Skip to main content
  1. Stories/

Specimen Collection

·120 words·1 min
Flash Fiction Deadlines For Writers

The tissue sample under the magnifier twitched as it was prodded with a thin wire instrument. The muscle fibers were unlike anything previously observed. The sample was removed, and replaced with a new one, from a different specimen.

The new sample reacted in the same way. The species was intriguing. There was a heated discussion about whether the uniqueness was inherent to the organism, or because it was discovered early in the typical self destructive cycle.

A tentacled arm reached out to adjust a viewing screen. A row of suspended tubes was shown, each containing an individual specimen. They had gathered a hundred from different locations. They called themselves “humans”. When analysis was complete, a return visit would be scheduled.