Prompt 4.05

[starglyph.livejournal.com]

Five things about Abydos Daniel doesn't miss


Participation is open to all. If this is your own prompt, you’re free to write to it (please do!). Post your list as a comment to this post, additional comments if you exceed the character limit. It’s OK to post as Anonymous, then come out later or not as you choose. Responses will be screened until Monday October 30 to see what people come up with independently. You can still respond to the prompt after the unveiling, but 10/30 is the official due date.

General info and a place to ask questions: the comm ‘welcome’ post.

Comments

[rigel-7.livejournal.com]

1. He didn’t miss the way that the slightly higher gravity on Abydos always made him feel. It was on the edge of his senses, the impression that he was being pulled down by an unseen force. His limbs would feel heavier as he walked, physical tasks were harder to accomplish, and he would often misjudge the effort he would put into compensating for these things, making him seem clumsy and awkward.

Gradually he learned to adopt the almost unconscious grace of the Abydonians, to slow his movements and consider the way his body moved.

At times though, it seemed almost suffocating, as if he were bound to Abydos by more than ties of love.

2. He had once complained to Dr. Jordan when he was ushered out of his small office at 3am, that there simply weren’t enough hours in the day to devote towards his obsessions. It was supremely ironic then, that the one period in his life where time had no real meaning, he would have it in such abundance.

It had taken a while for him to notice, in fact several days of cursing at his watch and tapping on its glass face in annoyance at its inability to keep time; that it occurred to him.

He was living on another planet.

It turned out Abydos didn’t have a 24 hour day. In fact it was 25 hours and 46 minutes – give or take, at least as far as he could tell.

It seemed time was relative after all.

3. Three moons would rise and fall on Abydos, traversing an unfamiliar night sky and casting an illuminating shimmer to the endless sands. He often wondered if they affected a tidal pull on the gritty expanse, sculpting the waves of the dunes to then cast them on a distant shore beyond the horizon.

The stars themselves were arranged in patterns he couldn’t decipher. Many times he had slowly traced the glyphs on the gate, murmuring their names to himself, and then searched for their brethren in the heavens, hoping to find some echo – however faint.

A small part of him always longed for the familiar beauty of his homeworld, where the key to unlocking the universe had dwelt above him, waiting for him to recognise the connection.

[wishfulaces.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, really like the first one. It's something a lot of people don't often think about.

[rigel-7.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I wanted to do a few things that weren't quite so obvious.

:D