FEBRUARY 2022 -- 75 Word Writing Challenge -- VICTORY TO REIVER33!

[johnnyjet]

Don’t Water the Fake Plants

Gemma finished showing Alana her tasks.

"Dr. Marsden's a little eccentric, but a great boss."

Alana cocked her head. "Thank you."

"One more thing. Don’t water the fake plants."

"Oh, they look so real."

"It's very important."

After Gemma left the room, Alana went over to the fake rhododendron and felt its leaves.

"So real."

Later, the rhododendron shook its leaves. It said to the cactus, "She should have mentioned touching, too. Ugh, humans."

 

[Ashleyne]

The Emperor’s Thing

“Size of that”, says Reeta.

Teena scowls. “It can’t be real.”

“Looks real. Show off!”

“I’ll bet a cauldron it’s fake.”

“You’re on”, says Reeta. “Prove it, mind.”

“No problem.”

“Wait! You can’t bewitch the emperor, not with all eyes on him.”

“A quick slicing spell”, says Teena. “It won’t affect live flesh.” She swishes her wand, and the emperor’s legs detach, sparks billowing, onlookers gasping.

“He’s a robot. Drat! I owe you a cauldron.”

 

[OuttaInc]

Breadcrumbs

“This won’t end like you think,” Gretchen sobbed, her hands fidgeting in the bindings. “He’ll find you. I promise.”

“Sure,” the man said, and shoved her down the wooded path toward the shack.

It was dusk when he returned to the truck. Something red in the gravel caught his eye. He froze. Cursing, he raced back to the trailhead to search for the other nine press-on nails she must have scattered for her brother.

 

[cyprus7]

Skinfinity

Byron forges anything in demand: Blue Nile Crocodile leather; the latest vaccine certificates; even plastic-free water.

"Can't you make me look twenty-five and fabulous again?" said Ada.

"That was fifty years ago, my dear."

She insists.

His mistress nods.

Feeding Ada feet first into his 4D-printer was problematic, but he persevered, despite her screams.
Sometime soon the perfect Ada must emerge from a skinfinity of rejects.

 

[DF17]

How Much is that Kitty in the Window?

Wearily, she raised a closed hand to the glass, pawing weakly from inside the store window at those passing by, twitching her feline ears in what she prayed was an exhibition of cuteness so irresistible someone might buy her. She knew nothing outside the store, but surely it must be better, right? One day someone might come and set her free, but for now, she was a synthetic catgirl for sale, putting on a display.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Mirror, Mirror

"A magician arriving at court presented the monarch with an enchanted looking-glass. Gazing into it, reflected was not an embittered old tyrant, but the virtuous prince of his youth. Smiling, he cast off his cloak of despondency, whilst his subjects wept joyful tears of relief at the return of their king."

"Reckon it weren't magic, just an old portrait!"

"Does it matter? Sometimes we need reminding of happier days to make them so again."

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

To sun-dive or not, is it really happening.

"I'm telling you it's a fake."
"No its real."
"It's a cardboard cut-out."
"It can't be, I saw solar flares."
"They can be faked."
"It's getting very hot."
"It's you, you are having a hot flush."
"Shall we alter course, to be on the safe side."
"No! It is important that we stay on the course that the programmers set it at."
"We must be mad."

At that moment the spaceship sun-dived.

 

[redzwritez]

“When you lie on an application form it makes me think you’re dishonest,” said Rogers.
“I’m so sorry, Sir! I was scared I wouldn't get an interview!”

The tree sprite’s nose drooped, her purple mouth quivered. It was tough for fairies in the tech industry. One puts a vine through a screen and suddenly no one wants to take one on. Rogers sighed.

“You're better than the troll though.”

He shook her hand.

"Welcome aboard."

 

[mosaix]

Sleight of Hand

At the back of the crowded theatre, Mysterio was sweating. Any second now the door of the cabinet was supposed to open, revealing an empty space, followed immediately by him escorting his glamorous assistant down the aisle of the auditorium, to rapturous applause.

In fact, Angelina would be revealed struggling with a stuck trapdoor.

“Enough!” he thought.

Suddenly, Angelina appeared at his side.

“You cheat!” she said, “you used your wand!”

 

[Hugh]

False Self

“I’m fine” he claimed, through a lifetime of loneliness.

“I’m fine” he gurgled on his deathbed.

Only on reaching the great barren plain of the 17th level of Hell did the “I’m fine” falter, as his inner desolation finally overwhelmed him, and sobs racked his chest.

This crack in his facade was enough for the Bodhisattvas of Compassion to reach in to touch his heart, whereupon a thousand thousand flowers bloomed upon that barren plain.

 

[reiver33]

A Better Yesterday



As I lifted the cup to my lips something in the smell, that citrus tang, gave me pause.

