January 2011 Writing Challenge -- digs wins!

[Ursa major]

Chaos Theory

Accompanied by murmurings of anticipation, the Rapoteur of the Permanent Subcommittee on the Overthrow of the State arose.

“Comrades,” he said. “The state relies on transport to deliver its forces to beat down the proletariat. The bourgeoisie relies on transport to cart its ill-gotten gains away. The workers rely on transport to bring their meagre rations; without it, they will rise up!

“I give you the destroyer of transport:”

An image appeared.

“The mini-roundabout!”

 

[Wannabewriter]

Went Up A Hill...


Jack pushed Jill off the hill. With the beast he sat and said, "I hold the hill


because my beast can kill.”


“With my hand I choose. You lose!"


Jill cried out, "What is your hand but the command; your hill the will of the


many that elevate you so high!”


“What is the beast but the least of human emotions; as low as man can go."


"You'll live a lie, and die ... Slowly."

 

[Mag the Mighty]

For the Good of Society

“Gentlemen, this development represents nothing less than a revolution in the fight against antisocial behaviour.”

The audience remain impassive for now in their uniforms and business suits.

The white-coated man indicates the pyjama-clad figure’s scarred, shaven head: “The implants connect directly to the brainstem, processing feedback from the sensory prosthetics, regulating all motor and physiological functions. The higher brain and conscious thought are completely bypassed. Thus is the criminal impulse removed entirely.”

They all applaud.

 

[SleepyDormouse]

A new Start
​

Hot mug of tea in my hands and a warm blanket over my shoulder I sit by the open door of the shuttle. A flurry of motion catches my eye, a silver moth darts out of the doorway and hums around the lantern by my feet.

Then seeming almost as awestruck as I, it sees the huge orange moon over our heads and drunkenly round in circles ascends up over the thicket till is gone.

 

[Moonbat]

Black-box singing in the dead of night!

They recovered P0896 from the crash site and took it into custody. The interrogation was pointless (the data was already public) but the ‘recycling’ was abhorrent. This was an atrocity we would not accept!

The techs marched on the capital, shoulder to shoulder (a false idiom) with humans. Blood and oil stained the streets; equality was red and black. Pictures, sounds and blogs were pinged around the globe.

We were always waiting for this moment.

 

[mosaix]

And So It Begins…


It’s been a frightening journey. Stopping, starting, inching forward through the packed crowd as they bang on the sides of the bus.

A surging sea of jeering faces spit and scream obscenities. This mob hates us so much they would lynch us if they could.

They lash out as we step down and are escorted through the gate. Can I survive this place?

A sign to one side reads: Little Rock Central High School, Arkansas.

 

[fitzchivalry]

Food chain

A sole figure stalks through the fetid puddles of a rain soaked sidestreet.
Poised to pounce on an unsespecting victim of appetite.
Experience isolates smell of prey from familiar surroundings.
Something stirs in the shadow as the Stench of prey becomes overpowering.
Uneasiness grabs him as he pauses to look around.
A hundred eyes illuminate in the darkness.
Springing their trap, they emerged all around him.
Hoards of vile rats scurry towards....

...just one cat.

 

[Gamblor]

Boom ! Boom !


They are at the door. They are at the door!


It will hold them.


Boom! Boom!


No. No, I can’t be sure. I must leave. What to take?


Boom! Boom! Open this door murderer! Face the justice your crimes demand!


Murderer? No. No, things were done, yes yes, regrettable. No no, for the greater good. Of course. I always served my people! My people!



Boom! Crack!


They are at the door!

 

[mirinda]

Assassin​

He sat in the upright seat preparing for the show. The state of affairs was dangerous; he didn’t have time for these levities Mary insisted upon. Somehow he’d always felt ill at ease in theaters. His toe tapped in anticipation.
“What did you say this play was called again?” He whispered.
“A Time of Revolution.” Mary replied.
How ironic he thought. Abraham heard the shuffling behind him and then Booth pulled the trigger.
​

 

[StormFeather]

A Different Axis​

Her vast reserves of patience were finally exhausted.

Enough was enough!

They’d thought to tame her. Harnessing her powers, and draining her resources for their own selfish ends. They believed they understood everything.

