Twilight's Flash Fiction / Relatos cortos crepusculares

Catalinias I ran into them by chance. I had arrived at the International Polar Research Station to study the influence of cosmic rays on the Earth's magnetic field. I left the station for a moment to enjoy the colour of an extraordinary aurora borealis, when I heard something similar to a hissing sound. I stopped to avoid making noise with my steps on the snow, and I heard that sound again. Its intensity gradually increased, and suddenly it stopped. When I returned to the shelter, I told what had happened to me, and a colleague at the station told me that it was about flowers, the catalinias. They called them that because on closed nights, when the auroras borealis appear in all their splendour, the flowers whisper the word   'catalin'. You have to get very close to them to listen to them. Catalin was a 19th century Russian poet who, following his beloved, found a aurora borealis and was imprisoned in it. Since then, the flowers reproduce the voice of his beloved...

The transdutron It took me a lot of time and effort but in the end I did it. I have in my hands a transducer with which you can see the magnetic lines of the planet. The studies on birds discovered that by means of a protein in their eyes allows them to see magnetic terrestrial fields, with which they are guided in their migrations of thousands of kilometers. These discoveries encouraged me to design an equipment that would allow us to see the magnetic field as birds see it. The surprising thing about this equipment is that it has allowed me, besides being able to visualize the distribution of the terrestrial magnetic field, to discover the existence of a light codification, which when decoding it reveals an electromagnetic world in which auras with human form are observed that move, pass through objects and walls and in some cases seem to communicate with each other. El transductrón Me ha costado mucho tiempo y esfuerzo pero al final lo he conseguido. Tengo en m...

Uncertainty Since my madness, I know I'm completely sane. Today I saw two elephants having a few beers at a bar. One of them said to the other: "I have to change jobs. I can't make ends meet with the salary I'm getting now." "Try to enter the Ministry of High Flights. They pay very well there. I know because a crane, friend of mine, secretary of the hippopotamus responsible for equality policies, has managed to buy a luxurious chalet in the most expensive neighborhood of the city." When I approached them, they looked at me strangely and said: "Mr. Owl, how are you?" I jumped. When I look in the mirror, I always see a man with a boring face, but I've never seen an owl. When I wanted to answer them, my throat began to hoot, which left me even more confused. I went back home and I don't dare go out anymore. Inseguridades Desde mi locura, sé que estoy completamente cuerdo. Hoy he visto a dos elefantes tomand...

The Camerlengo We are dedicated to finding jobs for immigrants. Many factors have to be taken into account: origin, training, age, family situation... Today I took the case of an old man who can't read or write. It is expressed in a language that I do not know, nor can I identify the region of the planet where it is spoken. The old man has point to a piece of paper and a pencil and began to draw a dome. Suddenly the Swiss guards showed up in the office. They explained to me that it was the camerlengo in disguise. He has been so eager to help the immigrants that in the end he has lost his mind and is believed to be one of them. El camarlengo Nos dedicamos a encontrar puestos de trabajo a inmigrantes. Hay que tener en cuenta muchos factores: origen, formación, edad, situación familiar… Hoy he llevado el caso de un anciano que no sabe leer ni escribir. Se expresa en un idioma que no conozco ni tampoco puedo identificar la región del planeta en la que lo habl...

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...