He inhaled slightly, brought his attention back to the head in the centre of the sight’s reticle, and squeezed the trigger. The gun barked, and kicked into his embrace, though not enough to take the couple from view.

“I know humankind has wondered if it is alone for millenia, but isn’t it the greatest mystery? If we cannot answer why intelligent life is silent or non-existent, we cannot silence the superstition and anthropocentric view that has hampered progress for so very long.”

If nothing else, Lockdown’s been a time to read and write, so I hope this short story inspired by the work of a good friend offers some alternative to the Book of Revelations we seem to be living through (13:0).

Water is the softest and most yielding substance.
Yet nothing is better than water, for overcoming the hard and rigid, because nothing can compete with it.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching