Tag: fun

Mission Primary – Part 7

Seems a nice day for it.

These things tend to be short pieces that may or may not be the beginning of something else. Originally they were 101 words only. I’m less strict about that now. They dont always finish, I just like to try and evoke a certain feeling or scene.

I’m going to tie them to M’s prompts this month.  The prompt was “It went off with a bang and a hiss”.  What followed was this.

Part 1 can be found here.  

Part 2 can be found here.

Part 3 can be found here.

Part 4 can be found here.

Part 5 can be found here.

Part 6 can be found here.

Sylvester sat in his favourite chair and watched, mouth wide and bowels churning as the end of the world arrived. His first thoughts as he watched events on the television unfold was that it was a Tuesday, and if  Armageddon was going to arrive on any day his money would not have been on a Tuesday.  If he was a gambling man, which he was not, he would likely have plumped for a Friday afternoon because Friday was wholly more interesting as a day than a Tuesday and far more likely to deliver events of interest.  Even a Monday would have been worth a few dollars as a side bet given its position as one of the least favourite days but no, he would most definitely not have picked a Tuesday.

“Charlotte” he called shifting uncomfortably in his chair, “Charlotte I think you might want to come through and take a look at this.”

“Must I really” his wife replied from the kitchen sounding a little flustered.  “I really want to get these pies in the oven.  Can’t it wait?”  She was a patient woman for the most part but his constant hollering from the comfort of his chair made her want to smother him in his sleep.

Sylvester continued to watch the television and turned up the volume.

“That’s a bit loud” Charlotte shouted.  He really needed to wear his hearing aid more often.  She paused for a moment listening.  “Did they just say something about an attack?” She asked.  Sylvester did not reply.  “Sylvester, what’s going on?” she shouted.  “Sylvester?”

“Confound it woman” he snapped turning in his chair and shouting back across to the kitchen , “you need to come and look damn it.  The pies can wait.”

He heard the oven close and his silver haired wife shuffled through from the kitchen, her ‘Grandma Knows Best’ apron covered in flour and wiping her hands on a dish cloth.

“Oh my” she said looking at the screen as she approached, her face a mix of shock and confusion.  “Is that a…?” Her voice trailed off.  She sat forward and then spoke again.  “Are they..?” she continued but again she didn’t quite have the words and they were left hanging in the air more in hope more than expectation

“Ahuh” Sylvester replied as Charlotte sat down slowly in the chair next to him.

“And what are all those red dots on the map?” she asked pointing to the screen as a graphic flashed across it.

“Same thing all across the planet” Sylvester answered quite matter of fact.  “Looks like this is it Lottie…”

Charlotte picked up the Bible from the small table next to her chair, placed in it her lap and folded her hands together on tip of it.  “I don’t think this is in the Good Book.” She said without turning towards Sylvester, her eyes fixed on the screen.  “What’s going on Sylvester?” She asked.

“End of the world, that’s what it is” He answered standing up and heading over to the drinks cabinet.

“On a Tuesday?” she asked shaking her head.  “Make mine a double.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mission Primary – Part 6

Beyond the moon.

These things tend to be short pieces that may or may not be the beginning of something else. Originally they were 101 words only. I’m less strict about that now. They dont always finish, I just like to try and evoke a certain feeling or scene.

I’m going to tie them to M’s prompts this month.  The prompt was “Time blossomed then shrivelled”.  The idea filled head with thoughts of time passing and age and forgetting the important things that have gone before.

Part 1 can be found here.  

Part 2 can be found here.

Part 3 can be found here.

Part 4 can be found here.

Part 5 can be found here.

Henderson looked out into the void of space, the moon now disappearing into the distance as the Callista prepped for her faster than light jump.

“FTL Jump in twenty” barked the Comms, the service deck eerily quiet save for the odd scurry of activity in prep for her first leg on the journey back home.

“We had to, you know that right” came a voice, causing him to start.  It was one he recognised and one that made his stomach churn and his fists clench.  “Marcus told me you’d were down here.”

Henderson turned around and stood to attention.  “Captain, yes sir” he answered, shoulders and chin up.

“Carl, at ease” Grenville said, “It’s just you and me you can drop the Captain shit.”

“You had to?  Really?” Henderson snapped.  “Christ on a bike James do you have any idea how many people you just fried?”  He took a step towards the officer, fists still clenched.

