vignette

[marycatelli]

This week's prompt is:
range 🐦

Anyone can join, with a 50-word creative fiction vignette in the comments. Your vignette does not have to include the prompt term. Any (G or PG) definition of the word can be used.

Comments

[marycatelli]

"Let us at least perish, if we must, having done our duty to the end."
Augustus, turning about a corner, glanced back at her. Violetta could not read his face. She told herself, stoutly, that the sooner Helena found love with her chosen love interest, the safer she was, and plowed onward as they moved.
The way twisted and turned. A bird that flew as far would range out to the capital, thought Helena sourly. They were still within the labyrinth. Even though the hedges rose so high that they could not see any of the hills or towers outside.

[marycatelli]

People filled the pews. Those working in the hospital. Weather-beaten peasants. Some that she suspected were merchants on the road.
Her tongue touched her lips. None of the wondrous women, none of the marvelous men. Except her. She garnered several glances on the way in, and some still were peeking at her.
Children were. She tried to collect herself. She did not have the children's excuse. She should not gawk at the parishioners but pray. She raised her gaze to the crucifix, and then she picked out the glowing red of the tabernacle candle.
She bowed her head and prayed.

[marycatelli]

She wondered whether the others, the girl's friends, were in range that they might use their powers against her. She was all but defenseless if they did.
But very likely the girl would have fled at the first sight if she had not arrived so powerless. She might still flee.

[starshipcat.livejournal.com]

The rangefinder was clearly not working correctly. Over these distances, there was no possibility of point and shoot -- you had to aim at where your target would be as the orbits of vessel and munition intersected. Which meant a sophisticated computer to work out the solutions -- and it was glitching.

Randy started looking for a power switch. "Time to reboot it and see if that fixes the problem before we go to the more difficult solutions."

The rest of the fire direction team stared at him, eyes wide, mouths agape, and more than a few tails tucked. Sometime the Chongu and their sepoy species forgot that most humans were familiar enough with computers to feel comfortable diagnosing a balky one rather than waiting for a tech from IT.

[marycatelli]

And worse, regarded them as tools and not marvels not to be lightly touched

[marycatelli]

A small boy stepped from the path, waving a stick. At that range, he could not have reached them, throwing it.
"You are the ones who wanted to be her pupils?" said Scholastica. She glanced behind him. "There is another, isn't there?"
"He said we shouldn't try ourselves against thieves!"