Another journal

Storytelling Collective does a yearly challenge for flash fic, with prompts and a nice community format. Every year I complete a run I pick my ten favourites and collect them into what is basically a zine. This is my fifth year doing it!! Check out the zine for 2026’s flash fiction here, and then enjoy a favourite from 2025’s collection.

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Healthy Habits: One day at a time!

Sol 178

Hydration: x
Skin/Bodycare: x
10k Steps: x
Cleaning/Chores: x
8 Hr Sleep: x

Mood: Pretty good! I think today was a fruitful day. I did the quarterly check of the water recycler a couple days early because the twice-cycle EVA is coming up and of course they’re scheduled for the same day. It would make sense if there were more people here but, lol, just me. 🙂

Sol 179

Hydration: x
Skin/Bodycare: x
10k Steps: x
Cleaning/Chores: x
8 Hr Sleep: x

Mood: Counting suit check as a chore today (although I also made some progress on the library re-cataloguing, but that’s a FUN chore). Trying to be gentle with myself because I hate EVAs and can feel tomorrow’s mood already souring from here.

Sol 180

Hydration: x
Skin/Bodycare: x
10k Steps: ? do non-gravity steps count as steps? it’s movement, whatever.
Cleaning/Chores: x
8 Hr Sleep: x

Mood: AUGH I hate EVAs. I like being outside fine, it’s kind of fun, even. The thing is, the whole time I feel like I’m about to lock myself out of my car, you know? Even though I literally know this is impossible, it always sits there in the back of my brain. All was good on the ship, yay, etc. Patched some spots that were probably micro-meteor fly-bys, or whatever. I know the shielding layers capture them if they get past the skin, but I’m not going to have this thing looking a shit if when I get picked up. Tomorrow is a self-care day!!

Sol 181

Hydration: xx
Skin/Bodycare: xx
10k Steps: [ ]
Cleaning/Chores: [ ]
8 Hr Sleep: xx

Mood: I knew there was spa music in the library! It was under “atmospheric,” keyword “flute.” I crushed up some asprin from the med store, used half a ration of honey and made myself a mask (the other half went in some mint tea). I made sure the shower room was super sealed and opened the wash spigot. It didn’t mist like I expected it to because: microgravity (full of surprises!), and it was lukewarm but it was nice. I drank my tea and played with bubbles of water and did a body scrub with salt and did no chores today. I also fell asleep under the sun lamp but it’s on a timer anyway.

Sol 181

Hydration: x
Skin/Bodycare: x
10k Steps: x
Cleaning/Chores: x
8 Hr Sleep: x

Mood: I was doing seal checks and when I was at the port I thought I saw something. Dunno! And also when I was on the cat-wheel I stg there was movement, corner of my eye. Did I pass some psychosis checkpoint at Sol 180, wtf.

Sol 182

Hydration: x
Skin/Bodycare: x
10k Steps: x
Cleaning/Chores: x
8 Hr Sleep: [ ]

Mood: Couldn’t sleep, heard? A thump? Maybe? Maybe it’s the air cyclers, but I checked those ten sols ago to change the filters. Made myself go through all the stuff and chores today because a routine keeps you grounded. I got this!!

Sol 183

Hydration: x
Skin/Bodycare: [ ]
10k Steps: xx
Cleaning/Chores: [ ]
8 Hr Sleep: [ ]

Mood: So! I turned on the exterior lights today!! Or last night! I guess!! I heard the noise again so I was like “let’s prove your mind is making things up” and I turned on the lights, even though I know they add like a thousand steps on the cat-wheel every second they’re on. Guess what was outsideeeeee. I think? Flesh??? I’m not a biologist. The real big point here is that I’m not outside in space any longer, I’m in a Thing. The light reflected off stuff. Kind of spent most of the day on the wheel.

Sol 184

Hydration: x
Skin/Bodycare: [ ]
10k Steps: xx
Cleaning/Chores: x
8 Hr Sleep: [ ]

Mood: Lights on briefly again today. Still in the thing. When not on the wheel tried to make more progress on library re-categorisation, looking for bio books.

Sol 185

Hydration: x
Skin/Bodycare: [ ]
10k Steps: xx
Cleaning/Chores: x
8 Hr Sleep: x

Mood: It’s got to shit me out eventually. Do space monsters use the toilet. Does a space bear shit in the space woods. More time on cat-wheel good to tire me out so I sleep.

Sol 186

Hydration: x
Skin/Bodycare: [ ]
10k Steps: xx
Cleaning/Chores: x
8 Hr Sleep: x

Mood: Will the stomach acid??? hurt the ship? I’m not doing an EVA in this. Found the bio books, they’re not much help because nobody has studied giant space whales or whatever, because they shouldn’t exist. I am having a stress breakout, not skimping on taking care of my body tomorrow. PROMISE.

Sol 187

Hydration: x
Skin/Bodycare: x
10k Steps: xx
Cleaning/Chores: x
8 Hr Sleep: x

Mood: Did a mask while on the cat-wheel. Multi-tasking. The “transit time” of a sperm whale is 15-18 hours. That’s “stomach to anus”. Elephants are 18-24 hours, mouth to butthole. Wild actually as the former is ten times the size of the latter. Like you count whale weight by units of elephant. If I’ve been in this thing since Sol 182 then that’s five? days. I haven’t put the lights on since 184, because I freaked myself out about a stomach scavenger ecological cycle. Maybe I’ve been out of the thing since then.

Sol 188

Hydration: x
Skin/Bodycare: xx (took two “showers” today)
10k Steps: x
Cleaning/Chores: [ ]
8 Hr Sleep: x

Mood: Today I took part unwillingly in a scat film. There was a bunch of actual shaking? Like the ship was being shook around?! Turned on lights and it took me a bit but I realised I was a piece of corn in nature’s trash compactor. Fucking!! Gross!!! I could barely look at those pages in the bio-books, wtf now I’m living it. Now that I’m back in space will this all freeze dry and flake off the ship? Will it freeze dry and stick to the ship? How long will I be able to handle this mentally before I have to EVA about it? Because I’m not letting this ship look like shit if when I get picked up.

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