300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- VICTORY TO ALCHEMIST

[Starbeast]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

Alien Games​

Captain's Log: Star Date - 2012.4​

For several hours, my crew and I have been held against our will on an unknown planet, by a metal clad alien named Psyklon. Three of my ensigns were forced to play games of death, now they're...​

"Dead Jim."​

"Dr. Boney, notify their families and beam up their remains back to the ship before they start to stink up the place. Mr Smock, I'm going to try again to reason with the alien. PSY-KLON!"​

"No need to shout Capt. Kurt, I'm only a few feet away."​

"Psyklon, I tire, of your, Cat & Mouse games. I'm, no longer, going to battle my own crew members, killing each of them, in horrible ways, while wearing a cat costume."​

"Very well. You've shown me how humans kill. Now show me how you procreate."​

"Only, if you release my crew, and wear a bag over your head."​

"Agreed."​

"Jim, wait!"​

"What is it Smock?"​

"I have a solution. Psyklon, what you crave most is entertainment. In exchange for our release, I will give you the ultimate gift of entertainment."​

"I accept the terms."​

*************************************​

"That was a great idea Smock."​

"Thank you captain. I knew Psyklon would be overjoyed with a television that plays VHS tapes."​

"But Smock, that's an outdated device. And besides, how would he power it?"​

"You see doctor, the instructions are incomprehensible. It will take Psyklon years before he knows he'd been decieved."​

"Why you green blooded, funky hair styled, pointy ear, beady eyed space monkey, you lied."​

"No ****, ya pale, boney meat bag."​

"Good one Smock. Mr Scotch, how are the engines?"​

"Fine sir. The hot tub is down though."​

"Can it be repaired?"​

"Aye sir, but we don't have the power. There are too many devices already plugged into the outlets."​

 

[Hex]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

Voices in your head


Never a good thing, voices in your head.

Not even mine?

Nope. You're a sign of my psychosis.

I didn't know you had a sister.

Drenched in his echoing laughter I'm warm, not an outcast with 'auditory hallucinations' who no one lets in their house in case I murder them with the breadknife.

Ridiculous. Have you ever tried stabbing something with a breadknife?

Odd that my imaginary friend doesn't think I'm crazy, because I'm pretty certain I am.

At last the desperation cracks through: Free me. Please, Laura.

This is when I run, normally. Up the narrow stairs -- risking my neck -- to escape his need. Because if I do kiss him, I'm admitting he's real -- that I truly am insane.

The crazy thing is, I want to. More than anything else, I want to touch my mouth to those thin, clever lips. Stroke my fingers down the smooth line of his neck.

I always run.

But this time there's nothing to run to. Just the bedsit, its dodgy shower and mouldy walls.

I have to bend my head sideways, duck down, and even then I only manage to kiss the side of his mouth. It's iron-cool, hard against my lips.

.
.
.

Nothing happens, of course.

.
.
.

Nothing happens again.

.
.
.

I'm officially insane.

I turn away from the proof and take the pills out of my pocket. Twice a day with water, the psychiatrist said, to be rid of the voices. I didn't correct her, but there's only ever been one voice. There's only ever been his.

I shake a pill onto my hand and tears fall around it. Now where's the clever comment to make me laugh?

"She probably meant tap water."

Shocked with unbearable hope, I turn.

 

[Vertigo]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

Domino Effect

“Brother, look!”

The air shimmered in front of them and a figure appeared; completely shrouded in black.

Brother Arne froze. A God?

The figure looked up, gave a very un-godlike wave, spoke some incoherent words, bent back to his book and… vanished.

***​

Gregson looked up from the control tablet, and practically leapt out of his shield suit. They said the crypt was empty! Two monks were gazing at him, not two metres away; mouths open, eyes wide.

“Oh hell!” He waved apologetically at them. “Sorry folks! I’ll be out of your way in a second.”

He tapped in the return code and…

***
​

…slammed open the door and stormed out of the capsule. His furious arrival silenced the bustling control room.

“Who the hell was responsible for my jump?” he shouted.

A timid hand appeared above a console, its owner’s young, worried face peering around the side.

“Th…That would be me, Sir.”