“You think I don’t know that?” Grenville replied, “You think I did this without a thought for those that might still be alive down there?  You know as well as I do that if that thing gets off planet all the colonies will suffer the same fate.”

“There were people we could have saved, we could have helped them still.”

Grenville paused, loosened his jacket and pointed out across the deck towards where the moon.  “You know I’m second generation colony Carl, you know I probably still have people down there just like you do.”

“Then why the hell couldn’t you wait?” he asked turning to face him.  “I guess you’re going to tell me you were following orders.”

Grenville looked old.  Older than he ought to.  He was barely recognisable from the man he had known for so many years – and as a boy for as many before that – and that he had served under on the Juliana, the Aiden and now on the Callista.

He put a hand on his shoulder.  “So what now James” he said turning to look back out into space.  He wanted to help, to tell him it was okay but it wasn’t.  They weren’t kids anymore and sometimes you needed to knwo that things weren’t going to be alright.

“We’ve burned the earth’s atmosphere, saved the colonies and now we head home to a heroes welcome?” he said sarcastically.

Grenville buttoned up his jacket again and sighed.  “It’s not quite over yet Carl” he said, a new sadness in his voice.

“Command are still nervous and despite wiping out every living thing they’ve just sent new orders.”

Henderson balled his fists.  “Why the hell are you telling me this James, why me?  Serious don’t you have a first officer or a dozen senior officers you could tell?”

Grenville turned to walk away and then stopped, pausing before speaking again.

“Five minutes after we jump the entire store of Fed nova clusters in the bunkers just outside Berlin, Shanghai, Los Angeles and Singapore will detonate and rip the whole damn planet to pieces.”

“My god James, I don’t want to know okay.” Henderson snapped, his eyes wide and nostrils flared.  “Just do what you have to okay and leave me be.  Please.”

Without turning around Grenville headed off towards the service deck exit.

“Sorry Carl” Grenville said and the service deck blast door began to close and the comms confirmed 5 minutes to FTL jump.  “I’m just sorry…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toxic – Room 101

a quick 101 words

These things tend to be short pieces that may or may not be the beginning of something else. Originally they were 101 words only. I’m less strict about that now. They dont always finish, I just like to try and evoke a certain feeling or scene.

“Woah man, try these” Driyal said offering the small packet of blue pills as he watched his otherwise perfectly green tentacles turn to a bunch of flowers. “These are out of this world.”

Corvelex stared open mouthed and shook his head as he imagined himself to be the sexual centre of the entire galaxy.  His thrallus throbbed intently and his scales turned a deep shade of crimson.

“What is it man” he asked, all four of his eyes rolling back in his head.

“Sapien X” Driyal said grinning broadly.

“No way bro” he insisted, “I ain’t touching those humans, they’re toxic!”

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/toxic/

The Soldier Part 2

A thing where I only write every second piece

A.P. (I am sure he has a name but for the purposes of this we shall go with A.P.) asked me if I fancied some sort of collaboration thing when he writes a piece then I follow.

I was asked to do this before and I wanted to and then I realised I have less time than I would like to really make an effort so I didn’t do it.  Nothing has changed but this time I said yes and so A.P. goes and makes a quite eloquent and intriguing post and I figured I better get it done as it would be frightfully rude not to so I seem to have written the follow up piece below.

There weren’t really any rules other than he does a piece then I do.

Oh well this is what I managed today between going to the tip, taking the boys to rugby, making dinner and then watching a film…

This is Part 1

The King sat and waited with a patience that he seldom enjoyed.  Things in the palace were often so frightfully dull and for once there was cause for some excitement.

“Is it done” he asked as Bentwhistle laboured back through the room, the guards following closely behind.  It wasn’t every day your sworn enemy met his doom so it was something to be savoured.

“Yes my Lord, he is banished.” Bentwhistle replied bowing ever so slightly and wringing his hands.  “He will trouble you no more your majesty.”  As much as he was a fool he was also still the King, and if he was to maintain any sway over the kingdom he needed to ensure that he kept his ear and protected his position.

The King’s face brightened measurably.  “Oh that is good” he said clapping his hands like a young child.  “So very good indeed, he really was quite the trouble maker you know.  He did have me worried Bentwhistle, most troubled for sure.”

