Plenum

I give to you a story in eleventy-one words...

On a clear day during the 473rd starcycle, Zakarin left the colony seeking rare and elusive artifacts.


Each day, he pursued the detritus of his forebears, and each day he returned to the colony with naught but a weather-worn face. His sister, Lorani, resentfully earned the family’s meager keep, sacrificing for an unrealized dream that both her father and brother dreamt.

Towards starfall – far from the outer reaches of the settlement barrier – Zakarin readied to leave when he happened upon an ancient emerald cylinder, long since devoid of liquid. In his excitement, he gripped the aluminum with his bare hand and, for the first time, experienced the spiritual sensation called plenum.