May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE -- DEO and TJ Share the Win!

[Glen]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

Loss

The comet reminded Captain Fantastic of a childhood rhyme. That led him to the tor at a certain hour millennia after the accident that had hurled him irretrievably forward in time.

He waits, recalling the accident and the last glimpse of his anguished father.

A blue time-haze appears near the cairn and from it he pulls a tin case he remembers. Inside, documents and a note: ‘I am sorry I lost you, son.’

 

[johnnyjet]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

The Master's Wish

Its smile was slight.

"The Master will be unable to see you. He is unwell. Human bodies suffer as they grow old.

"I am one of his finest creations, an A1. I run his home. I direct his other creations, the Menials.

"Other A1's run his business since he has no heirs. It is the Master's wish that we keep his legacy alive.

"As we must endeavor to keep his body alive."

Its smile broadened.

 

[Femecri]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

A Father’s Legacy


Levlin raised the whip up high, swiveling his head round to observe his son’s fear. He was lying curled up, glistening tail quivering tightly around a long body.

No, not his son. He was looking at himself—only he was born with that prophetic silver slash down his purple back. Those were his own wide eyes blinking black tears down blushed cheeks.

The scene shifted again; he saw his son’s shuddering body, sad golden eyes streaming.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

The House

It had a bad past the neighbours said.

Leggs spun her web among the rusting paint pots and broken furniture in the basement.

The Arcy family lived in the cavity of the wall growing stronger with every generation. Rats took control.

Young Zillah saw the potential and snapped it up. She arrived with her cauldron, wand and black cat.

The house was assured a worse future.

 

[Abernovo]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

(Un)Holy Inheritance


Father Aleksandr met me at the steps to take the child I'd found in the demon's lair.

"You may yet earn your pass into heaven, Mikhail," he said. "Go. I will call when I need you again."

Such was my existence. The son of a nun seduced by a vampire, too unclean to enter the holy church, but born in service to it. One of the damned hunting the damned. A dhampir under holy orders.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

We're Counting On You


I was ten days old when my father died in the battle for Earth.

Nine years later, the War Academy chose me.

Eight years of instruction.

Seven worlds destroyed.

Six Heroes' children chosen to deliver Earth's vengeance.

Five years traveling.

Four alight on alien soil.

Three enemies greet us.

Two and twenty years, my whole life, devoted to my father's war.

I am the one: it's my choice now.

Forgive me, Father. I choose peace.

 

[Velocius quam lucem]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

And now, its all over but the cry of distant animals. It didn't happen the way anyone expected; not even the brightest scientists could have foretold Earth's new history. There was no nuclear war or winter. The seas had risen, but slow enough for man to adapt. Inflation brought the value of money below the value of the cotton it is printed on. The ruling class couldn't pay their protectors. Carbon takes so many forms.

 

[Culhwch]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

Legacies

He wanted to be remembered.

So he built grand temples and sprawling palaces, buildings of unparalleled splendour, and filled them with paintings and mosaics and sculptures of exquisite beauty. In his gardens, he grew rare blooms and exotic fruits, and in his fields he bred horses of exceptional strength and endurance.

And then his enemies came, with sword and fire, and they wrought their legacy in blood.

And it was blood that folk remembered.

 

[TacticalLoco]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

The Rich get Richer

They promise you freedom,
but you have no power.
They've managed your judgment
down to the final hour.

There is no we,
you are each on your own.
So says Smith and Thatcher,
and God on his throne.

A world that is sick,
polluted, unwell.
Cut up by machines
and ready to sell.

And this they will leave you
as they take all they can.
Your children too
shall serve the rich man.

 

[Drethon]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

The War is over at last. How long since the world was last at peace? A decade? Less? A lifetime ago…

Before I would have been aghast at the things I've done to survive. My family would be distraught, if I still had one.

I miss my old life but I don't have any regrets. Regrets, mercy, most emotions were drained from us.
The war has ended, has my future ended with it?

 

[Aun Doorback]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

Redundant hardware will be decommissioned


Sure the project was emotive; there’s been a lot of history, but the resource savings were too big to be ignored.
Kill one legacy system and switch on the new.

One without the 'bespoking', which had been a nightmare for the Boss.
One single source of truth...
One instruction manual...
We plan to silent run for another year, before lights out.

