The Wordsmith's Forge

This is the freebie for the Septembercrowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by fuzzyred. It also fills the "invisible disabilities" square in my 9-1-24 card for the People with Disabilities Drabble Fest Bingo.


"Constant Stars"


Dit and Dah leaned against
the large viewport of the lounge.

"Everything is so different here,"
said Dit. "Most of it is better, but ..."

"Of course it's better," said Dah.
"Even though we look normal,
people on Epzygis thought
we were weird, and they
never wanted us around."

"Yeah, I hated that about
Epizygis too," said Dit,
"but I still miss the stars."

"What's to miss?" Dah said
as she waved at the viewport.
"The stars are right there."

"They don't look the same,
though," Dit said sadly.
"They don't twinkle here."

"It's true, stars don't twinkle
in space. On a planet, they
seem to twinkle because of
the atmospheric distortions,"
said Tink 001. "Here we have
constant stars. In space, there
is no air to make them twinkle."

"I know," Dit said, dipping his chin.
"I'm not complaining. I'm just ...
feeling a little homesick today."

"Then let's do what we can
to fix that," Dah declared
as she bounded to her feet.
"I've got an idea. Le'ts go
check for fresh salvage."

Nothing was wasted in
the Lacuna, because
they didn't have much
to begin with, so they
had to use everything.

Before long, Dah found
several broken pieces
of the clear, heavy stuff
that they used to make
viewports and windows.

To that she added gears,
belts, wires, a few other bits,
and a computer brainboard.

"Now all I need is a scriber,"
she said, boxing up her finds.

"We have those in the workroom
we've been using to train you for
starship maintenance," said Tink 001.

"All right, let's go," Dah said eagerly.

Once there, it didn't take long for
her to put tiny, patterned scratches
on the plates in different places.

Then she assembled the pieces
so that the plates stacked and
could slide past each other.

"That looks interesting,"
Tink 001 said, peering at it.
"What's it supposed to do?"

"Nothing yet," said Dah.
"Dit, now it's your turn."

"What do you need
from me?" he asked.

"A program to move
the plates," said Dah.

"I can do that," said Dit.

It took longer for him
to write a program than
it hand for her to build
the rig, but in the end,
it did what they wanted.

"Now what?" Dit asked
as he watched the plates
slowly gliding back and forth.

"Now we test it out," Dah said
as she grabbed her device.

Together they went back
to the lounge, where she
set it up beside the viewport.

"You should take the first look,"
Dah said, turning to her brother.

Dit bent down to look through it.
"The stars are twinkling!" he said.

"Yeah, all it needed was a way
to replicate the distortions of
the atmosphere," said Dah.

"It's beautiful," said Dit.
"Thank you so much."

"That's a lovely device,"
said Tink 001. "Do you
think you could build more?"

"Sure, I could do that,"
said Dah. "What for?"

"Because," said Tink 001,
"Dah isn't the only person
in the Lacuna who misses
the inconstant stars of home."

* * *

Notes:

* * *
Tink 001 is a neurovariant, other-gendered person who identifies with AYES despite being human. It is a starship mechanic. Introduced in "Mosaic Identities."

Dit is a neurovariant teen boy, younger twin of sister Dah. He is short and skinny. Dit is a software whiz; Dah is a hardware whiz. They grew up on Epizygis and eventually escaped to the Lacuna. Introduced in "Different, Not Less."

Dah is a neurovariant teen girl, older twin of brother Dit. She is tall and skinny. Dah is a hardware whiz; Dit is a software whiz. They grew up on Epizygis and eventually escaped to the Lacuna. Introduced in "Different, Not Less."

* * *

The twins first appeared in "Different, Not Less." In "Basic Human Needs and Concerns" they accepted an offer to learn more about starship maintenance.

Seen from a habitable planet, stars seem to twinkle because the atmosphere distorts their light on the way through. In space, there is no atmosphere, so they shine steadily.

Camera filters can create special effects, such as stars or fog, with etched glass. By making random scratches and tufts of haze on several filters, and then moving those filters against each other, a twinkling star effect can be achieved.

Homesickness affects many people when they move away -- even if they didn't like their home very much, at least it was familiar. Immigrants and refugees who cannot return home may experience a stronger version called migratory grief. Here are some ways to cope with homesickness and deal with migratory grief.