Penny Higgins - Storyteller • Artist • Scientist
Combining Science and Joyful Creativity
I was almost to my cube when Melodie caught me in the hall. “Roger’s pissed. What did you do?” When I said nothing, she went on, “How’d the presentation go?” She giggled. “Nate?”
“I really need night vision goggles.” I turned and walked out the front door.
“Nate?” I heard as the door closed. I kept going.Continue reading “Stink Bug – Chapter 24”
It was weird to be home. The study looked just the same as it did when I left. The computer was still on, the screen saver bouncing fascinating geometric shapes across the monitor. The reference book I had used to try to kill the stink bug sat on the floor beside my chair. The stench still hung in the room.
A heard a familiar buzzing and watched the stink bug land on the top of my monitor. It waved its antennae at me.Continue reading “Stink Bug – Chapter 23”
I paced around the bare ground, not sure what I was looking for. V’x and K’eel stood to the side. V’x looked about nervously, twittering quietly. K’eel fluffed in irritation, but remained still silently observing.Continue reading “Stink Bug – Chapter 22”
A New Species in the Family Probovisassistidae (Cnidaria, Anthozoa), from the Eocene of the Uinta Basin, Utah
by Hoosier GauntletContinue reading “Bovisassist primaevus”
Though I tried more than once to strike up conversation, V’x did not speak again until K’eel returned about an hour later. K’eel carried a bundle that she dropped in the middle of the platform. She wordlessly paced the edge of the platform, twittering to herself. V’x appeared to be dozing, but twitched nervously each time K’eel came near.Continue reading “Stink Bug – Chapter 21”
“Are these walls paper?” asked Trey, poking his finger at the partition behind his head. The room was separated into different seating areas by these short walls. He heard a quiet conversation from the other side.
“Yeah, I guess,” Hanna replied. “Though these are probably plastic.”
Rhea reached across the black lacquered table and touched Trey’s hand. “You’ve really never been to a sushi bar before?”Continue reading “Wasabi”
V’x began:
“When we were first here, we were lost. We saw the Keepers, their flying machines and wheeled carts. They marched around the open spaces surrounding the trees. We would try to approach them and they would shoot fire at us and we would run back to cover.Continue reading “Stink Bug – Chapter 20”
V’x kept lagging back, heavily favoring her right side. I tried to stay with her, encouraging her to keep up. She would flutter her wings and hop to speed up, but would soon slow again. K’eel squawked angrily every time we fell too far behind. Her patience was wearing thin.
“You OK?” I asked of V’x when I thought K’eel might be out of earshot. V’x ignored me, and we continued on in silence. We rounded a corner and nearly crashed into K’eel, who stood with her wings raised and her hands on her hips.Continue reading “Stink Bug – Chapter 19”
I sat down and waited. K’eel was agitated and groomed her feathers furiously, warbling to herself as she did so. Five minutes passed. My knees were aching, so I got up and walked around. I peeked at what V’x had been working on. It was a series of pegs on a board. Some of the pegs were brightly painted. Others were still being carved.
“Keel?” I said.
K’eel squawked at me loudly, fluffing her feathers. She went back to grooming.Continue reading “Stink Bug – Chapter 18”
V’x was tinkering with her back to us when we approached. She was trilling quietly as she fitted together some carved bits of wood on a large bench in front of her. Her feathers were in complete disarray, especially on her right wing where several stood straight out rather than lying flat against her body.
“V’x,” said K’eel, announcing us. V’x squawked and tossed down her work fluttering nervously, turning quickly and bowing to K’eel.Continue reading “Stink Bug – Chapter 17”
Penny Higgins - Storyteller • Artist • Scientist