Escape Pod 884: Zhao and the Flightless Crane
Zhao and the Flightless Crane By A. J. Mo Quick sapphires danced over sun-silvered water. Soundless, they zipped and wheeled to the quiet rhythm of filtration pumps. Dragonflies, Zhao thought. Other winged jewels joined the flurry, some green as spring, others red as blood, wings iridescent. “Good,” he said to himself. “Lake’s clean.” “That is good,” echoed Ah Bak in their tinny voice. “Dragonflies do not breed in stagnant water.” In the distance, the Pearl River curled east, having conferred…
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Quasar links out; the story lives on Escape Pod, where the author gets the click.