Edward knelt, trying to console his crying son. Jacob held his knee and rocked back and forth, tears making streaks down his dusty cheeks.“Son, I told you not to run out here, there are too many rocks.” Edward said, carefully trying to hold his voice steady.
A trail of blood ran down Jacob’s knee and pooled around the rock beside him.
“Jacob, please let me see your knee. I can’t stop the bleeding until you let me see your knee!” Edward pulled his son’s bloody hands away from his knee.
Pulling out a cloth from his pocket he wiped away the blood only to realize that his son’s knee wasn’t even cut. Sure, a little red maybe... but there was no injury to be seen.
“Odd.” Edward looked at the pool of blood that had collected around the rock. “Jacob, can you tell me what happened?”
“I... tripped, on that rock, coming up the hill.” Jacob said between sniffles.
Edward picked up Jacob’s foot and inspected every inch of his leg.
“Nope no injury.” He commented matter of factually, tousling his son’s dusty hair. “Slow down, next time ok.”
“But dad, where did the blood come from then if it wasn’t mine?”
“Did you notice it on the ground on your way up here?” Edward asked. Jacob shook his head.
“Hmm... maybe we should take some of the blood back to your mom, there’s some on this rock here.” Edward passed the rock to Jacob who held it gingerly with disgust. “Mom can put it through the scanner and figure out where the blood came from.”
---
Back at the campsite Edward’s wife had set up a laboratory in one of the big orange tents. Recon had sent them to catalog the species indigenous to the planet to see if it was a candidate for terraforming. Edward placed the blood drizzled rock on a plate and slid it across the table to his wife who was intently peering into a microscope.
“Take a look at this honey. This is the oddest thing I have seen in a long time.” Edward said, waving his hand under the microscope to get his wife’s attention.
Marrisa eyed the rock out of the corner of her eye and rolled her eyes in exasperation. “You and your rocks! Must you bring them in here? And what’s up with the bloody mess all over it anyhow?”
“Thats what I wanted you to see! I just ran a few tests on it. The bleed is coming from the rock!” Edward explained.
“Rocks don’t bleed dear.” Marrisa said chuckling, “It’s probably Jacob playing a joke on you again.”
“Watch.” Edward insisted. He picked up the rock and gently wiped it clean with a soft cloth.
The rock clinked against the plate as he set it down once again. Marrisa eyed him suspiciously. Then suddenly she heard it!
Marrisa’s eyes widened in shock as she realized a delicate song was coming from the rock. Almost as if in gratitude.
photo credit: MB Balances Rocks via photopin (license)
This post is part of the 52 week flash fiction challenge on facebook
Week 7 word prompt: Bleed
Word Limit: 20- 500
This one tops out right at 500 words.
This one is a bit late (was due last friday) but I took a bit of a break after the AtoZchallenge to catch my bearings again.
Readers: How do you think you would react if you were suddenly faced with real life aliens? Would you be shocked? Scared? Would you panic? What if the aliens were part of the very ground you were walking on?
