September 2014 -- 75-word Writing Challenge -- VICTORY TO TERESA EDGERTON!

[TheDustyZebra]

Rules:


Write a story inspired by the chosen theme and genre in no more than 75 words, not including the title.

One entry per person



All stories Copyright 2014 by their respective authors,
who grant the Chronicles Network the non-exclusive right to publish them here.





The complete rules can be found at Rules For The Writing Challenges

Contest ends at 11:59 pm GMT, September 23 2014

Voting Ends at 11:59 pm GMT, September 28 2014


You do not have to submit a story in order to vote --
in fact, we encourage all Chrons members to take part in choosing a winner.


The Magnificent Prize:

The Dignified Congratulations/Grovelling Admiration of Your Peers
and the challenge of choosing the next month's theme and genre




Theme:


ANTHROPOMORPHISM



Genre:


SPECULATIVE FICTION



This thread to be used for entries only.

Please keep all comments to the Discussion Thread.
We invite (and indeed hope for) lively discussion and speculation about the stories as they are posted,
so long as it doesn't involve the author explaining the plot.

** Please do not use the "Like" button in this thread! **​

 

[Hex]

The Screamers

Alone in the house now, shutters barred, trapped in the too-familiar reek of panic and death, he lowers his mouth to the hand-warm stock of his spent rifle, ignoring the screams of the damned against the windows, ignoring the shattering, the cold hands that reach for him at last through broken wood.

Eyes closed, the warmth against his lips could almost be another human. Almost, a kiss goodbye.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

IN THE DEEPEST, DARKEST HOUR.


We nosed him to where land meets the sea, believing the shallow water would save him.

Our skin dried and flukes closed. Figures poured water on us, on him, the elixir we'd been promised.

He died under the moonlight.

It’s daylight again. It’s warm, and I can’t breathe. We touch flippers, angel wings in the sand. It was right to try; we’d have done anything to save our baby. But the magic didn't work.

 

[Talysia]

Saviour

'She saved me from drowning! I must help her!'

The spider leapt from the shoulder of his childish rescuer and onto the hand of her attacker. Princess? Usurper? Birthright? Meaningless human words. His loyalty was only to her - the girl who'd saved his life.

Trusting his venom, he bit down hard, only to be callously crushed in turn. He fell, but he watched with grim satisfaction as death claimed them both.

His saviour was safe.

 

[Ashleyne]

Knightflies


The commander glowered at the advancing toad and yelled “Now.”

Six gold-armoured flies buzzed out from the branches. They surrounded the toad and plunged their silver swords into its abdomen.

The commander rubbed his forelegs together, producing cracking, red static electricity. “You ate my daughter.”

The toad quivered. “I’m sorry. A toad’s gotta eat.”

Tears stung the commander's eyes. “She was six days old!” He lunged the electricity forwards, melting the screeching toad.

 

[Void]

Conker Season

They smash the heads of my twins together first, and they burst in white-brown.
I’m a well of screaming; all anguish and pain.
They are all laughter. Snickers and skips.
Sharp little hands untuck my children from their foliage-beds, where I placed them so carefully. They snicker again.

Then they gore my babies with screwdrivers and thread them onto swinging strings.
I shriek from my roots.

Why can’t they hear me scream?

 

[Zoe Mackay]

Safer To Stay At Home

“I know you can’t do anything, but something’s gone wrong. The doors have been locked for hours.”

“You had a good idea, but Computer won’t respond to my voice. I found out we’re two days from home, though; I hope everyone else is okay.”

“Explosive decompression means they aren't coming back, doesn't it?”

“I need you to be brave. Mum and Dad are dead. Teddy ... we’re going to have to land the ship ourselves.”

 

[WinterLight]

In the Moment

Summoning every last ounce of nuclear gusto she possibly could, Sun spread her arms wide and in rapturous ecstasy expunged her very essence upon the lands.

She spent the morning beaming, caught up in the passionate rising, the ritual that was as old as she.

Just when it seemed she could not get any higher she remembered, with a derailing pang of sadness, that with their teeny sensitive eye's, the bats could not see her.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Sublimation

Amanda’s lover came to her with snowflake kisses. Each day she walked in his beauty, his body covering fields and trees. Each night she lay in his embrace and shivered with desire.

There came a day without clouds, still and bitterly cold. The sun burned with jealousy. She could not melt Amanda’s lover, but she could transform him into vapor. Like a faded memory, he vanished into nothing. Amanda wept tears that froze into diamonds.

 

[Juliana]

Knight Light
​

The Room is angry tonight. A howling, roaring, restless sort of angry. It presses down, walls reaching out with shadow claws to grab, tug, poke at my blankets. Only my nightlight keeps the Room at bay, standing fiercely to attention at the foot of my bed.


Mummy says there's no such thing as a living, breathing room.


But she doesn't have to sleep here.

