Twilight's Flash Fiction / Relatos cortos crepusculares

The Moon She imagined herself snacking on the Moon. There the restaurants have as background the turquoise image of the Earth. Or so she had been told by the schoolchildren that they had been lucky enough to be there. She grew up thinking about that adventure. Her boyfriend surprised her by buying tickets to spend a weekend on Earth's satellite. When the spaceship landed, a mobile surface engulfed her and became part of the armored structure of the hotel. Then they were able to get rid of their space suits and breathe freely, just like on Earth. The immense black background of the sky contributed to highlight even more the brightness of the terrestrial pearl. They felt lighter and knew they were living a special moment. What they could not expect to happen was the fall of the multicolored meteorite that flew over their heads and broke the reinforced glass surface of the structure, leaving escaping the air and destroying everything in its path. Many years later, she r...

Squeezing The Soul The morning ate his mood. She was defeated. The afternoon was more condescending but even so she did not make foot, she did not was finding anything to lean on to propel herself and get out of that hell. The doctor who visited her in the hospital was kind enough to tell her that for the rest of her life she would have to use a wheelchair. She had always been alone. She had not needed anyone. Now, she didn't know what her life could become. That's what I was thinking about when the door to the room opened and someone came in with a dog. That someone was her brother and the dog was a German shepherd's puppy. After fifteen years with that dog, it was time to say goodbye to him. He had taught him to love, to take care of him and to talk to him every day. He was accompany her when she was going out with her wheelchair and defended her from any intruder. He had given her life, and now he was leaving. Then she got up from the chair and hugged him, t...

InSight. The Chromatograph The InSight spacecraft landed softly on Martian soil in the area called Elysium Planitia. After exactly three hours, one of the gates opened, a ramp was extended, and then a motorized robot appeared, sliding down the ramp to touch the Martian surface. The robot moved for a few minutes around the spacecraft, and moments later something unexpected happened. The communication systems were muted for a few minutes. When the communication was recovered, the images sent by one of the cameras installed in the ship showed that the spectrograph and one of the cameras of the robot, located on top of it, had disappeared. On the other hand, the chromatograph, which had initiated the analysis of samples taken from the ground, showing traces of unknown elements, ceased to function. Something or someone was interested in the fact that certain images were not emitted and that the composition of the Martian soil was not known either. InSight. El cromatógrafo...

The Gambler He loved playing poker. He was one of the best. That night the game dragged on well into the early hours of the morning. Four players, alcohol, and a good dose of adrenaline. As always, he was winning. The first to leave was the boldest player—he had run out of money. Hours later, the second player left as well. Now he faced the only opponent courageous enough to challenge him. They were alone in the room. The tension was unbearable. A great deal of money was at stake. Sure of himself, he made his final move... and lost. His opponent smiled. "Until tonight, no one had ever defeated you..." "I have travelled thousands of miles to play this game with you. Now you know what it feels like to lose. But let me tell you a secret. I have spent years training for this moment. You never had a chance. I have spent years preparing for this game. You cannot defeat an intelligence a thousand times greater than your own.   Not even the man who created me could. ...

Walpurgis His face is fire. Great, living eyes. Thick eyebrows. A long white beard. A thick mane. Whenever he is summoned, he appears before his faithful in the forest, where bonfires welcome him from the treetops. Winged beings call upon him. Spirits of the night. White souls waiting to be born into life. Together they gather to bid farewell to winter and welcome spring. Before Walpurgis, they leap across the bonfires in a ritual of purification. Then they choose the destiny of every human being. For an entire lifetime. The ceremony lasts only a few moments. Then they vanish into the darkness... Until, one year later, the Night of Walpurgis returns. Walpurgis Su rostro es el fuego. Ojos enormes y vivos. Cejas pobladas. Una larga barba blanca. Espesa melena. Cuando es invocado, se presenta ante sus fieles en el bosque, donde las hogueras lo reciben desde las copas de los árboles. Lo convocan seres alados. Espíritus de la noche. Blancas almas que esperan nacer...

