The Mating Games

Mate. Die. Repeat. “Five…”I wake up in a glass pod. I’ve been abducted.“Four…”I’m surrounded by alien beasts, all roaring and desperate to mate me.“Three...”I fight to escape but the glass is unbreakable.“Two…”One of the alien beasts is calm, thoughtful, nothing like the others…“One...”I whimper a prayer and hope someone somewhere will protect me.“Launch.”My pod is released and it screams into the planet’s atmosphere below.The Mating Games have begun. And I am the champion’s Prize.