A Future Fable

by Leo Bidne

Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, Volume 9, #1, 1981



A bell softly chimed. The girl and her guitar sank back into the practice stool, letting out a sigh. Six hours! I must really be worried about performing tomorrow, she thought.

“What’s wrong Sandy?” asked Martin. “Why did you stop? You were doing very well.”

“Nothing. Just tired.” She put down her guitar and slid off the stool. Her naked feet made a soft thud on the padded deck.

She punched in her room code and ordered up breakfast. What am I doing here, she asked herself. Three boring hours on a smelly, bumpy shuttle cruiser, watching some old flat-screen epic called Star something. A-lock customs, then a transfer bus to this crummy hotel. Even the service buttons stick! She banged her fist on the console.