Full Body Inflation

Prg gazed in awe at the planet that filled the view from his cockpit.  Water, in at least three of the fourteen known states of matter.  Plant life.  And that’s just what he could see with his own borp.  Turning his attention to his scan readouts, he also found the planet teeming with life in numerous forms.  Countless structures made of alloys and composite materials dotted the landscape in varying densities.  There were even thousands of artificial satellites in orbit.  Not just life, but intelligent life!

Xetal

'Hi Jody, how're you doing?'

I interrupted my doleful perusal of the newspaper racks to glnnce round at Pavel.

'Oh, fine thanks.'

You know how you're not supposed to say you're fine when you're not so the other person doesn't have to get into the whole thing? This was such an occasion.

Little wisps of fog charged at the windshield of Angela’s Corolla as it wandered in the night, deep in a maze of paved-over indian trails, wagon paths, and modern blunders bored through a forest as dense as it was ancient. A thick leafy canopy reached around the road like a grasping hand. The Corolla’s dim, foggy headlights served as a surrogate for whatever little moonlight could reach the tarmac below. She was looking for a gravel road.