“He shall trouble you no more my liege, from this day forth he will know only the pain of an existence beyond this plain and for eternity the separation that a traitor deserves.”  Bentwhistle smiled as he said this showing off blackened teeth in his dark red mouth.  “

“And there’s no way back you say?” The King asked, still somewhat wary of anything that would challenge his throne.  “Mother would not be happy if he was to return, you know how she is.”

“He is gone my Lord, there is no return from the Beyond.”

“Oh how excellent, Mother will be most pleased.” He said excitedly, his overly large head wobbling on a neck that seemed to struggle to keep the body and the head connected in anything other than a haphazard fashion.

The King reached for his cup.  “A toast” he shouted loudly raising his cup into the air, wine sloshing from it onto the bounty of food laid out before him.  The gathered court sat at long tables before him raised their glasses as they stood to their feet.

“To me” the King cried with great excitement and it echoed back.

“To King Luther” the court cried with little excitement over the banishment but considerably more gusto given the wine was now likely to flow all night.  They raised their cups to the king and drank deep.

As the gathered dignitaries and officials tucked into the feast before them Bentwhistle backed slowly away from the king and slipped away through a side door behind the dais upon which the throne sat.  There were things to be arranged and with everyone otherwise engaged this was the perfect opportunity.

Mission Primary Part 5

Somewhere out in the dark of space

These things tend to be short pieces that may or may not be the beginning of something else. Originally they were 101 words only. I’m less strict about that now. They dont always finish, I just like to try and evoke a certain feeling or scene.

I’m going to tie them to M’s prompts this month.  The prompt was “Spacing out in shadow’s doubt”.  Mostly it had me thinking of confusion and consternation.  The story continues for now I guess…

Part 1 can be found here.  

Part 2 can be found here.

Part 3 can be found here.

Part 4 can be found here.

Cal scoured the holo screen looking for any sort of sign that there might be something still out here.  The scans were picking up the moon about three hundred and eighty thousand clicks away, and it was visible through the port windows but that wasn’t what he was after.  He knew earth should be here, the maps weren’t wrong.  The coordinates weren’t wrong.

“It should be here Desi” he insisted.  “I don’t understand where it could be.”

“Maybe it’s just a myth Cal” Desi said staring out into the darkness.  “Do we really know it was ever here.”

“Hell Desi of course we do.” he said angrily.  “This is where we’re from, this is our home.”

“It’s not my home” Desi replied.  “And it’s not yours, you were born on Seranos just like me.  Let it go Cal, let’s just go home we are already in enough trouble as it is.  Dad is going to kill us when he finds out we’ve taken his ship.”

“Do you never wonder why we’re forbidden from returning Des?  Why they always tell us that Earth was abandoned to protect us all but no one even knows where it is anymore.”

“Not really no” Desi replied.  “It’s a myth Cal, a bed time story. ”

“Then why were dad’s maps locked away?  Why has no one even been back to look in 800 years?  That’s not right Des.  It must still be out here somewhere.”

The screen flashed briefly and a data stream ticked across slowly. Cal stared at it for a while.

“What is it?” Desi asked not really caring.  She just wanted to go home before Dad found out they were gone.  Cal was always getting them into trouble, and despite him being a year younger she always found herself drawn to whatever wild plan he had in his head.  Once Cal had found the Maps in his father’s unlocked safe a few months ago he had become obsessed with the idea of Earth.

“Just what looks like an asteroid belt, nothing major” Cal answered.  “We could go take a look I suppose.”

“Cal come on” Desi said turning off the screen.  “Let’s just go home Cal there’s nothing out here.”

“Then why the Moon?”  He snapped bringing the screen back up.  “If the moon is here the earth must be here.”

“Cal let’s just…” She began and then stopped and pointed slowly out into the darkness.  “What’s that?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mission Primary Part 4

Somewhere out in the dark of space

These things tend to be short pieces that may or may not be the beginning of something else. Originally they were 101 words only. I’m less strict about that now. They dont always finish, I just like to try and evoke a certain feeling or scene.

I’m going to tie them to M’s prompts this month.  The prompt was “Jumping Jupiter can’t get stupider”.  I didn’t get much further than the idea of Jupiter.  Let’s see if I can continue the story with it.

Part 1 can be found here.  

Part 2 can be found here.

Part 3 can be found here.

 

The Callista’s comms crackled into life as the roar of her huge primary engines fought to steady her descent into orbit around Ganymede.  Saturn’s gravitational pull was massive but if they could land on the moon it would give them the protection they needed to work on replenishing their hydrogen supplies.

