base on Europa, Jenny itched to be back in Brighton’s Destiny, flying free, but the little Whirligig ship was parked, inert on the roof of the floating base.  Jenny was stuck inside one the plethora of spherical rooms off of the main central chamber of the base.  It was a reasonably sized room until someone had decided to shove a table into it.  The curved walls and ceiling hadn’t been designed to accommodate a rectangular table with four otters, two dogs, and a cat seated around it. Continue reading “Otters In Space 3 – Chapter 3: Jenny”