Evolutionary Biology-inspired Sciku

the climate heats up
new virus — can we adapt?
herd immunity

Hello, I’m speaking to you from the year 2169, when your future people –– we call ourselves Fumans, sounds like “few mens” because we’re few and far between –– don’t look quite the same as you do. We all have the exact same skin color, for one thing.

We just want to thank you, our honored ancestors, for finally taking the bold and difficult actions that rescued humanity, in the nick of time, against impossible odds, from certain extinction. …

“It Was a Dark and Stormy Night”

The following story began its life as a 75-word novel, one of dozens I scribbled for a Facebook group a couple years ago. We were having fun, loving words, telling stories, challenging each other to be funnier, pithier, juicier in our offerings.

Writing these extreme short forms is excellent practice for writing in general. Every word has to count, has to contribute to the storyline and character development, and must generate a level of suspense. And most of all, it has to entertain.

And although these super-short novels were intended to amuse and impress the others, sometimes a story would…

Seriously, though, what an amazing idea! Of course! Stoned teenagers doing what stoned teenagers do. Great story, delightful and original perspective, and serious fun. Amazingly good, Duuude!

Blowing sandy bubbles in anticipation,
sand dollars, baby crabs, and anemones
knew the tide was coming.

But in her quest
for the perfect moon shell,
she was oblivious
to the cries of cormorants
and seagulls above her.

Seaweed fanned out
like a starlet’s hair
on the casting couch pillow
as clams slammed shut
against the incoming waves.

Homeless and vulnerable,
the panicked hermit crab
found her perfect new home—

a blue plastic tampon case.

—Adelia Ritchie

One has to wonder how such egregious plastic bits could find their way into the ocean. …

SCIENCE FICTION

Crystal blue persuasion
Mm-hmm
It’s a new vibration
Crystal blue persuasion (lyrics by Tommy James & The Shondells)

This is the third chapter of a science fiction romp coauthored by D.A. Lee and Adelia Ritchie, PhD. We hope it tickles all your funny bones. In case you missed the first two segments:

Damn, cursed Amanda, it’s starting to snow! Her attention pivoted to the farm animals — horses, chickens, and a goofy black and white border collie who thought her only job was to sit all day by the southern fence and keep an eye on the neighbor’s chihuahuas.

The…

Science Fiction

What follows is the first chapter of a science fiction romp coauthored by Dan Lee and Adelia Ritchie, PhD. We hope it tickles all your funny bones.

It’s still too cold to plant, Amanda mused, turning over the wormy, damp plot that would soon support her tomato seedlings. For more than 30 years, she had grown those tomatoes from seeds saved from her father’s garden on the outskirts of a tiny town somewhere in the breadbasket of the Loire Valley.

Her current garden was well-organized, sporting 50+ compact raised beds inside a 50-ft-square deer fence, with a chicken run along…

I’m leaving Facebook,
LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram
I love Medium

Hi, my name is Adelia and I’m a Facebook-aholic. It has been two hours since I last checked my feed. It has been five weeks since my last posting.

Once, it was FunBook

There was a time, back at the beginning, when FB was fun. Back then I also had a page for my business to allow customers, sales reps, and business associates to stay connected. FB was a place to build relationships, make new friends, keep track of relatives, and broadcast to the world a cheesy pic of every meal I ever ate.

“You…