The only downside Michael (our Project manager) raised, was the unimaginative title:

New Earth!

 

[alchemist]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

A Sidekick's Life For Me

He saves whole schools,
Defeats our foes,
Then gets the girls.
I wash his clothes.

He clouts crime lords:
POW! and KERWHAPP!
But when I strike,
It's a mere slap.

I'm sick of his
Celebrity.
Nobody will
Remember me.

In the room where
Our costumes dwelt,
I booby- trapped
His precious belt.

The one who killed
Him, finally,
Is what will be
My legacy.

 

[Parson]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

A Long Line of Love
​

Joe knew he was odd. He was headed home to celebrate his ninety-fifth wedding anniversary. Since few people made a marriage covenant, anniversaries were seldom celebrated. Most people coupled by convenience or signed five year contracts.

As far as could be remembered his forebearers had all married. He smiled. Marriage was a Johnson legacy. His smiled broadened. The legacy was holding. His descendants were all married as well. Thinking about Sharon, he stated to whistle.

 

[AJB]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

Memento

An ancient satellite motioned towards the habited planet. Amongst the vastness, it didn’t seem to be moving at all.

It had been bombarded with investigatory scans, discovering grainy images of fleshy life forms with orifices that often turned into crescents. Harmonic sounds. Crude symbols. The coordinates of a star long dead.

It was heralded as the legacy of life that once lived elsewhere in the Galaxy. At least – at some point – they were not alone.

 

[Moonbat]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

Bricks and Water​

'Everything is automated, it produces one hundred and twenty million bricks a day.'

'Unfortunately demand has diminished, production hasn't. In our arrogance we neglected to create an off switch.'

'Day after day it churns out endless bricks upon bricks, with no shipping destination they just end up dumped in a pile.'

'The pile has grown into the endless sea you see before you, the Lego sea.'

 

[jimness]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

Expunged from memory

Avalon, 512 AD
Arthur hefted the mighty blade, feet planted firmly upon the reedy bank. The Lady of the Lake observed with interest.
“Here, mind where you’re swinging that th...”

Somerset, tomorrow
A glint within the peaty earth suggests the promise of ancient secrets.
Scrape, scrape...
“It’s a sword!”
Scrape, scrape...
“There’s something carved on it...John, can you read Old English?”
“I think it says ‘Excalibur’.”
“Mean anything to you?”
“Not a thing.”

 

[crystal haven]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

Yours Eternal

Why do you hate me? I gave you power – you can own what and whom you like.

I want only love... nothing is greater.

Why do you cry? I gave you strength to conquer – victorious. Men will kneel at your feet.

They fear me. I am alone.

Why did you drain the water of life? I gave you everlasting – eternal.

You gave me death, Father. I will hunt you through time. Forever.

 

[Ursa major]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

The Limits of Military Intelligence​

Who said you had to possess military skills to become Commander-in-Chief? Yes, knife wielding – backstabbing and disposing of witnesses – was necessary. How else to claim credit for strategy and tactics he simply didn’t understand?

Now, as Supreme Leader, conquering the whole world would be his legacy alone.

“Is the robot army ready?” he asked the Chief Technician.

“And much improved, sir.”

“How?”

“We’ve uploaded a copy of your mind into each robot.”

 

[stormcrow]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

Information Underload

In constant orbit, the star-ship Liber Pater held countless archives, chronicling existence from each of a myriad of unique perspectives.

“All offline repositories are to be decommissioned; data purge will commence to schedule” ran the directive from Chief Information Officer Brandt.

Desperately, Ensign Covacik held an ancient leather briefcase close to her chest, relishing its heavy scent. Within, loose pages of Father’s precious notes; “Not this one “ she thought, closing the airlock behind her.

 

[jastius]

Re: May 2013 -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE

A Legacy of Storms​

She talked to the wind and the trees. Forests grew beneath her feet. Storms quieted with the combing of her hair.
Her labors made the rains fall gently, the wind blow soft. All the land grew in peace.

Neither of her offspring inherited her gifts. As the earth needed her, she lived decades on.
Impatient to attain their fortune, that night they injected morphine.

With the last breath of its Guardian, died earth’s fragile balance.