“All crew standby for important comms” it ordered.

Henderson sat up in his bunk and reached for his chewing tobacco.  Stuffing a wad into his cheek he banged a fist against the bottom of the bunk above.

“Marcus, wake up” he shouted.  “You’re going to want to hear this.”

Marcus stirred, mumbling incomprehensibly.

“Serious man, wake up.” Henderson barked.

“Okay, okay” Marcus said throwing back his blanket and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.  “I’m awake see. God man how serious can it be after what we just witnessed?”

Henderson chewed slowly before responding.  There are some things you’re never going to forget seeing and what the Callista had just done was one of them.

“They’re going to say it was for the best, you’ll see.  They will have some excuse for what they did but there is no justification for it.  None at all.  You don’t do that to an entire planet you just don’t.”

Marcus jumped down from the top bunk and walked over to the small sink in the corner of the room.

“What do we know man” he said filling a cup with water.  “Things have been messed up for so long now.

“Messed up?” Henderson snapped.  “My god Marcus what we just did goes way beyond just ‘messed up’ surely you see that.”

“Honestly?” said Marcus taking a drink.

“That a question?” Henderson asked.

Marcus put the cup down on the edge of the sink.  He was a tall lean man, about 6 foot 2 with broad shoulders and a narrow waist.  A large green and black tattoo of a snake across his right shoulder seemed to writhe as he moved.

“You know how I feel about Earth” he said, “it’s not my home and they are not my people, I’m a colonial and I’m proud of it.  My allegiance is to my family and my clan and the only reason I’m on this ship is because I need the money.”

“Do you really feel nothing? ” Henderson asked.  He knew Marcus was an off worlder and like so many of his people he hated Earth but even he must feel something, surely.

“Sorry no, I don’t” he said defiantly, pulling out a chair at the small metal table in the middle of the room and sitting down.  The ship lurched suddenly and then, with a roar of the engines , was again steadied.  “Earth have done nothing but steal from us and use us Henderson” he continued, “I almost feel relieved that it’s over.  Things will have to be different now.”

Before Henderson could respond the comms sounded again.

“This is Captain Grenville” it began.  After a lengthy pause it continued.  “Today you witnessed the destruction of our home planet…”

Mission Primary Part 3

“You can be the moon and still be jealous of the stars.”
-Gary Allan

These things tend to be short pieces that may or may not be the beginning of something else. Originally they were 101 words only. I’m less strict about that now. They dont always finish, I just like to try and evoke a certain feeling or scene.

I’m going to tie them to M’s prompts this month.  The prompt was “The stars stood on standby”.  Mostly it gave me this horrible sense of foreboding so that is where I am letting it take the story which the prompts are dictating to a degree.

Part 1 can be found here.  

Part 2 can be found here.

Stella rolled the smooth white pebble between her fingers as she watched the sea lapping at her feet.   The sky seemed to melt into the grey of the water and it was hard to tell where one started and the other ended.

“So where to now Jess?” she asked not looking up.  “What are we meant to do?”  It would be dark soon and the nights were getting colder.

At 18 Jess was 5 few years older than she was, so her natural instinct was to let her make all the decisions.  Jess had found her scavenging for food in one of the empty houses in the neighbourhood and helped her to bury her parents and had looked after her ever since.

“I’m not really sure Stella” she answered looking up and down the pebbled beach “we probably need somewhere to settle in for a few days to rest up and then work out how we get off planet.”

“You think we need to leave?” Stella answered throwing the pebble into the sea.  “You really don’t think things are going to get better then?”

She really liked Stella, she was a good kid and had been through a lot but despite all the death and destruction things still seemed to surprise her.  Stella envied that about her.

“The Transporters are all shut down and we haven’t seen any sign of Fed forces for weeks now. They’ve abandoned us for sure.  There aren’t even any Fed instructions coming through on the short wave anymore.”

“But why would they leave us Jess” Stella asked looking confused.  “The government are meant to be making everything better.”

“Stella…” her voice trailed away as she looked up at the sky, the clouds parting and stars already visible in the inky black of night.  “Stars Stella” she said pointing.  Jess looked up and smiled.

“Dad knew all about the stars” she said.  “He used to take me up to the observatory in the summer and teach me all about them.”

“Do you know which they are then?” Jess asked.

Stella laughed, “No I just went because it meant I could stay up past bedtime and it was a chance to spend time with him.”

