Empty Words Behind Empty Eyes

"How much do you love me?" he pleaded each time he drew her near.

"This much." The small arms spread wide indicated her feelings were more than she could describe. I searched deep within her eyes. She continued, "the width and breadth of my love can't be contained in this insignificant body."

This time I wanted to scream. I craved loyalty. I desired it to be expressed and demonstrated. I craved more. However, I'd gotten really good at hiding my feelings. How many times had I heard that silvery phrase drool forth from those enticing lips as if rehearsed and recorded for our encounters?

But not this time. Not today. The ending for the past five years stood in front of me sounding like broken LP45.

Don't get me wrong. I'm no bodybuilder or male model. And definitely no "hunk" as I've heard her friends recently call other males of my species.

But at some point you have to step back and re-evaluate. Not understanding your position in a relationship can cause major damage. I knew I wasn't even in step, but behind, desperately trying to catch up. All I could ever see was her rear. And it was beginning to have an adverse affect. You know..that arousal and deep longing, the stir wasn't there. It hadn't been for a while, not since we left her solar system.

I have to move on. I've a job to do, and she was a major distraction.

This wasn't so at first. My first tag-alone mission opened my eyes in a way nothing back home did. Seeing other the other side of the galaxy wasn't anything I expected off world to be. On that trip, my friends decided they'd play a joke by setting me up with a blind date at a bar.

She wasn't even my type. But I was young, and she was different.

We'd never be compatible given our backgrounds. But who's ever one-hundred percent compatible? Times had changed. A few centuries later finding out we weren't alone in this world mean all species in the galaxy had to take a hard look themselves. No one species had the right to claim superiority.

So with this in mind, as most young people do, I set out to widen my horizons. I was open for almost anything. The only problem was learning to communicate. The language barrier was beyond intense.

We were navigating smoothly until she followed me across the system. Now she was in my space. Everything looked different from this side of the galaxy. Patience was never my strong suit. But I could sense I was no longer her priority. Forming new acquaintances seemed to be taking shape.

Maybe she now wanted to widen her horizons. But I couldn't think of that. My most important mission yet as a tag-alone was too important. If I managed to learn the ropes from the best pilots, I'd be allowed entrance into the training program.

Standing in line at the station to receive my new orders, I marveled at the new craft I'd been assigned to. I took one last look at her wavelength intake photo, then slipped it into my backpack.

For now, I'll carry her image as a reminder in case I don't encounter someone else out there more in line with my expectations.

In this fractal art project, I utilized several pure fractal images. A fractal is a visual representation of an infinite mathematical shape that's represented by complex mathematical coordinates. As I previously discussed, Apophysis 2.09 is a Windows application that is open sourced and utilized for rendering fractal flames.

The only images not fractals were used for the lips and background features. The free image for the lips served as a unique substitute for an alien lip structure. I enhanced them utilizing Deep Dream Generator. I also included one of my abstract images I frequently design in Bomomo as use as backgrounds or other elements.