"A Flock of Crows" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

A severe meteor storm had damaged Commander Deena Larson's spacecraft, and she desperately needed a place to land in order to make repairs.

Fortunately, there was a small planet in the vicinity although the atmosphere was highly poisonous. Deena would need to wear her environmental suit in order to fix the damage.

Landing the crippled vessel on the planet was more difficult than Deena imagined it would be, and she was grateful for the clearing in the midst of a sea of strange rock formations.

After putting on the bulky environmental suit, Deena exited the spacecraft and surveyed the damage. She estimated that it would take several hours to complete the repairs.

While patching a tiny hole near the engine compartment, a hovering alien done appeared and silently watched Deena work.

Deena assumed that someone was curious about her presence and so she took no hostile action against the drone. 

Several minutes after the first drone arrived another materialized and also silently watched. Deena hurriedly finished patching the engine compartment hole and then moved on to the cargo hold repairs.

Eventually, a dozen alien drones observed Deena's labor and for some reason they began jostling and fighting each other.

The fighting became so intense that they began bumping into Deena's environmental suit and she knew that even a slight tear would be fatal.

A strange idea occurred to Deena, and she activated one of the ship's drones and set it on a meandering course towards the planet's northern pole.

As Deena had hoped, the swarm of alien drones followed her drone, and she was able to finish her work in peace.

She regretted losing one of the ship's limited supply of drones, but it couldn't be helped and once the repairs were finished her spacecraft lifted away from the planet without any complications.

After leaving the planet behind, Deena wondered about the alien drones. They acted almost like a form of life, and she immediately thought of a flock of crows.

 

"The Garden of Susan" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Danny Tyson looked around his new neighborhood and thought it looked a lot like his old neighborhood. Being an army brat meant moving a lot. Danny was only fifteen and had already lived in ten states.

Danny climbed on his bike and rode around the neighborhood looking for kids his age. At the end of the block, he noticed a cute girl tending a flower garden.

Danny had little experience with girls, but he forced himself to park his bike and go say hello.

The girl was watering a large white flower when Danny walked up. She seemed to be unaware of his presence and when he said hello, she looked up in fright.

"I'm sorry I scared you" Danny stammered. The girl looked vaguely in his direction and Danny realized that there was something wrong with her eyes.

"You didn't scare me; I sometimes daydream when I'm working in the garden. The girl held out her hand. "I'm Susan Hennessy" 

Danny shyly took the girl's hand and told her his name. "Did you just move here?" Susan asked. Danny pointed down the block. "We live down at the end of the Cul de sac."

Susan's eyes did not follow the gesture and Danny realized that she was blind.

"Would you like to help me water these flowers?" Susan asked. Danny felt a little scared for some reason but then said yes and they spent the afternoon talking and caring for the garden.

Danny learned that Susan had been blind since birth, but she didn't let it hold her back and she had dreams of working in horticulture.

One Summer Day, Danny was walking to see Susan when a freak hailstorm came out of nowhere. The large hail stones pounded the ground for several minutes and then it was over.

He rushed over to Susan's house to find her crying in the midst of the ruined garden.

Danny took her in his arms. "Your garden will be new again" he promised, and Susan held him close.