Secretly a Rocketship
"Every tree is secretly a rocketship." The old man's voice was raspy and wobbly, like a drunk wearing corduroy. "They're just waiting for the celeshul alignment to blast off."
I don't usually engage with the crazies, but my train was delayed and there was no one else to talk to on the empty, late-night platform. I squatted down in front of him, put a crumpled dollar bill in his cup. "What about turning carbon dioxide into oxygen?"
He snorted. "Keeping their engines topped off."
"Yeah? Who?"
Enjoying this story? Don't miss the next one!
SUBSCRIBE TO DSF
"The ants, stupid. Who else could fit?" I didn't mention the thousands of other insect species he could irrationally suspect. "They get in everything. Houses, food, hair. Out to get us."
I rolled my eyes and stretched. The platform was still empty. I leaned forward close. "Those aren't the only things they've infiltrated." Then I poured out of my skin, all of me, and swarmed over him. Couldn't let him keep talking like that.
Someone might listen.
The End
This story was first published on Thursday, May 25th, 2017
We hope you enjoyed
Secretly a Rocketship by
Peter A Schaefer.
Please support Daily Science Fiction by becoming a member.
Daily Science Fiction does not have a paywall, but we do have expenses—more than 95% of which are direct payments to authors for their stories. With your $15 membership, less than 6 cents per story, we can continue to provide genre fiction every weekday by email and on the website to thousands of readers for many years to come.
Support Daily Science Fiction
Please click to rate this story from 1 (ho-hum) to 7 (excellent!):
Please don't read too much into these ratings. For many reasons, a superior story may not get a superior score.
5.5 Rocket Dragons Average
Please join our mailing list and
receive free daily sci-fi (your email address will be kept
100% private):