Across the table, Doctor Cohen arched an eyebrow. “Yes, John, something?”

I frowned. “No, it was oranges, not lemons. From China. And a girl, a girl…Suzanne?”

He smiled. “Excellent! Just enough tangential recall. Are you impressed?”

“It’s an implant? But I could have sworn…”

“And the other memories will be just as real, John. Sign here.”

 

[nixie]

Alien Invasion.

A purple light lit up the sky, photos appeared all over the web.
Now they’re saying it’s the first wave, aliens are here.
Some threw parties hoping to welcome our extraterrestrial guests, others gathered weapons in preparation for an invasion.
Excitement and fear grew; when will we see them?.
We gathered round the TV, to listen to the evening news.
Nothing except ;
“A light show in East Anglia sparked rumours of alien visitors”.

 

[JS Wiig]

Counterfeit Balloons

All Ramsey had ever wanted was to fly, to soar with the comets and shooting stars. But his heavy boots kept him planted terra firma.

Until one day a strange girl with sparkling hair and twinkling bells showed up. He told her his sad tale.

“I have just what you need!” she said, and with puffed cheeks blasted white fairy dust into his face.

Ramsey’d never been so high in all his life.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Open Casket

Did she just wink?
Something about her beauty was…off.
The beryl of her eyes?
The barest invitation of her pout?
That wasn’t it.
Nor was it the chatoyancy of her skin.
The hair, perhaps? Ethereal waves that might carry you off without an anchor.
No.
The tilt of the nose, then?
Just a nose…
But, sixteen eyelashes twitch, release themselves and crawl down her cheek.
Ah yes, the spiders, that’s it.

 

[Parson]

Year 473 - Generation Ship Endeavor​

Chief Priest Jose fumed. He hated it when his doubts overwhelmed him on Prayer Day.

Was Lord Engine really God? It seemed only a machine. But it moved Endeavor’s world and God’s Holy Writ proclaimed their destination was a world where people … lived outside?! Impossible!

Still, wasn’t it true that without a dream people would perish?

Dutifully, Jose began chanting the prayers; wondering if a pious fake really served people better than a truthful skeptic.

 

[Daysman]

The Wooden Monarch

We made no threats, carried no weapons, inflicted no wounds.

Over many months, we led marches, demos and sit-ins at public buildings, concluding with the infamous palace siege, itself an unsubtle ruse to cover a burglary.

It was always about the burglary.

When the government retook the palace, they found our shopfront mannequin: crowned, seated, sceptre in hand, forehead embossed with elvish script.

It read: the throne has been vacant for a century. Time enough!

 

[Peter V]

The Cautionary Tale of Faux Clint Eastwood and the 3D printer

“I’m so sorry. Why was I so stupid?” Shaun wept over Helen’s photo.

How could you have known? He could almost hear the whisper of his late wife’s reply in their now bleak, unwelcoming home.

He closed his eyes, as always seeing the mugger’s finger tighten on the trigger of a gun that looked like a cheap plastic toy.

“If I hadn’t laughed at him. Hadn’t said ‘go ahead punk’, like some latter-day Dirty Harry.”

 

[BigJ]

The World Beyond Your Head

“How goes the experiment?”

“Well enough. The readings from this particular nerve center are quite fascinating, though.”

“Oh?”

“Yes; electrical activity up three standard deviations.”

“Do you have an explanation?”

“No.”

“Containment structural integrity?”

“Intact.”

“The buoyant nutrient fluid?”

“Temperature, pH, salinity, etcetera, all in range.”

“Data input and output streams?”

“I’ve reseated the cables myself three times. Output is up, but otherwise normal.”

“Interesting. What’s it called?”

“Specimen 37b.”

“No, I mean . . . “

“Oh; Descartes.”

 

[Elckerlyc]

Pinch Me

They gazed up at the sphinx. The ancient sculpture at Giza, evidently cut from the bedrock, stoically stared back.
“You know,” Egyptologist Scepticuss reflected, “I have always wished to know what these stone old eyes have witnessed over the millennia.”
His confrère Uncertanix nodded, “The stories it can tell. But some wishes...” He nervously wiped his brow.
“I so wish this is fake,” whispered Scepticuss, watching the awakened sphinx rise to its feet.

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

Another Conversation With Walter Rego

"My muse has returned and inspired me with countless ideas."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"A pack of rampaging werewolves dressed as sheep?"

"Go on."

"A row of converted city stables that magically disappears as you enter the street."

"Any more?"

"A window that conjures up any vista you desire. Or lines of people at bus stops who are actually androids."

"Terrible ideas. I doubt she's a real muse."

"You mean she's a..."

"Yes. Fake muse."