“I think it might be Sirius” Jess said smiling.  “I remember from school that it was the brightest.”

They both stood quietly for a while.  The idea of school and family and a normal life seemed such a distant memory now.

“Are stars supposed to move” Jess asked breaking the silence, the sky now rapidly turning dark.  “Because that really does look like it’s getting bigger”

“Do you think it could be someone coming to rescue us?” Jess asked, her voice filled with hope.

“Maybe sure, why not” said Stella.  “We’re not sick so why wouldn’t they want to help us.”

The light in the sky grew brighter still and was soon surrounded by others and a silhouette began to emerge high in the atmosphere.  The

“That’s no star Stella, that’s a ship of some sort.”  Jess said excited.  It’s pretty high up but it’s definitely a Fed ship.  No one else has anything that big.”  It had been weeks since they had seen anything up in the sky, or on land for that matter and Jess knew a Fed battle ship when she saw one.  They were always on the news a few years ago when they made first contact with the Genaris and everybody thought it was going to be the end of the world.

Jess walked forward as if to try get a better look, the waves lapping at her feet and covering her boots.  “Its huge Jess” she said smiling.  “They surely have room for us” and she began to wave her arms.

Stella laughed.  “Jess, Jess they can’t see us from up there. They’re miles and miles up.”

“Really?”

“Yes” Jess answered.  “But at least they’ve returned and that’s surely a good thing.  She stepped into the shallow surf and took Stella’s hand and squeezed it gently.  “Don’t worry Jess” she said, her voice calm.  “It will all be over soon.”

 

 

Mission Primary Part 2 – Room 101

These things tend to be short pieces that may or may not be the beginning of something else. Originally they were 101 words only. I’m less strict about that now. They dont always finish, I just like to try and evoke a certain feeling or scene.

I’m going to tie them to M’s prompts this month.  The prompt was “Chewing Chewbacco” which had me thinking about Star Wars obviously but more the type of American you see in folms that so enjoys stuffing a wad of the stuff in his cheek and chewing and spitting the vile black filth back out.  This had me thinking about cowboys and then engineers and then suddenly the piece below emerged.

Part 1 can be found here.  

The Callista rounded the moon slowly, the shadow of her massive bulk creeping across it’s surface as her primary engines exploded into life and propelled her towards earth.  Henderson steadied himself against one of the huge fuel lines and stared out into space, wiping his hands on the rag he kept in his belt and spitting a mouth full of thick black tobacco onto the service deck.

“You boys ready for this?” he asked to anyone willing to listen.  “You know what this is right?”  No one looked up.  Henderson was always spouting off about one conspiracy theory or another.

“This is then end boys, I’m telling you” he continued.  “Rumour is that it’s now spread so far that they need to frag the whole damn planet to stop it.”

“Shut the hell up Henderson” Franks barked back looking out from under the Interceptor he was working on.  “Some of us still have people down there.  There is just no way the brass would do that.”

“I’m telling you” Henderson answered spitting again and wiping his mouth on his sleeve.  “Last few weeks have seen all Fed troops recalled.  You saw how many ships there were dark side.  The whole fleet has puled back.”

Something about his words rang true.  “You really think?” Franks asked sliding out and getting to his feet.  He walked across to where Henderson stood.

“Afraid so man” he answered.  “Seems pretty obvious to me, just look at what a mess it is down there.  They can’t stop the spread and now they’re worried about it getting off world.”  He paused waiting for his words to sink in, he did love an audience.

Franks rubbed his chin.  “Shit man, my cousin is still in Singapore working on the docks there.”

“They already had to shut down the dimensional transporters planet wide when the Washington site was over run, there’s no way they can risk it reaching the colonies.”

Turning to look out across the deck towards where the earth could be seen through the launch bay Franks felt Henderson stood next to him.  It was oddly reassuring. “You really think they’ll frag the whole thing?” he asked.

Henderson put a hand on his shoulder.  “We’ll know soon enough.”

Mission Primary – Room 101

Stomach pains…

These things tend to be short pieces that may or may not be the beginning of something else. Originally they were 101 words only. I’m less strict about that now. They dont always finish, I just like to try and evoke a certain feeling or scene.

I’m going to tie them to M’s prompts this month.  The prompt was “The explosive egg hunt” which had me thinking about the film alien and all this eggs filled with creatures just ready to burst out and crawl inside you…then there was the idea of the easter egg – the type that gets hidden in games and such.  Anyway this is what came of it.  Seems my preamble is longer that the piece itself.

