The probe took 148,000 years to reach the star, and the return signals need over 4 years. You might think, in all that time, we’d master quicker space travel. Wormholes, maybe; but no—we’re saddled with the ancient probe’s capabilities.
My avatar can roam anywhere around planet Proxima B: almost as good as being there, though without sensuous contact. And that is a big problem. The specific issue is Kr’Kara. First contact turned to scientific collaboration, and collaboration to intimacy. I love Kr’Kara, and they love me. Or did. Turns out they dumped me two years ago.
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Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
Neil MacDonald Author 
Galactic Agony Aunt to Dumped: There is always hope. Time is a great healer. The heart is a lonely hunter. A dog is a man’s best friend.
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A rolling stone gathers momentum. Thanks, jilly
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Good use of the prompt. Nicely done.
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Thanks so much
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A well written scifi take on the prompt.
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Thanks so much, Fleur
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Two years ago? That’s sobering.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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It does give him pause
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There is always room for improvement. Takes “ghosting” to a whole new level.
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Great observation. I should really have called it ghosting, shouldn’t I?
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I am not sure that our ‘Mobile Telephone” generation could cope with long range relationships. Even AI and Avatars are flummoxed with this one.
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They’re used to virtual
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Maybe someone else took a shine to him two years ago, he just doesn’t know about it yet!
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That’s not impossible. Thanks, Keith
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Well–at least he was saved two years of heartache!
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There is that. Thanks, Linda
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Neil, something about that image screams abandonment. Including my own story, yours is the 3rd one about somebody getting dumped. I admit your form of it is quite creative.
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Thanks so much, Jade
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You’re welcome 🙂
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Well done.
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Thanks so much
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Perhaps it’s better than getting a Dear John letter?
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That may be what he just got
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Endless possibilities once you expand your writing horizons beyond our beautiful blue-green planet. Bit rough he was dumped two years ago but goodness knows who he might’ve been dating behind his back.
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Yeah. They should have told him to slow down
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Far out, man!
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Cool
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Can you blame them? Intimacy with an avatar doesn’t exactly sound titillating.
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Nonethless, he’s taking it badly
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Oh no. Ouch. That’s a long distance Dear John letter for sure. Time delay is a bitch. Love this.
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He really didn’t think it through when he embarked in the whole thing. Thanks so much, Laurie
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Ha! So funny. An example when time really should be of the essence.
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Or a moment when time stood still
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ouch, that must hurt so bad. 😦
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He’ll forget it in no time
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Talk about a long distance relationship. Mum said it would never work.
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If only he was the kind who listened to advice
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That’s a shock – even for an Avatar 🙌
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He does think he may get a holo-series out of it
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That’s the thing with long distance – it rarely lasts.
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Plus, there was the clash of cultures as a complicating factor
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Maybe they’ve changed their mind in the time the message took to reach you?
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There’s no knowing what past awaits in the future. Thanks, Liz
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