MEANWHILE at that very momentTumblr (3.0; @thatverymoment)http://thatverymoment.com/Jeff sips from the steaming mug. Wisps of heat, suspended in frigid air, draw patterns over his hot...<p>Jeff sips from the steaming mug. Wisps of heat, suspended in frigid air, draw patterns over his hot chocolate. He trails a finger through, writing a message. A gust of wind carries it off in a rush — urgent to deliver it elsewhere.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/288268426http://thatverymoment.com/post/288268426Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:18:26 -0800Jeff pops the lens cover, tucking it in his back pocket. His back to the brickwork, his feet...<p>Jeff pops the lens cover, tucking it in his back pocket. His back to the brickwork, his feet precarious on the ledge — he steadies himself, fidgets with the telephoto. Seven stories down, the cab is pulling into position. He sets his eye to the viewfinder.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/286806840http://thatverymoment.com/post/286806840Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:34:25 -0800Jeff pushes the red button. Glass shatters on every side, shards pelting, melting. Droplets hanging...<p>Jeff pushes the red button. Glass shatters on every side, shards pelting, melting. Droplets hanging in mid-air. Rain becomes fire; the air solidifies and is drowned in liquid light. Sounds grow color as a searing white consumes the platform, atom by atom. Last to disintegrate is the warning sign: Do Not Press.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/284955739http://thatverymoment.com/post/284955739Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:07:51 -0800Jeff pulls the ring from his finger and studies it. Such value, imparted to so impermanent a thing....<p>Jeff pulls the ring from his finger and studies it. Such value, imparted to so impermanent a thing. He releases, watches it fall, watches it vanish through the gap in the storm drain. Steps off the curb and down the street, a steady pace, heading east. Away from the church.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/283546672http://thatverymoment.com/post/283546672Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:18:53 -0800Jeff straps a bomb to his chest and sets the timer for fifty years. Unreliable mechanism, yes, but...<p>Jeff straps a bomb to his chest and sets the timer for fifty years. Unreliable mechanism, yes, but sufficient — give or take twenty years at the most — an acceptable variance. The rusted spool had to be finished at any rate. The device beeps, every two minutes, a soft acknowledgment. He begins to smile.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/279305798http://thatverymoment.com/post/279305798Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:46:54 -0800Jeff cracks the shell of the candy. A complex maneuver, the extraction. He widens the gap, clearing...<p>Jeff cracks the shell of the candy. A complex maneuver, the extraction. He widens the gap, clearing excess chocolate with a pair of tweezers. Green-white crystals pour onto the tray, suspended over an open flame. In minutes, the powder boils away, leaving flecks of electric blue. Forty-one more and he’ll have enough.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/278286881http://thatverymoment.com/post/278286881Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:03:42 -0800Jeff tilts his head, ever so subtly: an acknowledgment. The barkeep slips away, exits without a...<p>Jeff tilts his head, ever so subtly: an acknowledgment. The barkeep slips away, exits without a word, sliding the lock. Lights wink out. Alone in the dark, save the flash of the diode, intermittent red to match his mood. Waits to finish his cigarette. A single button press, and the floor drops away, forming stairs. A descent into fluorescent green.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/276913395http://thatverymoment.com/post/276913395Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:23:13 -0800Jeff cracks the lid on the rusted pickle jar. An odor, pungent — filling the room, curling...<p>Jeff cracks the lid on the rusted pickle jar. An odor, pungent — filling the room, curling noses. Amidst the chaos, he smiles thoughtfully. Still the best way to clear a hall of librarians.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/275032982http://thatverymoment.com/post/275032982Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:40:16 -0800Jeff names his daughter after a mythological creature. Twenty-seven years later, during a routine...<p>Jeff names his daughter after a mythological creature. Twenty-seven years later, during a routine parallel-park procedure, she hops the curve. The gas, rather than the brake, is engaged (an accident, she later explains) and his spine is severed. He tells himself the two are not related.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/273444269http://thatverymoment.com/post/273444269Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:35:40 -0800Jeff tightens his grip on the handrail. The shuttle sways, rocked in the wake of an ocean liner,...<p>Jeff tightens his grip on the handrail. The shuttle sways, rocked in the wake of an ocean liner, passing overhead. Outboard lights brighten as the craft dips. A swarm of green — SCATTERING, a burst of piscine fireworks. A glimmer of gold, reflected in the beams. Somewhere below.