Caleb brought the ship out of sub space, her beam engines humming into life as the faster than light drives fired down.

Desi unbuckled protesting “Dad’s going to kill us Cal, we shouldn’t be out here.”

“Oh relax sis” Cal answered “he’ll never know.  I just wanted to check.”

Cal tapped the holo screen that appeared before him and initiated a scan of the area.  “there must be something out here” he insisted.  “It’s meant to be out here somewhere.  The old charts in the vault pinpoint it to this sector.”

Desi looked out from the cockpit across the inky blackness of space, stars littered the darkness but nothing more. “Cal there’s nothing here, let’s go home.”

Cal turned to her, frustration etched across his face.  “But the charts Desi, why do you think Dad kept them locked away.  It’s for a reason surely.”

Desi looked up at the holo screen, it blinked confirming what she already knew.

“Earth isn’t out here Cal, It’s been gone for 8oo years now.”

 

 

The Doctor will see you now – Room 101

Stomach pains…

These things tend to be short pieces that may or may not be the beginning of something else. Originally they were 101 words only. I’m less strict about that now. They dont always finish, I just like to try and evoke a certain feeling or scene.

Alan awoke slowly.  It was not something he was used to given that most days started abruptly with a 5.00am alarm.  Being rudely awakened was usually immediately followed by contemplative wondering as to why he had not tried harder in school and a subsequent desire to be anywhere but where he was so this was a nice change.

So pleasant was the experience of waking naturally and finding himself greeted by a soft warm light filling the room that the unfamiliar surroundings did not seem to trouble him one bit.  As his eyes grew accustomed to the brightness he realised that he was not at home in his own bed.  He looked around and all he could make out were stark white walls on each side and an equally plain ceiling above.   Confused, but not alarmed, he tried to sit up but found himself unable to do so.  He was covered in what appeared to be a plain white sheet and despite feeling no restraints he lay quite motionless with the exception of the ability to move his neck and look about.

“Hello” he shouted.  There was no echo.  He waited.  No response.  “Hello, is anybody there?”

No reply came though the light did seem to brighten a little.  He strained again to sit up, this time even a little grunt but he remained exactly where he was and chose instead to lay his head back down and stare at the ceiling.

All the usual thoughts you would expect to think upon finding yourself in such a place went through his head and he realised that he had precisely no answer to any of them.  More curiously though he didn’t seem to care particularly.  He was warm and comfortable and he felt quite at peace.   After a while considering his surroundings the lights once again brightened, and there was a feint hiss as if someone had sneakily opened a bottle of soda.  He attempted to look about but now not even his head would move.

“Hello” he offered.

A rather gruff “Snarkgarblevar untervardel” came the response.

Alan paused.  “Er, hello” was the best he could muster.

The voice spoke again but this time seemed to transition from completely unintelligible to something that sounded very much like his second grade school teacher Mr Bloom.  “Snarkgarblevar unter…senses..and you should find this mostly painless.”

The lights brightened again and he suddenly felt rather less comfortable.  Lying quite still he caught movement in the corner of his eye and then without warning everything stopped making sense.  Assuming any of it already was.

Stood before him, around seven foot tall and in a most vivid hue of blue was a creature that was most definitely not from round his way.  Thick fur covered its body from head to foot and it had bright yellow eyes set deep in a face that had nothing that you could assume as a nose but had plenty of what you knew were teeth.  Long sharp white teeth arranged in a deep red mouth in such a way that left you in no doubt that they were something to be feared and were not just for smiling pleasantly or gently nibbling on fruits, nuts and berries.

The sight of the creature combined with the words “mostly painless” made his bowels instantly grumble.

“Oh now come on” the creature insisted “no need to be so concerned this will be over in no time at all.”

Alan began to breathe rather heavily as it drew near.

“I am Doctor Berlastio” it said quite matter of fact.  “And I will be taking charge of your probing today.”

“Oh good God” Alan exclaimed already attempting to clench his non responding bottom.  “Must you really?”  In no time at all he seemed to have accepted the fact of the being before him and was now more occupied with its desire to take a peek inside him.

“Oh absolutely I must” it insisted, the large rows of teeth still very much on show. “It’s all part of the programme you see, we simply must.”