“How come I arrived to find two big hairy monks close enough to give me a welcome kiss?”

“M…Monks? B…But there weren’t…. Look!” The young tech tapped rapidly on his interfaced.

Gregson frowned. Big hairy monks?

“There!” The tech cried triumphantly.

The main screen lit up showing him in the crypt… alone; no monks!

“Computer, download and display my record of the jump!”

The screen shifted to his viewpoint. Now the monks’ astonished faces stared back at him.

“Oh God!” Looking closer, his eyes widened. Not good! “Computer! Raise a maximum strength temporal field around the complex, immediately!”

“Activating“

“Gregson! What the…”

“I’m sorry, Sir!” He cut in. “Someone’s triggered a lethal history change. A massive temporal tsunami’s headed for us. Look! Those monks; they’re not in our history, and their crucifixes; they’re not crucifixes!”

The Major scrutinised the screen. His face paled. “Christ! Those are hammers… Thor’s Hammers”

 

[RJM Corbet]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

ARCHES

This is the place.

I dreamed last night that I was here, with some people, like cops or something, raiding. I was ducking in and out of empty rooms, also trying not to get in their way. I had just decided to hide behind some chairs and watch these arches when this quite small guy with a dark beard and a red-check shirt appeared, and as we made eye contact I was quicker, got my gun up and started shooting, but the bullets were just bouncing off him, like peas.

Then he came over with his gun under his arm, shaking his head in disbelief.

“See that?” he said. “They all just bounced? Incredible.”

Then he pointed his gun at me and said, “Do you want a last wish?”

I shook my head.

“You sure?” he said. “You don’t want to phone your mother or anything?”

“I haven’t got a mother,” I said.

“Then how about a last cigarette?” he said.

I nodded. “Ok.” Play for time.

So he took out a packet of cigarettes but they were all broken off near the filter, broken all ragged.

“Haven’t you got a whole one?” I said.

“No, sorry” he said. “They’re broken. I’m afraid it’s just one puff. But enjoy it anyway -- like a shot of whisky.”

So I took one and he lit it for me and I dragged on it then mashed it into his eye and he dropped his gun and bought his hand up and I was bending his finger back while he was reaching with his other hand for his gun, complaining, “I hate all this. I really hate this kind of thing.”

And I was bending his finger back, kicking and stamping at his other hand, that was reaching for the gun …

 

[Aaron Stone]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

Unbeatable


“Hey, Alex! Guess what?”

I shut my game consol. “This better be good, Char, I’m about to beat Ridley.”

“Oh, it’s good, Alex, ol’ boy. It’s beyond good.” He pauses for effect. “I just got the new Level: Unbeatable.”

“WHAT!?” Level: Unbeatable is the hardest video game in the history of life – I got the first one for my birthday three years ago, and it took until last summer to beat it.

“So, whaddya say? Wanna fire it up?” Level: Unbeatable does have a co-op mode, but it’s twice as hard.

“Are you kidding me!” I scream. “Of course!”

We explore the vast game layout, playing through the afternoon. Five hours later, our map-o-meter tells us we’ve seen %0.48 of the map.

“I’ll get you again, you know,” Char says, pausing the game to stretch.

“Not this time you won’t, you shameless cheater. I won’t stop till I beat it.” Char beat me to finishing the first Level: Unbeatable by skipping school. He played obsessively. His grades plummeted, and his girlfriend broke up with him. But he beat it – seven months before I did. Not this time, though. This one’s mine.

“Yeah right, Al. You wouldn’t give up your precious straight A’s.”

“There are things in life that are more important, Char.” I hit resume, and sacrifice his character for some extra treasure. “This is one of them.”

I played for days on end. I was kicked out of my house. I played in the alley. I was kicked out of the alley. I played in the park. I was kicked out of the park. I sat on the curb. A hobo stole my spot. I found an abandoned monastery on top of a hill. I play there still. Turns out, Level: Unbeatable 2 was actually unbeatable.

 

[TacticalLoco]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

Robot Epiphany
​

Ion was lost again, lost and tired. Constantly plotting and reprogramming his path though an endless 3-D maze was energy depleting. He sighed into the recursion loop seeking his bearings again. Then he saw it.