Fools!

She’d show them.

Slowly, immense forces at work, she stopped. Shifting, a quarter turn sideways, she began turning gently.

Backwards.

Snow fell on the Sahara as the polar caps melted.

Fear and panic gripped humanity.

Her truth revealed, Gaia was content.

 

[J-WO]

no/it/u/loveR


Finally, man was free. The last king had been strangled with the guts of the last priest.

I washed my hands and lit a ciggarette.

Later, people came to thank me. They fell on their bellies and praised me. They offered me golden robes.

I wept. I swore and shouted.

I put them on.

 

[Jake Reynolds]

The guillotine whistled as it shot downward. Another noble head in the basket. Why had they denied Archmage Robespierre and his Committee of Magic Safety their demands? Stop hurling fireballs at Austria, the committee had said. Stop conjuring hunchbacks and hiding them in the churches, the committee had said. Stop designing the plans for a giant iron magic gathering device in the centre of Paris, the committee had said.
Mages hate being ignored.

 

[AphroditeMSC]

Until Death Do Us Part
​

It was a perfectly good meal, she told herself. He liked steak.

But nothing was ever perfect enough. Nothing would ever surmount his abominable appetite for her anguish. His perverse need for her distress. His pleasure in her screams.

She smiled. There would be no more screams.

Tapping her foot against the squishy remains of his bulbous head, she thought to herself, yes, it was a good meal.



**Note. I would like to say that domestic violence is in no way something to jest about, and if anyone was/is offended by this post, I shall remove it immediately

 

[Rufio]

Heroes on Horseback

Security ambushed, elevator hacked before reinforcements arrived. The corporation’s making would be their undoing – concentrating control at their looming edifice. Destruction would be crippling.

Ascending, Edson marvelled at the machinations observed by hacker’s screens. What he could do from here... but differently, but for the people.

At the summit the CEO’s office stood empty. No matter. The hackers went to work on the security systems of his desk. Edson looked beyond them to the horizon.

 

[Brev]

We can dream..


He left the office, tightly gripping the papers in his hand, feeling jubilation, anxiety and pride. It was done.

He had abandoned it once, after the beta testing, but six months working on other software had left him fresh, focussed on the complex challenge.

Maybe he would write a book about it, but imagine the irony, if that was rejected.

Smiling, he read the heading on the papers.

Patent Granted: AutoAgent Ltd, Manuscriptreader v2.11.

 

[cornelius]

He had overthrown them all, and from their ashes he had risen. The remains of his predecessors were now completely erased: Old stone into new castles and cities, old gold into new crowns and coins. A new world, where all lived by his law, one that had never been written before.

He was content.

Until an ancient slab was found, underneath his "new" throne. A crude stone, with crude words. His words.

The Gods laughed.

 

[Mouse]

The Girl at the Bus Stop​

…She waits. Across the road, two girls are sitting in the café window laughing over a shared joke. Their gloved hands wrapped around their coffee mugs.

She sighs. Her hands are cold, so she thrusts them under her backside. A bus goes by. She watches its wheels turning, turning…

Legs pass across her vision so she looks up. She says, “Spare some change?”

But nobody stops. Nobody ever stops…

 

[Culhwch]

Object Lessons

Slaves still spoke in awe of Cayd, who’d led the revolt against the Koldarans a century before. He’d failed, of course, and along with a thousand others was gutted and hung from the walls.

Tethic wouldn’t fail. The overseer fell first, and with blood on his hands Tethic shouted to his fellows, ‘Rise!’

As one they fell on him. He was dead before the first soldier arrived.

Tethic had misunderstood the lesson within the story.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

And this month's Challenge is closed. (I almost lost track of the time there. A good thing I remembered!)

Excellent stories everyone, and a record month. Congratulations to all who met the Challenge by their participation.

For the actual voting, Culhwch will be along shortly to post a link to the poll.

 

[Culhwch]

The rules for voting are as follows:

Any member of the Chrons can cast a vote.​

Each member has only one vote to cast.​

The winner of the poll will choose the theme for February.​

The poll will close at midnight GMT on the 28th of January 2011.​

To vote, follow this link:​

http://poll.fm/2n09j​

Good Luck!​