Fantasy, short story

Harana

july-13

Each click morphed the polygons closer to a recognizable shape. Kneading virtual clay on her pc, she formed characters for a new game. One last touch there–yes, that was the texture she’d needed to give the 3-D model its verisimilitude.

She sipped a 20 oz cup of the fizzy soda that had been on sale last week. It wasn’t all that good but it had been cheap. Its sugar sent new energy coursing through her, sparking an idea.

She pulled her keyboard close and entered a line of code. After checking it twice and rubbing her tired eyes, she hit enter and then rolled back her chair. She picked up her laptop and headed out of the room.

He sat where she’d left him, still staring at pictures he couldn’t remember taking. They faded each into the next on a digital frame. Its electronics hadn’t been affected by the flu that had turned the world into amnesiacs–all except that damned 10% of the population which had a natural immunity to such catastrophic memory loss. Tears pricked her eyes at seeing him so lost with his head hanging low.

He didn’t say anything, didn’t ask about what she’d been doing nor did he do more than offer her a listless stare.

Why did she have to be one of the ten percent that remembered? She bit her lip to keep from crying and set the laptop down in front of him. Behind her computer, the frame continued to cycle through wedding pictures. She still had the dress though it was two sizes too small now.

She used the trackpad to click on the program she’d written and executed it. A 3-d rendered copy of herself appeared on screen with a doppelganger of her husband. She set his hand on the keyboard.

“Play it; I made the game for you,” She broke off as a tear struggled free. “Just play please, it may help.” She turned away to let her game, Harana, do its job.

The sound of keys clicking followed her out of the room. Maybe the game would do what pictures and talking hadn’t. Maybe it could reach across the chasm of amnesia and woo him back to her. She leaned against the wall knocking their wedding picture askew with her shoulder and let the tears fall as their song issued from her laptop speakers serenading him.

Thanks to Maria of Doodles and Scribbles and Rosema of A Reading Writer for Word High July #FilipinoWords #Prompt.

17 thoughts on “Harana”

  6. Wow one awful flue. I hope her game helps, even bringing back and inkling of who he is. Helping him love her again. Sad but there is hope.

    Liked by 1 person

    2. It was awesome. Reminds me a bit of that Will Smith movie Legend. But instead of zombies, you have people with amnesia all over the world. Loved it!

      Liked by 1 person

  7. are you crazy

    On Tue, Jul 12, 2016 at 9:09 PM, MelindaKucsera.com wrote:

    > Melinda Kucsera posted: ” Each click morphed the polygons closer to a > recognizable shape. Kneading virtual clay on her pc, she formed characters > for a new game. One last touch there–yes, that was the texture she’d > needed to give the 3-D model its verisimilitude. She sippe” >

    Liked by 2 people

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