It was a small flattened rectangle sitting in a chest high alcove. On all his turnings though the ancient maze he had never seen this before.

He lifted the display towards his face and it came alive; the pale blue screen glowing with words, equations and maps. Ion wasn't sure how to access any of it immediately, but he wasn't worried either. His computational power was sufficient to solve infinite vector problems after all.

Test queries returned its many uses, including stochastic predictions of future real time routes and more importantly, the purpose of any individual destination.

Always he and the others like him had carried information thru out the maze indiscriminately, without purpose. They were never told the logic requiring their transits. He didn't even know where they came from.

How was this possible? The data must be coming from somewhere outside his enclosed universe.

Internal readouts conflicting and CPU venting far too much excess heat; Ion dropped the pad and randomly angled away.

He had traveled less than 3 electro-clicks away before visually tracking it on the floor ahead of him.

“Non Sequitur!” he attempted logically and detoured at the next intersection. This time it reappeared after only a single click.

Subroutines inquiring, Ion retrieved the pad and processed events for a full 1.374 resonances before deciding what to do. Each Boolean analysis resolved to a greater than 0.97 percent certainty that some purpose linked him to finding this information.

What he would do with it, Ion was not sure. But he would think of something, and knowledge was power.

 

[choccoweeble]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

Incarcerated
​

I stare longingly through the bars as the sunrise bleeds its life out across the sky, pooling in the clouds and washing down to the horizon. The dawn of another day is here and it brings only more heartbreak, more desperate pain that eats away at my soul. The endlessness consumes me.

I hear the familiar scraping, scraping of metal against stone, resonating along the hallway – rebounding against the ornate curves of the crypt. It goes through me like nails grating down a chalkboard. So - I am not the only one who has awoken early.

The inevitable knock comes at the door – a knock that rings hollow through the cast iron and echoes like the very tolls of Death himself. But death would be a blessèd release from this torment and I know they would never allow me that.

I can feel the start of a familiar tingle in my fingertips that signifies power beginning to build, mirroring the growing anger that claws at my heart.

With the rough clang of heavy bolts shooting back he enters the cell, smug self-satisfied expression plastered across his face as always.

I stand frozen for a few moments, staring into those cold, dead eyes. Do I truly believe that somewhere behind that mask there is a soul? A heart that beats?

I know he is waiting for me to strike. Testing me. And when I do he is ready, ducking beneath my spell and catching my arm – twisting it up behind my back; trying his damndest to cause me pain. The power ebbs away as my muscles scream out in agony.

For now, he has escaped. But one day, he will not be so lucky. One day he will slip up. And I will be waiting…

 

[Abernovo]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

Aspirations​

Arkun rested his staff against the wall. "Right boy, stay here." He started to walk away, then stopped. "Don't touch anything."

Conn bowed his head. Being apprenticed to a Corliate League merchant was much harder than he'd imagined. His childish dreams of living in one of their glamorous city houses had long since been given up, dispelled by a reality of sore thighs and tired eyes from hours spent on horseback.

And he'd hardly seen civilisation since leaving his home. Just endless roads between rough market towns. Finally, they'd come to a city--Sapis, at that--and he was left alone in a library.

He examined the shelves that that surrounded him, all full of paper and knowledge. Surely reading a book couldn't do any harm. Studying the titles, he took one down.

Thaumaturgical Principles for the Merchant Class​

He opened the book at random. Some of the words were strange and he had to form them in his mind. As he did so, he understood them, although he was not sure how.

"There. What did I say? He's a natural, even if he can't follow orders worth a damn."

Conn almost dropped the book at the sound of his master's voice behind him. When he turned though, his master was smiling, stood beside another man, who wore green robes. A priest.

Stranger still, the room had become lined with rich tapestries and silks that covered the bookcases.

The priest nodded. "He has the gift. We will take him."

Arkun put his hand on Conn's shoulder. "You're too smart to be on the road with the likes of me, lad. Attend your studies here, you could end up a Guild Master, not just some travelling merchant."

Conn swallowed. "I won't let you down."

Arkun winked. "I know, lad. I know."

