Dream Dressed in Blue
Dream Dressed in Blue
Mike&Kim | 882 words | Astro-Twins | Silly Sci-fi
Title and cut from Kim and Jessie by M83
Mike was not sulking. It was his eighteenth birthday and it was his first away from home. He’d been so busy that he hadn’t realised it was today until it came to writing out the date on his exam paper.
After the exam he’d gone home. Most of the people in his class had gone out to celebrate the last day of semester but he hadn’t really made a lot of friends. Kim had said it was because he was too smart for his own good, probably scared everyone away.
He resisted the urge to hit himself on the forehead. Kim. If it was his birthday, it was hers too. He may have been smart, but he was an idiot too.
He resolved to call her tonight, once the time zones matched up. She was on the opposite side of the world, probably spending her days waist deep in dirt and enjoying every minute of it.
When he finally made it home, he found a package among his normal mail. He threw it into his bag and went up stairs. He didn’t get back to it until he’d had his dinner and washed his dishes. There was a card from his mum, some letters from university and the package. It was small, about the size of a baseball, and when he opened it, sand poured out and fell into the gaps of his keyboard.
“Fuck,” he muttered. It’ll take forever to get it out now, he’ll have to take the whole thing apart. They could send students to space but they still couldn’t figure out an easy way to clean a keyboard.
Just then his phone rang. He cursed as he dug into his bag to pull it out.
“Hello,” he answered without looking at the display.
“Hello yourself,” the reply came.
“Kimberly,” he said seriously.
“Michael Jonathan Moore,” she said, “you know I hate when you call me that.”
He couldn’t help but smile. “That’s why I do it,” he said teasingly, “besides, you deserved it for sending me sand, it poured out over my keyboard, it’s gonna take me forever to clean it.”
“That’s because you use that ancient hardware keyboard,” she said, “if you go digital like everyone else, you wouldn’t have that problem.”
“I like my hardware keyboard,” he said defensively, “I like the clicking it makes when you type, pressing the buttons-“
She laughed. “You’re such a weirdo,” she said, “anyway, there’s more than just sand in there,” she said.
He perched the phone between his ear and shoulder and dug back into the package to pull out something that was wrapped up in dark blue and glittery wrapping paper.
“You didn’t have to,” he said, pulling the ribbon off and pulling the paper apart, “I didn’t get you anything.”
“I know,” she said, “but you're busy with exams and everything, and I found that!” she said starting to get excited, “I pulled it out from the rocks myself, it’s like my baby.”
He could hear her proud smile over the phone. “That’s kind of creepy,” he said, still pulling back more paper. When he finally reached the tiny fossil- what else could it be if Kim was the one who found it- he hesitated. “What is it?”
“It’s a seahorse,” she said.
“It doesn’t look like a horse at all,” he said, “and it’s so small, I've never seen one of these things before.”
It was about half the length of his finger, and had a tail that curled at the end, and someone had attached a chain to it, no doubt so he could wear it around his neck.
“No of course not,” she said, “they're extinct, but we have records of them, and that’s what they were called.”
He twirled it between his fingers, letting the chain dangle between his fingers. “Funny little things.”
“Yeah,” she said, “they said the males carried the babies for half of their term.”
“Now that’s just ridiculous,” he said.
“It’s brilliant, is what it is,” she said.
“Hey, are you sure you're allowed to send me this?” he asked, “What happened to keeping records of everything you find and all that crap.”
“Oh we found a whole school of them,” she said, “all clustered together, thirteen in all, and that’s bad luck, you’re never supposed to find anything in thirteens, so I took one. Twelve is a good number, good luck.”
“You took one?” he said, “You mean you stole it?”
“No!” she said, “I merely didn’t report it. Technically it was never discovered. I sealed it so it won’t break apart or anything, it should last for ages. Do you like it?”
“I guess it’ll do,” he said, but couldn’t stop the smile.
She laughed. “You owe me a moon rock or whatever it is you find up there.”
He laughed. “I’ll make sure to fill the package with moon sand too.”
“Yeah, totally,” she said, “listen I gotta run, you need to go to bed.”
Just then he yawned, remembering how tired he was. “I guess so,” he said, “have a nice day today.”
“I will,” she said, “good night.”
When they hung up, he looked at the little seahorse again, with its delicate fins and faint ridges. Maybe today hadn’t been all bad after all.
