One original sci-fi story per day for all of 2023 | Created by screenwriter Timothy Michael Cooper, illustrated using A.I.

Oracle

Oracle

The town’s wise old Oracle knew it was time for the citizens to plant the crops when clouds left Mother Moon exposed for the fifth consecutive night. However, the Cave of Eternal Waters still hadn’t had the First Emergence of Bats, which cast doubt on the oracle’s timing. That said, an Albino Serpent had recently been caught stealing fish from the Sacred Stream, implying a late frost. Yet those ocelot droppings near the Eternal Fire Pit typically presaged a fertile yield. Might as well roll the ancient Squirrel Bones and see? Unless, yup, those came up inconclusive too. Damn it.