Butterfly – Dorothy Davies – 2400 words (Science Fiction)

An ageing spaceman docks at a far flung port and finds the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. They spend his entire leave together, with him falling in love, with just the question mark hanging over him, why she refuses to go out in the rain. Eventually she tells him why...

Butterfly

It was raining when we left the ship.  Yandra didn't look very different from any other planet we’d docked at in the last few years.  Or at least the spaceport didn't.  Dirty rundown shabby buildings staffed by disinterested attendants.  Luggage and pass checks were so casual I doubt they remembered which ship we were from, let alone our names, five minutes after we passed through.

Another place, another bar.  Lead me to it, boys!

You know the scene.  It repeats itself in every space port across the universe every time a ship docks.

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