 

[Phoenixthewriter]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

I watched a movie once. There was a man; last man on earth or so he thought he was.

Ker-blam! (gunfire follows a brief whining noise. He reloads.)

Didn’t think too much of it at the time. Sitting there with my kid, enjoying some popcorn, maybe he had candy. Dang kid always did eat too many sweets.

Ker-blam! (gunfire pierces his ears once more. He reloads.)

Funny how things change. I look down the scope of this rifle, and squeeze the trigger, never hesitating, never questioning their motives.

I think it’s just the way things end. Mankind was meant to die off at some point. I just wish they’d have told us it would be at the hands of these ugly alien rats. Not even the animals were spared.

Last man standing. I guess that fits. A helicopter pilot can see a lot from the air, watch the world turn beneath’im.

Ker-blam! (another pulse of fire rips the air)

Everywhere from Kansas City to L.A. and back out towards D.C. Last contact we had from Britain was eight months back I guess now. I doubt even Santa and his evil little elves were safe from these things.

“There I go mumbling to myself again,” the man says, squeezing the trigger.

Ker-blam!

Outside the mausoleum a horde of monstrosities screamed a nightmarish chorus to the heavens, piling in through broken windows and doors ripped from their hinges. The man tore a chunk of smoked meat off a bone and chewed. He cocked the alien rifle and settled his sights on the next ten creatures flooding the basement.

“Bring it on you mother f–”

Ker-blam!

 

[Glitch]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

The stone prison.


“The statue stands as a reminder to us all.”

The tour guide’s voice was bland and uninspiring. I felt almost angry; she wasn’t giving the story the grandeur it deserved.

As she continued all I could think about was running up and touching it; but I couldn’t, could I?

The guards were several feet away, and they didn’t look particularly attentive. Maybe if I shouted mouse the other girls would scream. I could use the ensuing chaos to make my move.

I opened my mouth and drew a deep breath when a hand landed on my shoulder. I managed a little squeak, just enough to draw everyone’s attention to me.

“Master Clements.” The guide’s voice sounding flustered.

“Even I could fall asleep the way you tell this story.”

He walked slowly towards the statue. His hand still upon my shoulder gave me no choice but to walk with him.

“One man can make a difference. The wizard gave his life to stop the war; a war which had taken his beloved wife.”

I could feel my heart racing. The deep voice was somehow fulfilling an ancient desire inside me.

“He made everyone immortal, at least long enough for the fighting to stop.”

As he continued I could feel the statue beckoning me towards it.

“A stalemate forced the kings to sit down and negotiate a treaty.”

“It is said, that the spirit of his wife will one day return. And when her flesh and blood touches his stone prison he will awaken.”

I found myself standing next to the statue. My heart was racing so fast I could feel it beating in my chest.

There was no longer a hand on my shoulder. The room had fallen silent, and I could feel everyone’s gaze upon me as I reached out.

 

[alchemist]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

Scriptorium


>enter<

The silent word was like an icicle in some primordial part of my mind. I pushed open the door and swallowed my disgust at the creature's bitter smell, a mingled odour of vomit and camphor.

It sat behind a desk with a book and blank sheet of paper. The room's one lamp illuminated its featureless face; no eyes, no mouth, no hair.

I stepped inside. "I need to send a message. Quickly."

>of course<

Relief flooded through me. "I have money."

It shook its head and pointed towards the blank sheet. >no money. your name and address only<

My name? Nobody could know I had been here. I took the quill and wrote, "Ivan Ivanov, Lubyanka Square." The torturer. I smiled at the irony; the creature would be none the wiser.

>where is the recipient?<

"St Petersburg."

It turned the pages of its book -- all blank -- until it settled on one.

>who?<

I took a deep breath and gave it my friend's name.

>begin<

I closed my eyes, unable to look at the creature anymore, and recited the message I had rehearsed. "Dearest Pyotr..."

It wrote, each letter existing for a moment before fading away, leaving a virginal page behind.

"...we are undone. Natasha has..." I choked, consumed by the thought of it "...has been taken to the Lubyanka. I flee tonight. Meet me at The White Rose on the fourth, when we may sail for London. Yours, Nikolay Sergeivich."

