Generate atmosphere by using dogs

With thanks to Rosecrans Baldwin
I struggled frantically with the oxygen valve, my gloved hands slipping and panic beginning to rise in my belly. I no longer felt like I was floating a mere cord’s length from the shuttle – instead, I had the sensation of falling in every direction at once, the void of space pulling at me. The radio crackled in my ear.
‘I’m bringing you in,’ said Friedman.
‘No,’ I gasped. ‘No time.’ The valve shifted a millimetre or so. ‘Almost...’
‘Taylor, I’m bringing you in.’ I felt a tug as the cord went taut. Then, nothing. I lifted my arms out of the way and looked down. The frayed end of the cord was floating away from me. I grabbed at it, but it was already beyond my reach. I kicked my legs uselessly, as if I could swim towards it. The effort made my lungs burn.
‘Taylor,’ said the voice in my ear. ‘Taylor. What happened?’ I wouldn’t have said anything even if I’d had the breath. I felt a numbness spreading through my body. For what felt like minutes, I just floated there, completely alone in the emptiness of space. Somewhere far off, a dog barked.

17 comments:

  1. That was a long walk.. or perhaps I should say long walkies.

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  2. It's usually used in the first paragraph of big broadsheet articles about Iraq/Haiti/Sierra Leone/Hull.
    A whisp of smoke rises on the horizon. A child plays with a broken football. Somewhere far away a dog barks, perhaps for its lost bone. 'I used to sell oranges,' says Hassan, 'until the soldiers came. Now I am forced to sell lemons...'

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  3. I've done that!

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  4. I see someone read this: http://www.slate.com/id/2256007

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  5. Hey, don't forget the mournful hoot of the distant freight train! Nothing does mournful like a freight train.

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  6. Have just giggled my way through lots of your posts again accompanied by an equally giggly and very appreciative daughter. You're just what one needs on a rainy Friday evening.

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  7. Brilliant; you would have to generate some atmosphere for that.

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  8. LOL. That is a brilliant example of writing badly... well.

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  9. SPACE DOGS.

    amazing.

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  10. In Les Miserables Victor Hugo follows every one of your suggestions at least once, and at great length. How did he know?

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  11. In space, no one can hear you screa-

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  12. BARK! BARKBARK!

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  13. Yeah, this is really funny. I know that, because I was sitting here reading it with a mouthful of red wine and a serious expression on my face, until I got to the payoff, when I spurted red wine all over my compter screen.

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  14. Must have been Laika... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laika

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