A New Beginning

Bright white nothing. Blinking against the glare, I willed my churning guts to still. Chewed my lip, wiped my sweaty palms on my trousers. I'd never been on a spaceship before. I tried not to stare around me (not that there was anything to look at) but this left nowhere for my gaze to rest but on his(?) huge black eyes.

Cowardice caught up with me, and I let my eyes drop, allowing myself a moment to fixate on a smudge of dirt on my shiny black shoe. Tilting my foot to hide it made me look nervous and inept, so I tried to wipe it off on my trouser-leg. My poor pinstripes. Anything to avoid meeting those mirror-like eyes. Is eye contact seen the same way out here as on Earth?

I was making a pig's ear of it wasn't I? I dragged my gaze up to meet his, unnerved by my own distorted reflection in them.

They blinked at me slowly, silvery lids shlooping horizontally outside-in, instead of top-to-bottom. I had the impression I was being shot a disapproving glare, but it's hard to tell in such a blank, bulbous face. Mouthless, chinless and less expressive than mud. He had no problem meeting my gaze and holding it, so I tried to follow his example.

I tried a smile, thought better of it, and let it slip off my face.

Despite the perfect temperature, my shirt felt sticky. Wishing I'd applied more deodorant, I tucked my upper arms closer to my body. Did they have a sense of smell? How acute was it?

Should I say something? Probe jokes hovered and died on my lips. Say something! Ask me something! Or set me a test. Something. Anything.

Jetlagged from the journey, I wasn't sure how well I could do on a test. Better than I was doing now, probably. Maybe.

He lifted a three-fingered hand to the smooth white tabletop between us, slid around in a pattern, and typed at invisible keys. Faint, but becoming clearer, I could hear-

"-earing is terrible, we'll have to do something about that. But otherwise, we find you suitable. Your digital counterpart is impressive. When can you start?"

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Word count: 366 - bang on the nose!

* * * Author's Note * * *

Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment to make it easy for me to reciprocate. Please don't leave a link unless you're taking part (see below).

The story behind the story - I'm writing a microfiction story every day this year. 366 days of stories 366 words each. (There is some wiggle room on the word count to make it a bit easier.) This is the first one. I was especially fond of "shlooping".

A Story Every Day in 2024 - You can read about this madcap adventure here and here, and, if you're joining me, the first list of prompts here. Today's prompt is "New Beginnings". The prompts are aids only - if you'd like to join in and write a story every day, use whatever inspiration you bleddy well like!

If you'd like to join in: Whether that is with a story every day (you must be mad!) or just today's prompt, then please link your offering in the comments. I know several people have said that a story every day just feels like too much pressure, and if that resonates with you, you're welcome to just join in today instead. Either way, I can't wait to see what you come up with.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! I hope you've had a lovely festive season, however you celebrate. Here's to a prosperous and wordy 2024.

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Edit to add these. Here are the mad buggers who joined me on this sidequest. Please go and show them some love.