It finished writing.

"Has he got it?"

Its face twitched. A frown, perhaps? >the message has been received<

"Are you sure?"

>do you not know?<

A cold knot of fear took hold of my stomach.

The scribe pointed to my head. >did you not get your receipt, Ivan Ivanov of Lubyanka Square?<

 

[paranoid marvin]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

The Constant Reader



In quiet times I stand and read
Of glor'ous realms on which I ponder
For though my rooms I may not leave
My mind is sent on tales of wonder

With Captain Flint I've sailed the Main
In pirate ship weighed down with plunder
Seeking out financial gain
With cannon balls that roar like thunder

On battle fields I've made my play
Commanding troops against old Bony
Leading men into the 'fray
Whilst crying out "For death or glory!"

In rocket ships I've travelled far
To search deep space's outer reaches
Finding out where aliens are
And blasting them into small pieces

'Neath Sherwood's green'ry I have stood
'Mongst merry men bedecked in lincoln
Feasting with the man in hood
Whilst supplementing poor men's income

Traversed have I the Seven Seas
For countless leagues submerged in ocean
Navigating dang'rous deeps
And throwing to the wind all caution

Through ocean, space and field I read
Turning each page with eager finger
Though I now must take my leave
Amongst those books I'd rather linger

 

[hopewrites]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

Bed Time Story

“Once upon a time”

“Not like that. Tell it right Grandpa.”

“Heh, alright. When I was young, there was a Prince in The Castle By The Sea”

“I told you it would be good, didn’t I Teddy.”

“How can I tell it if you keep interrupting me!?”

“Sorry. We’ll be quiet, wont we Teddy.”

“So this Prince was wise, and kind, and just, but he was strange as well. He spent all day reading out of old books. Books that were incomprehensible to everyone else, but he seemed to understand.”

“What’s ‘uncomprehansrable’?”

“Incomprehensible. It means no one can understand it.”

“Oh so it’s a word that is what it means, like ‘bark’. Ok go on.”

“No it’s… so this Prince, who was found of books, one day finds a magic spell that can send him anywhere in the world in an eye blink. But it requires pixels caught in copper wire and enchanted by The Sorceress Imagin to do the owners bidding.”

“What are Pixels? Are they a kind of Pixy?”

“I assume so.”

“Don’t Pixies hate copper?”

“That’s what I understand.”

“Then how was the Prince going to catch them?”

“Are you going to let me tell it?”

“Oh! Sorry. Yes, please go on”

“Well the Prince decided he would talk to The Sorceress Imagin first and see if she had any advice, and apparently they made a deal to use his books rather than the pixels, but she tricked him because he never went anywhere but the library. The End”

“The library!? If I could go anywhere I would go to the Zoo not the Library.”

“Yes, but your not a Prince who reads too many books, are you?”

“No I’m a little girl who loves tigers. Night Grandpa. Thanks for the story.”

“Your welcome.”
​

 

[Gary Compton]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

The World was not enough...

The year is 2475 and the last remaining vortex from the post-apocalyptic world to the creators is failing. GOD has sent a probe to read the last rites to the planet as the AdWorlds program has failed.

The Ten Commandments, a code preserved on tablets by the creators, have been broken for the last time. Pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger greed, and sloth are now the keywords of a society blighted by virus.

Analytics for the planet show that Darkness has won the battle with the Light. The world’s children will now reap, what their forefathers sowed.

Content of the minds of innocents has been corrupted beyond repair. Wars, pornography, paedophilia, greed and corruption have now replaced love, kindness, generosity, care and thoughtfulness.

The world was doomed to Armageddon when the creators recognised the failure in the latest mapping of the planet. The view on the street was apocalyptic. Directions were given to cancel the program.

In the beginning when the creators started their search; their hearts and minds were on the first page of their journey. Their inspiration was ten duotrigintillion. Others tried to emulate them but their code was unbreakable and too powerful.

After the passing of time their dreams did not translate. A web of lies spread like a plague. Alerts began to warn against continuation of the program. Scholars warned about their video, mail and images replacing their religion. In the beginning, the creators hoped Chrome would turn to Gold but it never happened.