“Programme?” Alan asked still attempting to find any part of his body – other than his head – that might respond to his orders to move.

“Oh Yes, yes.  All very important.  It’s the reason we’re here you see.” The Doctor answered.  He seemed surprisingly willing to share the reasons for what Alan assumed was going to be most unpleasant, and whilst he had no previous experience of aliens of any description he had most definitely not expected them to be so forthcoming and polite.

“Er…” Alan hesitated. Perhaps if he kept it talking he might find a way out of this.  “And why exactly are you here?” he asked.

The doctor paused and then his smile turned into something wholly more sinister looking.  His fur seemed to bristle and his eyes narrowed.

“I shall let you into a little secret I think” it answered, “You wont remember any of this when we pop you back down on Earth anyway.”

Alan wanted to answer, to protest, but now found himself now unable to speak.  Now no part of him responded.

Berlastio grinned.  “We need somewhere to incubate our larvae obviously.  Now lie back and relax, we will have you back in bed before your alarm goes off.”

 

New Britannia – Room 101

another place another time

These things tend to be short pieces that may or may not be the beginning of something else. Originally they were 101 words only. I’m less strict about that now. They dont always finish, I just like to try and evoke a certain feeling or scene.

A thick fog rolled in across the Thames as Big Ben chimed nine times.

“That’s locking up time I reckon” Darla said to her husband getting up from behind the counter and heading over to the shop door.  It had been another quiet night, it always was when the pea-souper rolled in.  “People just don’t being out in it do they.” She added.

“Uh-huh” Bran responded not looking up from his newspaper.  He was very much looking forward to heading upstairs and putting his feet up.

Darla flipped over the sign on the door and reached for the top bolt, but before she could slide it closed the door burst open with such force that she was thrown backwards into the shelving at the end of the aisle and she collapsed to the floor with a scream.

“What the…” her husband exclaimed dropping his newspaper and standing from his chair as two men, dishevelled and dressed mostly in rags, burst through the door and headed straight for him.  “Now just you wait a minute” he shouted without any fear seeing his wife’s legs protruding into the aisle.

“Just shut it and empty the till into the bag” the larger of the two shouted pulling a long metal blade from his belt and waving it wildly.  The smaller squarer man reached across the counter and pushed a bag into his chest.

Darla rubbed her head and attempted to stand knocking cans to the floor, and both men turned to see her slip back down to the floor.

“Hurry up” the tall one shouted.  “In the bag. Now”

With the contents of the till emptied into the bag the short man reached over and grabbed  it and as he pulled back threw a wild square into the jaw of Bran dropping him to the floor.  For a while he lay there, his head spinning and attempted to regain his feet.  By the time he did the door of the shop stood open and Darla was steadying herself leaning against the aisle shelving.

“Are you okay” she asked walking slowly towards him as he leaned against the counter breathing heavily.  He nodded.

“You?”

She smiled and rubbed her head.

“Takes more than that to upset me” she answered  “Do you think we should call the police?”.

Bran reached out and placed a hand on her arm. “No, let them have it dear, there’s no wonder these humans are an endangered species the way they behave…”

 

 

Darling – Room 101

We all have a type, right?

These things tend to be short pieces that may or may not be the beginning of something else. Originally they were 101 words only. I’m less strict about that now. They dont always finish, I just like to try and evoke a certain feeling or scene.

As the rain fell outside, walls of neon reflected in the gathering dark pools, Aldous watched her from the warmth of his car.  It was always so busy down here, a sea of umbrellas pushing through the main through way and hooded figures darting in the shadows as the distant thud of music mixed with the patter of rain and the hum of the vehicles buzzing along the street twenty feet from the ground.

He shifted excitedly in his seat, the sleek lines of his executive model car almost hidden from view as he parked up under the overhang of one of the old hab blocks that towered high into the night sky.  Each of the huge steel and concrete monoliths that were dotted across the city housed a mix of nearly four thousand humans and other species from across the galaxy in the most awful of conditions, yet here at ground level, where quite literally you would find the lowest of society there was only one that he cared about.

Every day Aldous watched her from the same place as he headed to work.  His mind raced when he saw her waiting on the corner, her blue skin bright against the dark of the permanent night of ground level.  His imagination fired as he watched her walk back and forth waiting for her next customer and he imagined, as he had done so many times, those long slender legs wrapped around his back and the talons on her fingers digging into his flesh as she moved against him and her rough tongue slowly tasting the sweat on his skin.

