Ian Phillips
Volunteer Moderator
This week we tried to get the judges from 'Strictly' to host the poll, but they were not available.
Pity, I was really hoping to meet Darcey
Anyway, get your scoring paddle out and get voting for the 3 drabbles you like the best.
1) psykokow Cha Cha Cha
They pirouetted around each other in perfect symmetry, eyes locked and
every movement matched.
An impassioned tango fuelled by high emotions, causing the twists and
turns to hint at that fine line between love and abject hatred.
The lights sparkled and beamed bouncing around them like a giant mirror
ball, then a sudden break from the routine turned the tango into a
horrific ballet.
One of the dancers spun round quickly and locking sights on his partner
let them have it all, a full salvo unleashed into the hull..
Crumpling and spouting flame his comm channel blurted “cha cha cha"
2) Bikky: The graceful battle
They danced in the blazing sunlight. Moves so graceful, back and forth,
round and round. With a carpet of yellow, beneath their feet. A light
touch here and a swish there. The prize? A glowing pool of sweetness.
The battle ensued, with these huge winged insectoids fighting over a
landscape of impossibly large yellow heads, containing the pools of
sweet nectar.
An onlooker watched in amazement, as terrifyingly large mandibles
clacked together in a silent cacophony. Wings almost transparent, a
blur in motion.
One managed a quick drink!!!
Johnny sadly moved away from the magnifying lens, after his mother’s call=
.
3) MarktJones: The problem with clumsy partners
Blink was fat and not even the kind of fat that moves lightly on its
feet. He’d lived with it all his life, keeping his ridiculous,
impossible dream hidden; to be a dancer.
But he’d founded something better than just dancing, himself and one
other. He danced with dozens, working intricate patterns around each
other as ships docked and launched from the station. No two partners
were ever the same.
The siren pulled him from his daydream. The Anaconda was coming in
fast. Blink was going to find out what happened when you trod on
someone’s foot in this dance.
4) Iain M Norman: The Traders Association Annual Dinner and Dance
"May I have this dance?" Kenneth said, guiding his wife towards the
dance floor.
She placed her arm around him, "A good year my love, you’ve finally
fitted that engine."
"We’d have never afforded it without that deal you made Sera."
"Ah but we only succeeded because you out-flew those pirates."
"I wasn’t the one manning the lasers."
They smiled spiralling around the floor.
----
"Who’s that old man?" you ask, nodding towards a seated man, eyes
closed, swaying.
"That’s Ken, came with his wife for years until she died in a cockpit
fire. Now he just comes and watches."
5) Philip Coutts: The Heavenly Dancers
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are orbiting our destination....Sol" stated Commander Peters with a flourish "Our sensors indicate we have arrived on schedule"
The passengers gazed in awe at the genesis of mankind; the entire galaxy could trace their ancestry to this place and felt an incredible yearning to see the planet.
The most beautiful vista they had ever witnessed suddenly filled the sky. It seemed to be dancing with colours of every hue; greens, blues and reds rippled over the planet. "Behold the stunning beauty of the Aureoles Borealis or to give it the historical term, The Northern Lights"
6) Ian Phillips: Span of attention
The hydroponic gardens were always situated on the outer sections of
space stations, providing the greatest amount of simulated gravity.
Each one had it's own viewing ports, conveniently located above small
glades in the gardens. Trees framed the huge windows, making it seem as
if you gazed down a tunnel that opened onto an unbounded vista, full of
stars and other sections of the sprawling space city.
Ships moved between the city lights, tracing intricate patterns in the
otherwise dark sky.
Hypnotizing until something flitted across the view, drawing your gaze
back inside, to the dragonflies dancing across the glade.
7) Musashi: Permanent Vacation "What the -?" Greg was dumbfounded as
the Cobra's hyperdrive activated. Elizabeth, his wife, appeared on the
viewscreen. Uh-oh.
"Hello honey," she said. "Off for a cruise with Kimberly?"
"But -" he began.
"I saw the way you two were dancing last night, and I know she's on board."
"Ah, I -"
"Shut up. You’re about to make a 7LY jump to the middle of nowhere. One
way. I've loaded your hold with food; the comms system is rigged to
self-destruct. You lovebirds will have the rest of your lives alone
together."
Greg spluttered as Elizabeth smiled. "No hard feelings. And . . . bon voyage."
8) Darkoba: Matched Prowess
The Cobra and the Sidewinder skipped in and out of the shelter of the
asteroids, each manoeuvring for any advantage.
