Flash Fiction #19 - Just One Shot
- Jacob RD Johnson
- Oct 11, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 25, 2025
Picture Prompt
Photo Credit:
300-500-word Flash Fiction
Post # 19
Week Ending: 10/17/2025
Genre: Thriller
Title: Just One Shot
We've got just one shot!
Gwen and I stumble through rough terrain, covered in snow. It's difficult to see where to step. The rocky hills and small, jagged mountains are indicators of what's under the six inches of powder. There are only thick layers of stone covering the ground. We don't need much, but we must find dirt.
In six hours we've only traveled three miles on uneasy, slippery footing. Our feet are killing us, but we continue through the pain. Another hour, only another 2000 feet. Finally, I feel something soft and flat under foot. I start to dig with my gloves into the snow; Gwen comes to help.
Below, the ground is tan. I grab some of the substance, squeeze it in my fist, and yell out with a guttural howl in agony. It's only sand. I drop to one knee, feeling I can't keep on like this.
Then, I feel Gwen’s touch on my shoulder. She doesn't say a word, but I feel the care and encouragement bleed from her into me. I must go on for her. I must find the dirt. I stand and, once again, we move forward. There isn't much time before sunset.
Determination rules; pain and fear no longer exist. I pray for a miracle, and an idea occurs to me. We've walked in the sunlight for warmth, and knowing we need it once we find dirt. Maybe the sunlight is what hardened the ground into rock and sand?
I approach a cliffside. Based on the sun’s path in the sky, there would be no sunlight on that ground all day. Within the shaded area, it's so cold I can feel the chill through my gear. But I feel flatter ground and start to dig. It’s arduous, but the action helps to warm me.
“Eureka!” I shout!
By now, the sun is almost past the horizon and it will be too late. I grab a handful of buried treasure and rush back out to where light still reaches the ground. I take the specially engineered seeds from the pouch in my pocket. They only need a small amount of dirt, water, and sunlight to sprout roots. Then, the vegetation they create can withstand any conditions. But, the viability of the seeds wouldn't make it through the cold night on this new planet without roots.
I press them into the dirt, cup handfuls of snow, breathe warm breath onto it in a race to water the seeds before the last rays of sun disappear. Drops seep into the dirt with the seeds inside. I continue to breathe on it to prevent freezing as I turn toward the last specks of sunlight. I watch intently as the seeds begin to sprout roots.
“We did it.” My voice is soft with emotion.
The fate of humanity now begins with Gwen and I; the only two people to escape from the destruction of Earth in our ship that carried us to this planet to start anew.
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