The Gas Giant
The gas giant filled the sky. It had come close to doing so on a few previous occasions, though not quite as completely as today, late in the evening, seeming close enough to touch. I peered at it with a vague sense of disquiet. I could hear the sounds of the City below me, normal as ever. There were no unusual noises to be heard, no evidence that anyone else had noticed the nearness of the gas giant. The gas giant obscured the stars and shielded most of its own moons, except for two minor ones which were silhouetted, frozen, against its face. The evening was warm, very warm, for this time of the year. Or perhaps we had dozed through many comfortable evenings lately and had forgotten what warmth was. I had used up most of the morning walking aimlessly in the City park with Anait. She had delivered her usual monologue about the decline that had set into the City, a decline that, apparently, only she could see. Anait always carried a string of many-coloured worry beads ar...