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/270858303http://thatverymoment.com/post/270858303Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:08:02 -0800Jeff surveys the landscape before him. Rolling hills, lavendar in the fog, a seamless blend with an...<p>Jeff surveys the landscape before him. Rolling hills, lavendar in the fog, a seamless blend with an azure sky. An old-growth forest, untouched by time, split from a crystalline lake by a stretch of sand, purest white. He smiles quietly to himself. It’s the perfect place for the mini-mall.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/268080620http://thatverymoment.com/post/268080620Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:29:25 -0800Jeff assembles instructions, bit by bit. A spark of light, perhaps there, perhaps imagined. Just...<p>Jeff assembles instructions, bit by bit. A spark of light, perhaps there, perhaps imagined. Just behind molded eyelids. He studies them, fixated, the heavy goggles on maximum magnification. One last tweak to the subroutine.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/266586827http://thatverymoment.com/post/266586827Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:49:37 -0800Jeff consults his intergalactic compendium. No entry for “elenzhorn”, not in twenty-six...<p>Jeff consults his intergalactic compendium. No entry for “elenzhorn”, not in twenty-six dialects. He shuts the menu, giving up, turning to the Rhuvian gentleman on his right. “I’ll have what he’s having.”</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/265288158http://thatverymoment.com/post/265288158Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:21:43 -0800Jeff shrugs. No idea what she meant by “red running”, nor the “third axe at the...<p>Jeff shrugs. No idea what she meant by “red running”, nor the “third axe at the eleventh”. His hands were stained, sure, but not by blood. If even experts could identify no source, how’d they expect him to know? A week lost to fog and dark, and nothing now but waiting. Jeff keeps his eyes on the clock.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/264055660http://thatverymoment.com/post/264055660Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:54:46 -0800Jeff hugs the inside curve, pushing power from life support to thrusters. Seventh lap is the signal...<p>Jeff hugs the inside curve, pushing power from life support to thrusters. Seventh lap is the signal — red flares on the barrier. Guns for it, IMPACT — shatters through, screaming up the hidden ramp, a loop — GRAVITY INVERTED — and BLASTS onto the final tier. He punches the afterburner.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/259925932http://thatverymoment.com/post/259925932Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:33:47 -0800Jeff passes under the arch. One hundred amber orbs illuminate the garden, aloft on silver wings,...<p>Jeff passes under the arch. One hundred amber orbs illuminate the garden, aloft on silver wings, adrift amongst the shrubbery. He knows where to find her — the hollow stump, a turn, a winding path. Moonlit moss on an old stone well. She is waiting.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/258514908http://thatverymoment.com/post/258514908Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:45:31 -0800Jeff collapses into the snowbank. The earth quakes, rattling his frame, echoing thunder in his ears....<p>Jeff collapses into the snowbank. The earth quakes, rattling his frame, echoing thunder in his ears. The great sphere, hurtling down the hillside, gleaming white and picking up speed. Pine trees flattened before it. This was going to hurt.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/257605960http://thatverymoment.com/post/257605960Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:35:16 -0800Jeff swings from the chandelier. Drops — too soon — crashes hard on a table, flipping...<p>Jeff swings from the chandelier. Drops — too soon — crashes hard on a table, flipping it, launching wine glasses. Ruffians dart between patrons, rapiers at the ready. Jeff hurls a throwing star; precision hit! The man goes down, a blade lodged over his heart. Right in the embroidered ‘R’.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/256361784http://thatverymoment.com/post/256361784Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:37:19 -0800Jeff watches, motionless. The needle pierces just above the restraint. Daffodils, flying on their...<p>Jeff watches, motionless. The needle pierces just above the restraint. Daffodils, flying on their cinnamon wings, circulate the sky. An idea of love explodes, ricocheting off the ceiling fan, filling the room. A cloud of haze descends upon him, freeing the white in his eyes, singing softly the color of danger. The man in the white coat smiles.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/254958895http://thatverymoment.com/post/254958895Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:02:00 -0800Jeff douses the light. Feels the water rushing in, filling, rising to his shoulders, his neck. It...<p>Jeff douses the light. Feels the water rushing in, filling, rising to his shoulders, his neck. It carries him up, up and over, around — in an instant all is liquid. Faint luminance. Ahead, foggy streams from an unknown source, somewhere above. He shuts his eyes. Drifts into darkness.</p>http://thatverymoment.com/post/251171599http://thatverymoment.com/post/251171599Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:08:29 -0800