Occasional flares of laser fire lit the heavens, but neither ship was
seriously struck, neither commander scored a hit. Barrel rolls, loops,
twists, "close encounters" with drifting rocks, all to no avail. Both
ships and pilots remained unscathed. The barren combat continued for
two sweaty hours.
A voice issued from their comm-sets.
"Training period concluded. You may leave the simulators."
The pilots met outside, on the gallery.
"Hi, I'm Dar'koba."
They shook hands.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Dan Singh."
9) Gibbonici: To Dance Among The Stars
It began with a gentle note and a solitary figure gliding onto the
floor. Others followed, nervously circling all that they knew before
spreading across the room.
The dance begins in earnest, to songs of discovery and commerce and
adventure; the dancers pirouette into the dark, illuminating it with
their presence.
It changes, becoming a flamenco of darting rage and flashes that bloom
like roses in the void; then a dirge lamenting the past with promises
for the future.
The tune continues so, ever changing with the beat of human hearts,
this dance of starlight and passion, lighting the unknown.
10) W4rSkuLL: Swinglys dance of death
Dancing should be done on disco floors in bars and dance clubs.
Not on the bridge of a fully war loaded Imperial destroyer.
He studied the captain as he stepped and danced his way to the next console=
.
"Yeah, yeah baby. I'm gonna blow you up". Captain Swingly pressed the
beam laser button and a pirate Asp spun out of control exploding with a
bang. A side step with a disco move and the missile button got slammed.
"Oh, and boooom". "Ahh, isn't this fantastic Peter".
"To dance ourselves to victory, tra la la". "what", thought Peter.
"Well, it worked".
11) Yaffle: Lost in translation
Amongst the ancient, dusty tomes in the basement of the New London
library, two students sat contemplating the mass of historic papers
around them.
"A project on dancing, how tedious. Sure, it’s cultural, but still."
"Yes, there’s the dancing the Lavian Tree Grub does"
"Actually it’s more of an arrhythmic shuffling"
"Well, yes, I guess" she sat leg outstretched, hanging a shoe from her =
toes.
"Of course, there was that king who danced, literally to death" she
said, placing her stylus on her lips.
"Really?"
"Yes, Edward II, it says so here, apparently he died from a red hot polka=
."
12) Darren Grey: To Dance and Die in Starlight
Laughter filled the 'Starfloor' ballroom as the Imperial dignitaries
walked over the crystal floor. Beneath them a million stars dazzled,
their every step on the clear edge of the coriolis station's rim. A
classic waltz by Strauss began to play, and partners gathered to prance
across the most marvellous dancefloor in the galaxy.
Outside, Chiara seethed in the cockpit of her Sidewinder. The ex-slave
watched the dancers from below, their expensive heels flitting over the
extravagant crystal floor.
The missile fired, the crystal cracked, and a thousand elegant bodies
were sucked into the nullifying void.
"Dance in hell, Imperial scum."
13) Frank: Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
New Chicago docking bay was jumpin' to the disco beat. Spacecraft were being refuelled with cables of disco lights. There was Spandex and glitter everywhere. There was even a little humanoid robot boogying away.
A Fer-de-Lance landed and an astronaut clad in a gold lame spacesuit exited. Dancers clapped and cheered as the helmeted figure wiggled and gyrated his way over their makeshift dance floor. His arms flailed about his head and the audience whooped when he summersaulted.
The astronaut finally managed to remove his helmet and a wasp flew out. Jake scratched the back of his neck, "Darn sting!"
14) Zieman: Get out of my way
"Get out of my way!", yelled Darell and boosted straight ahead, which incidentally meant head-on the other ship. Scruffy Adder with weird protrusions didn’t budge. Somewhat perturbed, Darell issued a final warning, unsurprisingly without response, and shot a short burst of laser fire straight at the irritating obstacle.
The peculiar looking craft’s shields flickered wildly in several hues, seemingly absorbing the energies without trouble. This elicited a response though: "Do you wanna dance? Let’s *dance*." The weird Adder started doing so convoluted manoeuvers that they seemed impossible in mere three dimensions.
Obstacle out of way, Darell proceeded docking his Cobra.
15) Garthyre: Snowflake
'May I?' Ruben asked. Stella smiled, floating into his arms along the narrow tubeway, her hair a grey halo.
A song popular in earlier days started to play.
'I'm sorry it had to be like this,' he said.
'I wouldn't have it any other way,' she replied. 'We have explored so many worlds together, I could never let you go on your own.'
The blast when it came tried to separate them, but they clung to each other as they always had. A glancing shard of metal set them spinning - dancing across the galaxy until the stars themselves grow cold.
