Moments In Time: A Collection of Short Fiction Read Online Free

never fade, and only a wish granted would keep us like that forever. Of course, wishes only come true in fairy tales.
    • • •
    The door to my cabin swung open, hitting the wall with force and rudely jerking me from my memories. Brennan stood looking at me, eyes narrowed.
    “Follow me,” he said in a low, dangerous tone. His muscles kept flexing underneath his greasy shirt, and it was clear he had not been able to get the transfer he wanted. We moved quickly down the hall and entered a large room, each side housing engines with their pistons oscillating smoothly back and forth.
    The tenseness in my limbs from my nerves got the best of me, and my foot found a piece of metal sticking up from the floor, which sent me to the ground.
    “Watch what the hell you’re doin’,” Brennan said. “People die here. If you can’t handle it, you need to go. We are preparing for battle. I’m not going to be responsible for watching your clumsy ass and keep the ship moving at the same time.”
    “I’m sorry, sir,” I said. “She is just so beautiful and awe-inspiring.”
    Brennan seemed taken aback. He must have thought me some young kid who wanted a chance to take up a cause, not someone who could care about the craftsmanship involved in these beauties. Nonetheless, he calmed slightly.
    “Well, yes, she is,” he said in a calmer tone. “What’s your name?” He paused. “When I turn over the body, they always ask.”
    “Oliver Dickens, sir,” I replied, my voice shaking slightly. He choked back a laugh, shook his head, and began the tour.
    Mechanics were responsible for anything that broke on the ship. For a group of less than five, that meant a lot of extra hours and painstaking labor. During battles, however, we worried about two things: the engines and the guns. If either of those were left damaged, we wouldn’t survive the battle.
    The ability to wrap my head around that wasn’t an easy thing to do. That would mean we worked in the midst of the battle, and made repairs while being shot at. It wasn’t only dangerous, but a mechanic’s expected survival time was a mere two days. Depression had a tendency to make people act in ways they wouldn’t normally act; maybe a two-day life span was my plan the entire time.
    The deck above us was piled high with logs, used to fuel the engines. The amount of steam required to keep the ship in the air wasn’t as much as one would think, because of the steam-recycling units attached to the massive furnaces. With that said, it still required a lot of wood to keep a 400-yard-long ship in the air and moving. Luckily, there was a whole crew of people to take care of that.
    After a full explanation of my duties on the ship, and the quickest routes to get around, Brennan put me to work making sure there were no leaks in the hoses. Even though the job took several hours, there was no complaint with the thoroughness of my work. The next day, he had me cleaning grease spots off the floors and machinery, before sealing any cracks in the engines. His hard green eyes watched me the whole time.
    The days passed and the tasks became harder, but there was no job too tough for me to complete. The hope of completing things quickly and efficiently still didn’t earn me any respect. The ship was in tip-top shape, but my energy level was low and my constant exhaustion slowed me down even more. Brennan noticed immediately, and rode me harder because of it.
    “If you can’t handle looking for loose screws,” he yelled, “maybe you should give up now and go home. This is obviously beyond your weak-bodied abilities.”
    “I will check them again, sir,” my weak voice squeaked out, as tears started to well up.
    “I don’t want you to check them again, I want you to quit. You aren’t going to last five minutes once we are under attack, so just get the hell out of here now and save us the time of throwing your lifeless body into the ocean.”
    “I’m not going to quit!” I yelled