The olive carpet, pistachio walls, lime curtains, and jade sofa all stood drab.
Croc couldn’t peel his eyes off the instructions that lay on his emerald desk.
- Wrap the ENTIRE body with WET towels.
- Place the cadaver in the fridge. (NOT FREEZER)
- You have 5 days to successfully extract and secure live cells.
- Use nitrile gloves to pluck samples of the fur.
He had scanned these words every day for the past 255 days! His thoughts ran back to when Juniper was dying. Detachment was impossible.
At first, the thought was amoral and vile. The process would be butchery. But the yearning comfort of companionship persuaded him assertively.
He contacted the Carinvorata Cloning and Biotech Foundation of Korea. Their pluripotent quantum somatic stem cell and transgenic technology would help the cells from the tissue to be cryopreserved. Their innovative biophysics was a coupling advantage.
Now he smoothed his hands over her photo. The firm had promised a perfect copy. Speculation and curiosity sang through his being.
Would she dig into cucumber pickles? Would the new she be the old she?
Tring! Tring! The doorbell. Croc dashed to the open door. The expert from the Foundation placed the tiny animal in his hands. Croc examined her closely. She was a tinge less green than Juniper. “It’s because of the oocyte genetics of the surrogate,” explained the veterinarian.
She licked his cheeks just the way Juniper did. But she was positively different. He stroked her soft fur. It felt buttery.
“What will you call her?” asked the veterinarian.
“Avocado!” He said. It sounded perfect.
Croc wrapped Avocado in the soft Verdun shawl that he had woven from Juniper’s fur. Avocado and Juniper amalgamated. Croc sighed with relief. His heart breathed in whispers.
A new miraculous soulful, evergreen day!
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Born in India and raised in Tanzania, Sima Mittal now calls Dar es Salaam home with her husband and daughters. With a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science, Sima’s passion for writing ignited while reading to her young girls. She believes that writers and illustrators create magic in children’s picture books. Her debut title, Doing the Right Thing Isn’t Always Easy, is published by E & D Vision Publishing Ltd. and available on Amazon. Sima’s goal is to captivate readers of all ages, especially through flash and short stories. She has published works in various formats, including her short stories Grieving for the Grave and Dying Gracefully, featured in the Writivism Anthology 2015.
Beyond writing, Sima actively engages with youth through author visits and educational programmes, advocating for quality education and mental health awareness. A champion of mental health, she collaborates with Mclean Hospital’s Deconstructing Stigma initiative and shares her own journey with bipolar disorder. Sima dreams of creating a collection of flash fiction and short stories, inviting everyone to join her on this enchanting literary adventure.
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Read – Ice Cold – A Flash Fiction by Bassey Martins—Nigeria.