Pity, I was really hoping to meet Darcey
Anyway, get your scoring paddle out and get voting for the 3 drabbles you like the best.
1) psykokow Cha Cha Cha
They pirouetted around each other in perfect symmetry, eyes locked and
every movement matched.
An impassioned tango fuelled by high emotions, causing the twists and
turns to hint at that fine line between love and abject hatred.
The lights sparkled and beamed bouncing around them like a giant mirror
ball, then a sudden break from the routine turned the tango into a
horrific ballet.
One of the dancers spun round quickly and locking sights on his partner
let them have it all, a full salvo unleashed into the hull..
Crumpling and spouting flame his comm channel blurted “cha cha cha"
2) Bikky: The graceful battle
They danced in the blazing sunlight. Moves so graceful, back and forth,
round and round. With a carpet of yellow, beneath their feet. A light
touch here and a swish there. The prize? A glowing pool of sweetness.
The battle ensued, with these huge winged insectoids fighting over a
landscape of impossibly large yellow heads, containing the pools of
sweet nectar.
An onlooker watched in amazement, as terrifyingly large mandibles
clacked together in a silent cacophony. Wings almost transparent, a
blur in motion.
One managed a quick drink!!!
Johnny sadly moved away from the magnifying lens, after his mother’s call=
.
3) MarktJones: The problem with clumsy partners
Blink was fat and not even the kind of fat that moves lightly on its
feet. He’d lived with it all his life, keeping his ridiculous,
impossible dream hidden; to be a dancer.
But he’d founded something better than just dancing, himself and one
other. He danced with dozens, working intricate patterns around each
other as ships docked and launched from the station. No two partners
were ever the same.
The siren pulled him from his daydream. The Anaconda was coming in
fast. Blink was going to find out what happened when you trod on
someone’s foot in this dance.
4) Iain M Norman: The Traders Association Annual Dinner and Dance
"May I have this dance?" Kenneth said, guiding his wife towards the
dance floor.
She placed her arm around him, "A good year my love, you’ve finally
fitted that engine."
"We’d have never afforded it without that deal you made Sera."
"Ah but we only succeeded because you out-flew those pirates."
"I wasn’t the one manning the lasers."
They smiled spiralling around the floor.
----
"Who’s that old man?" you ask, nodding towards a seated man, eyes
closed, swaying.
"That’s Ken, came with his wife for years until she died in a cockpit
fire. Now he just comes and watches."
5) Philip Coutts: The Heavenly Dancers
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are orbiting our destination....Sol" stated Commander Peters with a flourish "Our sensors indicate we have arrived on schedule"
The passengers gazed in awe at the genesis of mankind; the entire galaxy could trace their ancestry to this place and felt an incredible yearning to see the planet.
The most beautiful vista they had ever witnessed suddenly filled the sky. It seemed to be dancing with colours of every hue; greens, blues and reds rippled over the planet. "Behold the stunning beauty of the Aureoles Borealis or to give it the historical term, The Northern Lights"
6) Ian Phillips: Span of attention
The hydroponic gardens were always situated on the outer sections of
space stations, providing the greatest amount of simulated gravity.
Each one had it's own viewing ports, conveniently located above small
glades in the gardens. Trees framed the huge windows, making it seem as
if you gazed down a tunnel that opened onto an unbounded vista, full of
stars and other sections of the sprawling space city.
Ships moved between the city lights, tracing intricate patterns in the
otherwise dark sky.
Hypnotizing until something flitted across the view, drawing your gaze
back inside, to the dragonflies dancing across the glade.
7) Musashi: Permanent Vacation "What the -?" Greg was dumbfounded as
the Cobra's hyperdrive activated. Elizabeth, his wife, appeared on the
viewscreen. Uh-oh.
"Hello honey," she said. "Off for a cruise with Kimberly?"
"But -" he began.
"I saw the way you two were dancing last night, and I know she's on board."
"Ah, I -"
"Shut up. You’re about to make a 7LY jump to the middle of nowhere. One
way. I've loaded your hold with food; the comms system is rigged to
self-destruct. You lovebirds will have the rest of your lives alone
together."
Greg spluttered as Elizabeth smiled. "No hard feelings. And . . . bon voyage."
8) Darkoba: Matched Prowess
The Cobra and the Sidewinder skipped in and out of the shelter of the
asteroids, each manoeuvring for any advantage.
