Imagine 2200, Grist’s climate fiction initiative, celebrates stories that offer vivid, hope-filled, diverse visions of climate progress. Discover more cli-fi collections. Or sign up for email updates to get new stories in your inbox.
There’s a voice in the darkness: “Did I hit my head?”
And a reply: “I have insufficient information to answer that, Ysolt.”
There’s a darkness, she knows that much. But a minute ago it was light. She does not like time passing without her awareness; sleep has been a mild torture since she was a little girl. But actually, she’s never been knocked out before, never lost time in a blink like this. She tries to touch her head, which hurts, and finds that she cannot move her arms.
Perception returns first, lagging behind memory. She waits, heart pounding, for all the information to come to her. She is buried up to her collarbones, splayed arms embracing a load of dirt. A faint, dusty smell of bruise... Read more
