I took this prompt from the Forward Motion site. What fuels the engine of commerce and sets people at each other’s throats to provide? Oil, Gold, Some form of magic? An exotic element? How and why is that commodity important to the world and how does it affect the characters.

I wanted something basic. Something that maybe had once been common and now was important. Here’s what I came up with.

Commodity

Hobin listened to the subdued chatter in the control room. The expedition was beginning its eighth day of searching Eraze, the nearest planet to theirs. The team only had two more days to search; then they had to return to Altera. His communicator buzzed.

“Hobin.”

“Hobin, this is Kaltar. Any word yet from the expedition?”

“No sir. Nothing yet.”

“This was your idea, Hobin. Let’s all hope it works.”

Hobin rolled his eyes. Did his boss think he didn’t understand the need? “Yes sir, we all hope it works.”

He switched the communicator off and sighed. He knew better than anyone what was at stake. It buzzed in his hand. “Hobin.”

“Hobin, its Ema. You left without your lunch this morning.”

He smiled, “Yes dear, thank you for calling.”

“Shall I bring it by?”

“That would be lovely. Bring a lunch for yourself; we’ll eat in the park.”

He could just about hear her grinning at the other end of the communicator, “I will. We haven’t lunched together in far too long.”

“Alright, dear. I’ll meet you in the park at noon.”

He was still smiling as he clicked off. Getting a call from his wife would normally be the highlight of his day. But today, even better, he was going to get to see her over lunch. The communicator went back into his jacket pocket.

They met at their favorite bench in the park, right in front of a pond. A small waterfall at the near end of the pond made a lovely splashing sound, punctuating the bird calls. She was already there when he arrived. They kissed briefly and sat on the bench.

She passed him his lunch and they opened their bags. Sandwich in one hand, he held her free hand. “What have you been up to this morning?”

“Nothing, really,” she shook her head and gazed out over the water, rippling in the slight breeze. “I took my salt tablets.”

Hobin nodded, chewing. “Good. Do we have enough?”

Ema sighed, putting her sandwich on her bag. “I don’t know. We’ve been saving salt since we were married. We’ve cut into your share to the danger point. How’s the expedition doing?”

Hobin put his sandwich down too. “Nothing so far. All of the surveys were done from satellites, so who knows if we’re looking in the right places, or even if there’s any salt there at all.”

She squeezed his hand. “There has to be, Hobin. Altera can’t be the only planet in the solar system with salt.”

He nodded, moving closer to her, and put his arm around her. “I’m hoping there’s salt there. But even so, the expedition can only bring back a few pounds. Then we’d have to put together a whole mining expedition. It may take years to get enough salt back here to make a difference in the population.”

Tears in her eyes, she turned to face him. “But that would mean millions of people couldn’t have children! The population would crash.”

Wiping her eyes, he said, “True. But I don’t know what else can be done. So much waste in the past, salt used for everything. No one gave any thought to the fact it might be irreplaceable. Now, the whole species may become extinct.”

Ema patted his hand. “But your idea to mine nearby planets was good. The government even said so. They put billions of dollars into it. They must think it’s a good idea.”

“They hope so. But if the expedition doesn’t find any salt, I’m the one they’re going to blame.”

“It’s,” she started to shout, then recovered herself, “it’s not your fault. This has been coming on for generations. We need the salt to reproduce. I need the salt to reproduce.”

He stopped her. “Speaking of reproducing, are your salt levels is high enough for us to get pregnant?”

She slumped back on the bench. “Not yet.”

He turned his whole body to her and took both of her hands in his. “Take more of the salt.”

She started to protest.

“No. Take the salt in levels high enough. It’s a waste to just take a little. Get your levels up and let’s get you pregnant.”

“But,” she began.

He put his finger over her mouth. “But, nothing. Do it. I’ll worry about getting enough salt for you to carry the baby to term. You worry about getting there.”

He wiped the tears from her eyes. “It’ll be a little girl, with your eyes.”

“And your hair,” she said, a tiny smile beginning.

The communicator in his pocket buzzed. “Hobin.”

“Hobin, get back to the control center. The expedition may have found salt.”

He closed his eyes, “Yes, I’ll be there shortly.”

He switched off and said, “I’ve…”

Ema shushed him. “Go, get us some salt.”

 

The End

800 Words

Find more of the Forward Motion Flash Friday Group here:http://www.fmwriters.com/flash.html