I'll be away this weekend, so I thought I'd post something a little different.

These three short-short pieces were written for the Eighth ff_friday Challenge--100 to 1000 words on love. All rated G.

No archiving, please. The usual disclaimers apply.

(c) HawkMoth 5/30/2003

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1. "A Real Beauty" (Originally posted 5/30/03)

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She just sat there. Waiting.

Lonely-looking, friendless. Obviously seen much better, long-ago days. Coated now in yellow-gray dust. Abandoned, thought worthless.

Not by him.

She was opportunity. She--they had a future. He would set her free, lift her out of the dust, and she would do the same for him. Fly far, live free.

It almost hurt to have to pay money for her. Not because the price was too high--hell, he would have paid double just to have her for his own. But she came cheap, and that didn't seem right. Her flaws, her quirks, the dust and grime and aged parts--all made her what she was. What she could be--that was priceless.

He'd make things right. She wasn't broken so bad that she couldn't be mended. No matter what it might take, he would see to her needs. Make her whole again, make her strong. And in the mending, mend himself.

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2. "A Ship Like This" (Originally posted 5/31/03)

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They were all encouraged to broaden their horizons, further their education.

No one ever actually questioned why she wanted a pilot's license. It wasn't entirely unheard of. It was just very rare.

It wasn't running away, she told herself. It was simply moving on. There were opportunities waiting everywhere. She could wait a few years, save more money, and have a ship of her very own one day.

The waiting would not have been pleasant. So she chose the next best thing. She might have chosen more carefully, except she hadn't expected to fall in love. Not at first sight, with a ship like this.

Ungainly, awkward. Well-travelled, lived-in. A ship like this could take her to all sorts of unexpected places. She could sample the 'verse like a huge, spread-out banquet, with tastes so varied it would take years to be satisfied. Live the life she'd trained for, but on her terms; another type of life altogether.

A man stood on the edge of the open cargo ramp. Border-bred, she could tell, as rough and unpolished as the ship itself. Watching her studying them--assessing her, weighing the options. A man used to getting his own way, and using any means to accomplish it.

She had ways of her own. No man would stop her from getting what she wanted. And she wanted to be on this ship. She wanted to be free.

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3. "Gifted" (Orignally posted 5/31/03)

Just because a person might hear voices in their head, that don't mean they might be crazy.

Bobby Meadows, what went off to the war, well, he may have come back somewhat changed, a bit scary, but maybe he has a right to hear voices. Man goes through hell, ain't nobody gonna give him grief for being out of his mind once in a while.

Shirl McMahon's the best horse-breaker in the district, 'cept she don't break the creatures, she talks 'em into being tame and trained. Folks say the horses talk back, and nobody minds.

And little Kaylee Frye--girl's got a gift, natural talent her daddy calls it. Knew the name of every kind of part in every type of engine 'fore she was seven. "Machines got workings," she was able to explain by the time she was ten. "They just talk to me."

Made her daddy beam, that did, and he took her on as his apprentice. And there's never no talk in town 'bout the girl being crazy. Girl like that could go places, if she was ever lucky enough to find the right opportunity.

***

Help me?

The old transport ship had been parked at the far end of the docks for the better part of two weeks. No one ever saw much of her crew. Kaylee contrived to walk by her every day, running specs and statistics through her head while admiring the lines and look that made a Firefly special.

Poor ship didn't want to be sitting there in the dust. She looked okay, but Kaylee knew she'd look and fly like a dream out there in the black. She could imagine the glow of a hard burn lighting up the sky like fireworks--sure and she'd only ever read about it, but she knew it would be so beautiful to behold.

Can't move. Wanna fly. Help me?

It was Saturday and there hadn't been much work this month, but there was going be a dance and pot-luck later on at the school. So Kaylee put on her second-best dress after helping Momma in the kitchen and took a walk down to the docks. This time there was somebody hanging around outside the Firefly, and Kaylee never had trouble striking up a conversation with a handsome guy.

She liked boys, almost as much as she liked machines. But she didn't go running after every one she ever saw. Just some of them.

This one was a show-off, she could tell. But he was cute, and when he invited her on board, she didn't say no. He was happy enough to lead her straight through to the engine room when she mentioned how much she liked engines. That she really liked engines and all their power. She didn't say no when he asked if she liked kissin' as much as she liked engines, and she didn't say no when his hands started roaming. He was shuai and friendly, and here she was on a ship that had probably been from one end of the 'verse to the other. Like enough to make a girl dizzy.

He don't take good care of me. But you like me, you'll take care of me, wontcha?

Poor ship was broken and couldn't fly. She needed to be flying.

You can fix me. See, right there? It's hurting.

Bester was hot and the sex was shiny but nothing compared to the joy she felt as she re-routed the g-line and that beautiful engine turned over, easy as lying.

Fixed me! I love you--fly with me, please?

Kaylee Frye didn't say no when the man Bester called "Cap" offered her a job.

***

Maybe it was just a little crazy, a girl her age leaving home and family behind in a heartbeat, to sign on an aught-three Firefly with some folks she'd hardly met. But it was an opportunity and she could send money home. The captain seemed a decent man and promised her folks she'd be looked after.

I'll always take care of you--you fixed me!

It surely wasn't crazy to be in love with a ship, not when the ship loved you right back.

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