Tea and Cookies

For sister and brother Jessie and Collin, survival is all about staying under the radar of whatever force--AI, aliens, shadow governments--destroyed their home, town, family, country. The entire planet, maybe.

They eat a lot squirrel. But it's humor that keeps them going.

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"The stars are bright tonight," she said.

Collin looked up, then back to the blobs of meat he was tending.

"Clear night?" he asked. He could see up close far better these days.

"They can't take the sky from us," Jessie said.

"Just all our family and everything else."

A flash through Jessie's mind, of watching their city go up in flames and strings of explosions.

Collin inhaled sharply, pointed. "Is that a flyby?"

His vision was deteriorating.

Jessie stood, ready to kick the fire into darkness. She stared upward, trying to guess how high the dot was, and whether their campfire would be noticeable.

"I think it's okay." She whispered, for no reason.

"Think it's an AI? Or aliens?"

As if knowing would make any difference.

"AI," she said, crouching down again. Collin visibly relaxed when she sounded certain. "See?" she pointed up. "It's blue-tinged. The alien ships are toward yellow."

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