Transfusion He began to feel bad after having a heated argument with his wife. So bad they had to call an ambulance. When he woke up in a hospital bed, he faced his wife's guilty eyes. However, he felt something strange. It was as if after what had happened he had transformed. Now he understood his wife, now he realized that she had always been right. He understood why he changed when he was told he had had a blood transfusion. The donor? His wife. Now he understood the change. His wife's blood circulated through his veins and he would never be him again. La transfusión Empezó a sentirse mal después de tener una fuerte discusión con su mujer. Tan mal que tuvieron que llamar a una ambulancia. Cuando se despertó en una cama de hospital, se enfrentó a los ojos culpables de su mujer. Sin embargo, sentía algo extraño. Era como si después de lo sucedido se hubiera transformado. Ahora comprendía a su mujer, ahora se daba cuenta de que ella siempre había tenido razón...

The Pigeon He set out to get out of his voluntary confinement. He had been for several days without a telephone, without a television, isolated from the outside world. It would be something unusual, but as far as possible it would be inside the possible, if not outside because it was three thousand meters from the ground. He opened the door to his room and headed for the living room. And a white dove came in his path, and landed on his shoulder. She had been missing him all those days, because he was the one who fed her, he was the one who caressed her, he was the one who told her every day that he loved her. And the pigeon drew his beak and caressed his face. La paloma Se dispuso a salir de su encierro voluntario. Había estado durante varios días sin teléfono, sin televisión, aislado del mundo exterior. Sería algo inusual, pero dentro de lo que cabe estaría dentro de lo posible, si no fuera porque estaba a tres mil metros del suelo. Abrió la puerta de su habitació...

WW3 The submarine, with an atomic charge capable of making the city of San Francisco disappear, docked at the pier. It was Christmas Day in 2025. A year earlier, the Russian-Chinese coalition had invaded the United States in the face of the passivity of the West, and the requests for asylum in European countries had exceeded all expectations. This massive flight precipitated the global confrontation. Now, all that remains of all that was are the thousands of artificial satellites dancing around the Earth turned into automaton zombies, accompanying the desolate planet in its course through the cold outer space. All civilizations invented their truths with the same innocence as they invented their lies. And they tried to turn man into a slave of himself and of others. The human being has not been able to discover the principle by which peace is a permanent state, and he will not discover it because already he has annihilated himself. Tercera guerra mundial El subma...

Sirius The route from Carthage to Rome: across Hispania, over the Pyrenees and through the Alps. No matter what trials he may have to face. In his heart, he always carries the memory of his father, Hamilcar, to whom he had promised that he would destroy Rome. Hannibal leads the march astride Sirius, an enormous elephant. Man and elephant create such a powerful image that every soldier in his army would follow them to his death. Some believe that Hannibal and Sirius are bound together by some supernatural spell. May, 218 BC. The army sets out from Qart Hadasht, or Carthago Nova, in Hispania. In August, it crosses the Pyrenees; in September, the Rhône. In October, it leaves the Alps behind. With far fewer troops than at the beginning of the campaign, Hannibal takes the city of Turin without encountering resistance. In November, he confronts Publius Cornelius Scipio at the Ticinus... And history continues. Much later, when Hannibal begins his retreat from Italian lands, Sirius, the ele...

The volcano It was being a closed night, and the volcano opened, showing its entrails to the world, giving birth to all that singular beauty. Its cries of birth invaded the air reaching to the other end of the world. The three universes united in one: the roars of pain, the burning color of lava, and the strong smell of birth pain. It knows that he acts as an intermediary between the pregnancies of the earth and the outside of the world, changing it surface and feeding iit from its inside. El volcán Era una noche cerrada, y el volcán se abrió, mostrando sus entrañas al mundo, dando a luz a toda aquella singular belleza. Sus gritos de parto invadían el aire llegando hasta el otro extremo del mundo. Los tres universos se unieron en uno: los rugidos de dolor, el color ardiente de la lava y el fuerte olor a dolor. Él sabe que actúa de intermediario entre los embarazos de la tierra y el exterior del mundo, cambiando su superficie y alimentándolo desde su interior. ...