The self-destruct software has activated and launched a program which will wipe out the billion year civilisation.

Power, water and light will be switched off.

The Google On Demand AdWorlds App is terminated.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

Silence!

There must be countless agoraphobics like me, but I never used to be so.

She had a strange bearing; ancient and dour, yet potent in some inexpressible manner that danced away before you could attribute it. Rheumy eyes were set in a face that was at once unremarkable and terrible. No lips.

This, I noticed on our only meeting, at the Wood Street Library; I had been humming as I read – an exasperating but incorrigible habit of mine - when her presence announced itself as a shadow at my side, falling over my reading desk.

I turned. ‘Hush!’ the antediluvian librarian commanded, and swept off. I noticed her oddness immediately but it seemed just so. I also realised I had been rendered – no, compelled - mute by her command. Now, over a year later I'm thankful I obeyed.

The following day I heard the bawl of car brakes, and from my penthouse window witnessed a soundless argument between the old woman and an unsophisticated-looking man. It appeared the snarly man had nearly run down the old custodian - it also appeared that it was because he had been using his phone whilst driving.

His car is still askew at the kerb to this day. Nearby stands a dummy of him, frozen mid-bark.

Gradually they appeared, gradual enough for the cull to seem so civilised; brown statues of human proportion, featureless apart from the general shape, as if Anthony Gormley had peopled the world! They stand at bus stops, in pairs or groups, wading thigh deep in a lazy Dorset tide. Some tend rods on a riverbank, rusted hooks now baitless. Thousands of others can be seen in supermarket car parks, or undertaking other ordinary business, frozen mid-act.

Did you know there are 4,540 public libraries in the UK?

 

[The Spurring Platty]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

Urban Myth​

Percy cautiously turned another corner. He knew he should have never made such a rash promise but honor compelled him to follow it through. The quest would culminate here and he would surprise them all with proof of his success.

His Shield Tablet with 24G speed pinged out his location at periodic intervals. The Hermes GPS app was perfect for navigating the labyrinth. It gave him confidence in finding the way out. The app was his lifeline to the surface, a string of pixels unwinding with each step he took. Each twist, each turn was precisely mapped the further he went. It even updated his status to all his friends. He checked his signal: only one bar. Going in this far had not been expected.

Still he went deeper, determined to find the center of the maze. Once there the Shield’s camera would record proof that he had found it. So many had tried and failed, most never returning. Then he heard it: a rough hissing sound. Snakes! Fear gripped him. No one really believed she even existed.

Wielding his Zeus-brand adamant stylus like a sword, Percy navigated his way to the app store. He quickly found what he was looking for – the Athena Mirror app. Cursing himself, he knew he should have downloaded it earlier. Another GPS reading from his Shield Tablet echoed loudly through the corridors. When the echo stopped, he knew from the silence it had given him away. The hissing started again, this time getting louder and accompanied by frenzied steps. It was coming straight for him!

When the hideous gorgon turned the corner, Percy kept his gaze down at his tablet. What he saw on the screen terrified him even more. No bars. Download frozen: 98% complete.

...

 

[ratsy]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

Mirror of Regret​

I look into the mirror. I see many things. I see a son. I see a warrior. I see a father. I see a husband. I see me. When I close my eyes and am left with my thoughts I see what I truly am. I see a killer. It is in my blood. I hear the voices of every life I have ended. They haunt my very being.

I can’t help but feel like I am on the wrong side of the war. No one around me seems to think so. They bend and kiss the very boots that are causing so much pain in the world and don’t think twice of it. I am here and the blood of our enemy’s is so thick on my hands that my grip on sanity only slips away when I try to grasp at it.

My son wants to follow in my footsteps and join the generation long war when he is old enough. It pains me to hear that. I hate what I am. Why can’t I just be a mindless killer like everyone else I know? Then my conscience wouldn’t weigh so heavy. Like a crown of guilt I wear it.

