Jherek Manatee of Mars toasted Old Earth

Jherek Manatee of Mars toasted Old Earth from his timeshare condo on Tharsis Ridge. He found himself in a Byronic mood and dispersed the expats so he could ruminate in solitude. Th

,not a thing. Succumbing to the darkness, and losing hope of ever seeing light again, he muttered, "Alright. I'll do what you want." The place, where ever he was, filled with light

. A bucket was lowered down on a rope. He pulled out a pencil stub and clipboard. A voiced echoed from the hole above. "Take the time to fill out this customer service survey."

The customer service survey consisted on 6 pages of multiple choice questions and 3 pages of questions with spaces for writing comments. On question 1 the lead of the pencil broke

Unable to muster a simple, "Excuse me, could I get another pencil?" I sunk low in my chair and gripped the tip of the pencil between my teeth, filling my mouth with pencil shavings

I had to sharpen the pencil using my teeth. The exam was about to start. Panic kicked in, I could feel hot blood filling my cheeks.

I thought I stabbed myself in the mouth when I pulled out the pencil covered in blood, though I guessed it was just the nerves. I brought the pencil back to the page and started to

write again, only this time it was in my very own blood. As the words dropped out of my pen, I came to feel a tad nauseous, and by the time I had finished and looked at the page,

death was imminent. I had lost too much blood, been too ambitious in writing my memoirs in my own vital fluid. My vision faded as I re-read the last line; damn, it was a good one.