Occasional flares of laser fire lit the heavens, but neither ship was
seriously struck, neither commander scored a hit. Barrel rolls, loops,
twists, "close encounters" with drifting rocks, all to no avail. Both
ships and pilots remained unscathed. The barren combat continued for
two sweaty hours.
A voice issued from their comm-sets.
"Training period concluded. You may leave the simulators."
The pilots met outside, on the gallery.
"Hi, I'm Dar'koba."
They shook hands.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Dan Singh."
9) Gibbonici: To Dance Among The Stars
It began with a gentle note and a solitary figure gliding onto the
floor. Others followed, nervously circling all that they knew before
spreading across the room.
The dance begins in earnest, to songs of discovery and commerce and
adventure; the dancers pirouette into the dark, illuminating it with
their presence.
It changes, becoming a flamenco of darting rage and flashes that bloom
like roses in the void; then a dirge lamenting the past with promises
for the future.
The tune continues so, ever changing with the beat of human hearts,
this dance of starlight and passion, lighting the unknown.
10) W4rSkuLL: Swinglys dance of death
Dancing should be done on disco floors in bars and dance clubs.
Not on the bridge of a fully war loaded Imperial destroyer.
He studied the captain as he stepped and danced his way to the next console=
.
"Yeah, yeah baby. I'm gonna blow you up". Captain Swingly pressed the
beam laser button and a pirate Asp spun out of control exploding with a
bang. A side step with a disco move and the missile button got slammed.
"Oh, and boooom". "Ahh, isn't this fantastic Peter".
"To dance ourselves to victory, tra la la". "what", thought Peter.
"Well, it worked".
11) Yaffle: Lost in translation
Amongst the ancient, dusty tomes in the basement of the New London
library, two students sat contemplating the mass of historic papers
around them.
"A project on dancing, how tedious. Sure, it’s cultural, but still."
"Yes, there’s the dancing the Lavian Tree Grub does"
"Actually it’s more of an arrhythmic shuffling"
"Well, yes, I guess" she sat leg outstretched, hanging a shoe from her =
toes.
"Of course, there was that king who danced, literally to death" she
said, placing her stylus on her lips.
"Really?"
"Yes, Edward II, it says so here, apparently he died from a red hot polka=
."
12) Darren Grey: To Dance and Die in Starlight
Laughter filled the 'Starfloor' ballroom as the Imperial dignitaries
walked over the crystal floor. Beneath them a million stars dazzled,
their every step on the clear edge of the coriolis station's rim. A
classic waltz by Strauss began to play, and partners gathered to prance
across the most marvellous dancefloor in the galaxy.
Outside, Chiara seethed in the cockpit of her Sidewinder. The ex-slave
watched the dancers from below, their expensive heels flitting over the
extravagant crystal floor.
The missile fired, the crystal cracked, and a thousand elegant bodies
were sucked into the nullifying void.
"Dance in hell, Imperial scum."
13) Frank: Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
New Chicago docking bay was jumpin' to the disco beat. Spacecraft were being refuelled with cables of disco lights. There was Spandex and glitter everywhere. There was even a little humanoid robot boogying away.
A Fer-de-Lance landed and an astronaut clad in a gold lame spacesuit exited. Dancers clapped and cheered as the helmeted figure wiggled and gyrated his way over their makeshift dance floor. His arms flailed about his head and the audience whooped when he summersaulted.
The astronaut finally managed to remove his helmet and a wasp flew out. Jake scratched the back of his neck, "Darn sting!"
14) Zieman: Get out of my way
"Get out of my way!", yelled Darell and boosted straight ahead, which incidentally meant head-on the other ship. Scruffy Adder with weird protrusions didn’t budge. Somewhat perturbed, Darell issued a final warning, unsurprisingly without response, and shot a short burst of laser fire straight at the irritating obstacle.
The peculiar looking craft’s shields flickered wildly in several hues, seemingly absorbing the energies without trouble. This elicited a response though: "Do you wanna dance? Let’s *dance*." The weird Adder started doing so convoluted manoeuvers that they seemed impossible in mere three dimensions.
Obstacle out of way, Darell proceeded docking his Cobra.
15) Garthyre: Snowflake
'May I?' Ruben asked. Stella smiled, floating into his arms along the narrow tubeway, her hair a grey halo.
A song popular in earlier days started to play.
'I'm sorry it had to be like this,' he said.
'I wouldn't have it any other way,' she replied. 'We have explored so many worlds together, I could never let you go on your own.'
The blast when it came tried to separate them, but they clung to each other as they always had. A glancing shard of metal set them spinning - dancing across the galaxy until the stars themselves grow cold.