Maybe tomorrow when I look in the mirror I will see something different. Maybe I will end the war. All it would take is a slip of my knife. When you have killed as many enemy as I , the ruler lets you close. But he doesn’t know my thoughts. He will smile at me and pat me on the back and I will slip my knife under his ribs. I will end the misery in one fateful motion. But tonight when I close my eyes, I will only see a killer…and a cowardly one at that.

 

[Moonbat]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

The Suit

“I'm so sorry.”

It works too well. I've lost everything; my dreams evaporated, my wife imprisoned, our future eroded, she is close enough to touch but a thousand years distant.

Time, like sand, falls through my fingers. I visit her everyday to read to her, to comfort her and myself. She volunteered to test it, she always believed in me but I've deserted her.

Eventually I sold the design, we altered the internal off switch, created an external override. I got a good price, enough to move away from the city. There was even enough to build her a monument, a palatial prison to house her, for she will be here long after I am gone.

*********************​

“I love you.” He said as he kissed me and pulled the hood over my face. I almost told him then, but I hesitated and suddenly the world was submerged.

It worked!

I laughed. I could see him rushing around, arms flailing wildly, his voice an indecipherable squeak. Hours fell past like raindrops, then days and weeks. I wasn't hungry or tired, but boredom began to set in.

The weeks flow into months. He comes to me, he kneels and cries, begging for forgiveness, I'm unsure why he hasn't freed me.

I blink and a decade washes away before my eyes

He is older now, we're alone in a great stone hallway. I like it here, but still he won't release me.

He is ancient, his back is bent, his stoop is pronounced. I watch him with young eyes, I can see the lines ageing his face, the years settle upon him like snowflakes.

He is gone and so is everyone else. I wish I'd told him I was pregnant.

 

[chrispenycate]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

Timeless Interval​

In the heart of chaos, stasis.

I can feel the frantic universe spinning around me, but here is no time to give potential of change. Here has never possessed time, although my existance must have caused a change when I came into being, mustn’t it?

And thoughts have a duration, in this limbo where the word has no meaning.

In utter silence, nor smell nor feeling, hunger, thirst or warmth, the very light frozen on my retinas, unchanging tableau awaiting the impossible termination of eternity. In static universe no distinction ; the picture’s part of me as I’m of it.

Locked into Schrodinger’s cat box there can be no external observer, for any energy entering or leaving would constitute forbidden change.

No hope, despair, contentment – all are chemical, and molecules are as constrained as limbs in this timelessness. Ultimate detachment.

Perhaps I am not alone? There could be hundreds of you outside my range of vision, maybe some not even caught up in this absurd time-trap, goggling at my immobile form. How would I know, more, what difference would it make to me?

I’m isolated as all men have been since the beginning of time, as no man has ever been.

Unless you others actually exist.

Hello! You can’t hear or reply, but if you too are in this situation I salute you.

Logged on, inviolable, chronicised.

 

[AMB]

Re: 300 WORD CHALLENGE -- number 5 -- READ FIRST POST

Leap of Faith

Thierry had left home on a quest to find himself and his place in the world. He'd been travelling to Beijing a passenger hijacked the plane, accidentally crashing it into snow-capped mountains. Miraculously, he had been the lone survivor. Unsure where he had ended up, somehow Thierry made it to the monastery.

He made an effort to learn the language, hoping he could find someone to guide him back to civilisation. They told him about a small village further down the mountain; all the monks had come from there originally. The path was only accessible via a bridge connecting the monastery to the other side of the mountain, and no one else lived nearby. There was nowhere for him to go.

The people here had a legend. Those in need, if they were firm of their convictions, had been known to throw themselves from the bridge. If the gods were merciful their prayers would be answered, and they'd never hit the ground.

Thierry was a man in need. He took a leap of faith, and in that moment, he could fly.

--

The hum of singing bowls, the ting of bells, the clash and thrum of the gong. The sacred music could be heard throughout the monastery. On this day each year they honoured those whose journeys had ended, and celebrated those who had discovered their paths here.

He wandered out over the bridge. His faith was tested here once, and the gods had smiled upon him. On this day he looked back on his salvation and remembered those who were not so fortunate.

Five years ago a troubled life met its end on this very bridge. All he'd needed to do was to believe.

It's hard not to have faith when your feet don't touch the ground.