He swirled his spindly grey finger in the air before pointing randomly at the galactic charts.

“So where are we going for our vacation?” she asked, with bated breath.

He drew back his finger, revealing an isolated blue and green planet.

“Darn! Practice shot?” he asked.

“Practice shot,” she agreed.

Melanie Rees is an Australian author. She has published over 60 stories in markets such as Apex, Daily Science Fiction, Persistent Visions, and Aurealis. You can follow her on Twitter @FlexiRees or at flexirees.wordpress.com.