Mike&Kim | 882 words | Astro-Twins | Silly Sci-fi
Title and cut from Kim and Jessie by M83
Mike was not sulking. It was his eighteenth birthday and it was his first away from home. He’d been so busy that he hadn’t realised it was today until it came to writing out the date on his exam paper.
After the exam he’d gone home. Most of the people in his class had gone out to celebrate the last day of semester but he hadn’t really made a lot of friends. Kim had said it was because he was too smart for his own good, probably scared everyone away.
He resisted the urge to hit himself on the forehead. Kim. If it was his birthday, it was hers too. He may have been smart, but he was an idiot too.
He resolved to call her tonight, once the time zones matched up. She was on the opposite side of the world, probably spending her days waist deep in dirt and enjoying every minute of it.
When he finally made it home, he found a package among his normal mail. He threw it into his bag and went up stairs. He didn’t get back to it until he’d had his dinner and washed his dishes. There was a card from his mum, some letters from university and the package. It was small, about the size of a baseball, and when he opened it, sand poured out and fell into the gaps of his keyboard.
“Fuck,” he muttered. It’ll take forever to get it out now, he’ll have to take the whole thing apart. They could send students to space but they still couldn’t figure out an easy way to clean a keyboard.
Just then his phone rang. He cursed as he dug into his bag to pull it out.
“Hello,” he answered without looking at the display.
“Hello yourself,” the reply came.
“Kimberly,” he said seriously.
“Michael Jonathan Moore,” she said, “you know I hate when you call me that.”
He couldn’t help but smile. “That’s why I do it,” he said teasingly, “besides, you deserved it for sending me sand, it poured out over my keyboard, it’s gonna take me forever to clean it.”
“That’s because you use that ancient hardware keyboard,” she said, “if you go digital like everyone else, you wouldn’t have that problem.”
“I like my hardware keyboard,” he said defensively, “I like the clicking it makes when you type, pressing the buttons-“
She laughed. “You’re such a weirdo,” she said, “anyway, there’s more than just sand in there,” she said.
He perched the phone between his ear and shoulder and dug back into the package to pull out something that was wrapped up in dark blue and glittery wrapping paper.
“You didn’t have to,” he said, pulling the ribbon off and pulling the paper apart, “I didn’t get you anything.”
“I know,” she said, “but you're busy with exams and everything, and I found that!” she said starting to get excited, “I pulled it out from the rocks myself, it’s like my baby.”
He could hear her proud smile over the phone. “That’s kind of creepy,” he said, still pulling back more paper. When he finally reached the tiny fossil- what else could it be if Kim was the one who found it- he hesitated. “What is it?”
“It’s a seahorse,” she said.
“It doesn’t look like a horse at all,” he said, “and it’s so small, I've never seen one of these things before.”
It was about half the length of his finger, and had a tail that curled at the end, and someone had attached a chain to it, no doubt so he could wear it around his neck.
“No of course not,” she said, “they're extinct, but we have records of them, and that’s what they were called.”
He twirled it between his fingers, letting the chain dangle between his fingers. “Funny little things.”
“Yeah,” she said, “they said the males carried the babies for half of their term.”
“Now that’s just ridiculous,” he said.
“It’s brilliant, is what it is,” she said.
“Hey, are you sure you're allowed to send me this?” he asked, “What happened to keeping records of everything you find and all that crap.”
“Oh we found a whole school of them,” she said, “all clustered together, thirteen in all, and that’s bad luck, you’re never supposed to find anything in thirteens, so I took one. Twelve is a good number, good luck.”
“You took one?” he said, “You mean you stole it?”
“No!” she said, “I merely didn’t report it. Technically it was never discovered. I sealed it so it won’t break apart or anything, it should last for ages. Do you like it?”
“I guess it’ll do,” he said, but couldn’t stop the smile.
She laughed. “You owe me a moon rock or whatever it is you find up there.”
He laughed. “I’ll make sure to fill the package with moon sand too.”
“Yeah, totally,” she said, “listen I gotta run, you need to go to bed.”
Just then he yawned, remembering how tired he was. “I guess so,” he said, “have a nice day today.”
“I will,” she said, “good night.”
When they hung up, he looked at the little seahorse again, with its delicate fins and faint ridges. Maybe today hadn’t been all bad after all.