He loosened his tie as a young human male, probably in his thirties, walked across to her.  She stood a good two feet taller than him and as he reached into his pocket she placed an hand on his arm.  He knew what would happen next, he had seen it endless times before yet even now it still filled him with such anger and jealousy.

“Mine” he muttered to himself “get your damn hands off of her she’s m…” but he didn’t finish, unable to speak as she took her client by the hand and led him through a dimly lit open door only a few metres from where she had been just moments before.

Aldous sat for some time, heart racing and obsessing about what she was probably doing to him.  Slowly he reached to undo his belt but stopped as his comms beeped to indicate it was 8pm.  He needed to get to work, people would be waiting.

He punched the car into life and barked out instructions.

“Alexa, take me to work”.

“Affirmative” she confirmed.  “Destination set.”

The car pulled out from under the cover of the hab and slowly rose into the air, quickly syncing speed with the traffic above and joining the flow.  It weaved its way through the other vehicles, the neon advertising boards lighting up the night and throwing their day glow hues into the darkness.  He looked down and watched as the lower levels disappeared into murky nothing and sat back in his seat, eyes closed, and waited.

Alexa confirmed that he had reached his destination and the doors of the vehicle opened with a feint hiss.  Aldous stepped out onto the landing pad and felt the wind on his face.  He wandered across to the edge of the pad and looked out across the city.  He loved being so high up, it gave you a real idea of just how vast the city was and with the sun still able to filter through this high up the late evening sun felt good.

“Were ready for you sir” came a voice accompanied by hurried footsteps.  “Everyone is waiting.”

He turned to see a pretty dark haired assistant who’s name he could not quite remember.

“Thank you” he said taking a large leather book from her.  “Claire isn’t it?”

“Karen” she answered, cheeks flushed.  “It’s Karen.”

“Karen.  Right, thank you Karen” Aldous said and disappeared through a door at the edge of the landing pad.  He could still see her in his head, the rain falling and the neon blinking.  He quickly skipped down two flights of stairs, straightening his tie and running over his notes in his head.  Another assistant was waiting for him and she quickly ushered him towards a door at the end of a corridor.

“Thank you” he said politely, this time choosing not to get another name wrong, and stepped through the door and onto the large stage.  He knew there were thousands of eyes focussed on him but he looked straight ahead and headed to the lectern.  He carefully placed the book on it and opened it to the bookmarked page before composing himself and looking up.

“Good Evening” he said smiling broadly and standing tall.  “My name is Aldous Emerick, I am the Pastor of The Holy Enlightened Church of Christ, and tonight we are going to be learning more about why these aliens are an abomination in the eyes of the Lord.”

 

 

Tenderness – Room 101

Coming soon to a future near you.

These things tend to be short pieces that may or may not be the beginning of something else. Originally they were 101 words only. I’m less strict about that now. They dont always finish, I just like to try and evoke a certain feeling or scene.

Captain Trexel was a rather large and imposing creature at the best of times, but when enraged was something beyond fierce and for most creature trouser soilingly terrifying.

“Enter” he barked at the rap on his quarters door, waiting and watching as Corporal Dartus entered and snapped to attention in front of the desk at which Trexel sat.  “Explain yourself Corporal” he demanded.

The best Dartus could manage was a confused “Captain?”

“The Humans” Trexel shouted, “Explain your treatment of the humans boy.  Reports suggest that you have not been treating them with kindness and compassion.  They may be our property but we do not abuse them.”

Dartus stammered.  “S-S-Sir I just thought that they didn’t matter give we have so many.”

Trexel stood, rising up to his full and thoroughly impressive 8 foot height.  His lips smacked and teeth began to grind.

“Do you not get it boy” he snarled, “We need to treat them with kindness, tenderness and ensure they are comfortable and enjoy their time with us.”

“Sir, yes Sir” he responded.

“And besides” Trexel continued, “If you cause them undue stress by killing one of them for sports in full sight of the others their flesh becomes rather tough and most unpleasant to eat…”

 

 

Another to round off the weekend

Nothign to see here. Move along.

I believe that the limerick form can cheer up even the most horrid of subjects. What do you reckon?

A dissatisfied bride  wed a baker

Learned to moan, and in bed was a faker

As her chap could not please

She did not like to tease

So ran off with a bloke from Jamaica