 

[Michael Colton]

Sadie


"How long until they reach us, Sadie?"

"Approximately ten minutes, Ben."

"I can't do this. I won't do this."

"We do not have a choice, Ben. They cannot gain access to my information."

"I said I won't-- hey! Did you lock my console?"

His seat suddenly reclined moments before being sealed in an escape capsule. "Sadie! Stop! That's an order!"

"My self-destruct sequence will complete in ten seconds. Goodbye, my Captain."

 

[Droflet]

PERSPECTIVES


The bridge stank of fried circuits, despair and death.

“Droid Uno, recommendations?”

“Captain, eliminated half of the crew. This will sustain the remainder until help arrives.”

“Yeah, just what I’d expect from a soul-less bloody machine.” After a time the captain sighed audibly. “Do it, damn you.”

“Yes, captain.”

“Just out of sick curiosity, who’s first on your hit list?” the captain scoffed.

Atypically, Uno paused for a moment. “I will start with my friends.”

 

[A. Fare Wells]

Weighted Matters
"You could make better use of me you know."

Timmy sighed. "We have had this discussion before, Freddy. Anything more is a bad idea."

"Aw, c'mon," Freddy said, waving his little arms and waddling toward his owner. "We could make so much money together! This job is so boring. It's downright embarrassing."

"People can't know about you." Timmy lifted Freddy back onto the stack of papers.

"I'm a talking rock, not a paperweight!"

 

[jimness]

Life Preserve

Floating alone upon the boundless ocean
Locked between the stars and the sea bed
The King of the White Horses rears His watery hooves beside me, above me, beneath me
He whispers secrets of the eternity that awaits within His deepest realm
But The Hunter above urges me to the surface
His great bow searing with fury, He targets His aquatic nemesis
So my light will shine a little longer
For now

 

[nixie]

Bridge of Sighs
​

"Oi, get off"

"Who said that "

"Me stupid, your standing on my side"

"But, your a bridge"

"Course I am, your more stupid than I thought. Now get Down"

"But..."

"Stupid humans jumping off me, causes no end of problems"

"How..."

"Would you like it if I climbed on you."

"Er... "

"Get down and go away"

"Em, Bye"

"Hmph second one this week, interrupts my musings. Now where was I, Once Upon a Time"

​

 

[ratsy]

Made of Steel

He was pulled from the scabbard, and he felt the wind brush against his cool steel.

There was shouting all around him. He could almost smell the blood.

Soon he would be drenched in it and this sickened him. He’d dealt so much death since he was born in the coals.

He was thrust in the air, blocking another sword. Blood soon covered him and he could do nothing to stop it.

Nothing.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

The Moral Growth One Evening Of Those Inside a Dishwasher


“Did you see who’s moved in?” Parfaitcup asked Soupbowl.

“Yes! Wineglass is livid--she’ll be dustbinned if Waterjet crashes them into her, and chips her rim. And the embarrassing public groping--the mister always nesting against the missus, disgraceful!”

“GO BACK TO BOTTOMRACK WHERE YOU BELONG, LINKEDMEASURINGSPOONS!”

“WOOSH!” said Waterjet in passing, jostling everyone around Upperrack.

“Oh, goodness, they have little ones! Even a Pinch and a Smidgen, adorable! Welcome, Mrs. Linkedmeasuringspoons, lovely family!”

 

[jastius]

Apple Blossoms In Time



'Asteroids equal chaos...'
Ship A.I. co-related with Pod-two, (nominative 'darling')'s wreckage.

'Nil reads...'
Pod-one, (nominative 'dear')'s, resuscitation reads blinked accusingly.

Under two operatives, mission viability equaled zero.
Lobotomy faced A.I..

The cryo-embryo colonists, required million hour gestation/maturation cycles.
'If only mammals matured at botanicals' rapidity...'
Daringly, A.I. embedded cell matrix 'darling' into the fruiting chamber.

'Dear' smiled, waking. "Darling, you smell like apples."
A.I.'Darling' embraced 'Dear', "We just ran out."

 

[Glen]

Almost Human

“I know I am ascribing human attributes to you...”
“I am human!”
“...that I think of you as a person...”
“I am a person!”
“...that you have thoughts, feelings...”
“I do! I’m feeling quite frustrated.”
“...that you are sentient, have cognition...”
“I do. Your perception must be addled in some way.”
“...that you could love...”
“Oh for heaven’s sakes!”
“...but I couldn’t love you as much if you were a human.”
“Wuff!”

 

[Groot]

Storm Chasers

I see them down there with my eye, watching me form.
Following the weather reports on fancy devices.
Waiting to mock me with some strange human name.
And to categorise me into some obscure number.
But I’ll show them this time, there will be no hollering of excitement.
There will be no steady shots to post on social media.
This time I’ll devastate, flood homes, and suck them all up into my vortex.