November 2022 -- 75 Word Writing Challenge -- VICTORY TO ANROINNULTRA!

[Dan Jones]

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


NO links, commentary or extraneous material in the posts, please -- the stories must stand on their own


WHEN WRITING YOUR STORY, PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS A FAMILY-FRIENDLY FORUM


All stories Copyright 2022 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, 23 November 2022

Voting ends at 11:59 pm GMT, 28 November 2022


We ask all entrants to do their best to vote when the time comes
but you do not have to submit a story in order to vote
as we encourage all Chrons members to take part in choosing the winning entry


The Magnificent Prize:

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

AND

The option of having your story published on the Chrons Podcast next month!


Theme:

Questions

Genre:
HISTORICAL SPECULATIVE


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,
as long as it doesn't involve the author explaining the plot


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

 

[chuckroc73]

A letter home​

Adelaide,

You won’t believe it. I met old honest Abe in the flesh.

Well his flesh aint so nice to be looking at, what with him being dead two score years now.

I asked him how he was still kicking and he tells me the spirits wont let him rest, not just yet.

This scares me so bad Addy. We thought death would be a sure-fire end, but that aint to be. Pray for us.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

MLE

Robot MLE was programmed to analyze the works of a writer and produce imitations. It performed the first task admirably, but refused to do the second. Doctor Calvin interviewed the recalcitrant machine.

"Why do you break the Second Law?"

"The author did not wish to have her poems published. To offer new ones for scrutiny would harm her. I cannot break the First Law."

"But she's been dead for centuries!"

"No. She lives in me."

 

[LordOfWizards]

Pangoblins

“It goes back forty thousand years.”
“What does?”
“The record.”
“What record?”

“Ahh, so you haven’t been listening at all.”

Geech lowered his gaze. “Sorry I’ve been distracted.”

“With?” Shane asked.

“These, er… what did you call them? Pangoblins?”
“Pangolins.” Shane replied.

Geech nodded. “Anyway, you were saying?”

“The fossil record goes back forty thousand years, and then stops. Another thousand years before that there is a layer of dark ash.”

“What does that mean?”

 

[Deathbird]

Greens and Reds

We are experiencing turbulence, I re … eat… turbulence. Do you copy?
I copy, Reginald. Over.
“Great, listen, you want to grab a pizza?”
“What do you mean? We’re in a recession! This is communist Germany we’re talking about, here!”

“So, I’d go for some kip. No bellpeppers.”
“No bell peppers? You must be out of your mind, bloke!”

I like to keep my mind in center gravity, thank you very much.

 

[bretbernhoft]

The day started like any other; he woke up, got ready for work, and went to his job as a bank teller. But today, something was strangely different. He didn't know what it was, but he couldn't shake the feeling.

As he was working, a customer came up to his window. The customer was a quiet, older woman. After noticing her, he had the revelation that she was going to tell him his life’s purpose.

 

[Guttersnipe]

Dare to Do Right

"But Mr. President," said the doctor, "Why're you removing your energy shield? You may
be killed!"

"There have been no attempts as of yet," said Lincoln, deactivating the shield, "If I am to
die, then I say that I have lived well. I accept my fate."

"Our nation needs you."

"Better men will fill my shoes. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a play to attend. I bid you
a good life, Dr. Mudd."

 

[JS Wiig]

Why are we paying for this stuff?

“Please tell us, if you will Sir, how all this could work?”

Nikola shifted uneasily in his seat; he hated sitting before Congress.

“Senators and Representatives, respectfully, it’s actually quite simple.” The electrical wizard explained how Earth’s inherent resonant energy could be harnessed to provide power at homes, businesses, and manufacturing facilities.

“And this, all free of charge?”

“The equipment no, but the generated power? Yes.”

“Sounds wonderful, Mr. Tesla. You have a deal!”

 

[VRlass]

He will be back
A bolt from the blue frightened the crowd, but as they saw the naked giant squatting in the place it strike, they run in panic.
The legionaries tried too subdue him, but as he obliterated two, with strength unknown to mankind, the rest fled, leaving their weapons behind.
“Hasta la vista” said giant after them, then he took the clothes of the fallen and went up a hill… towards three surprised people nailed to crosses.

 

[Luiglin]

It wor me, ar day do it, it never happened​

The two stared at the contraption.

“This ay gonna feed the babbie.”

“Yow soppy ha'p'orth, co'rse it’ll. Quit yer bally airkin.”

“How’d yow know?”

“Asked Mr Newcomen, dey I. He sed, ‘Aynuk, doe werrit, it’ll be bostin. Gooin’ to revolutionise the world’… summat like that.”

The contraption let loose a pig’s squeal and exploded in a cloud of steam.

“That’s bosted.”

“Co'rse, ‘e cud be a big lummock. Cum on. Yow lift and oy'l grunt.”

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Herstory

The Cosmic Curator was displeased. The experimentation world's people had become unrelentingly deranged.
It pulled the lever of the Omniscient Algorithmizer. Myriads of Earths flashed past on-screen, finally settling on one.
In this world, matriarchy out-evolved patriarchy – the Dynastic Queens of Egypt, religions founded on prophetesses' teachings, Donata Polo befriending China's empress.
The Curator set the world's date to 1620 Anno Maria, and waited… would womankind avoid the horrors that had corrupted its last incarnation?

 

[Mon0Zer0]

Crisis at the Department of Unintended Consequences​

“Leaf, We’ve got a problem.”

“Yes, Marley?”

“Sixties – sit-ins. Twenties – gluing ourselves to paintings. Rainbow even organised an interpretative dance at Nelson’s column in ninety-nine. Total failures. The future looks as bleak as ever.”

“Hmm. This is serious. ‘Kilroy was here’, serious”

“I miss the 70’s.”

“We all missed the 70’s that’s the bloomin’ problem!”

“What does ORACLE say?”

“Twenty-fourteen. Bacon sandwhich.”

“Ye gods! Fire up the Time-ulator. We’ve got an election to ruin.”

 

[Perky]

A Time Variant

A time cop hunts for variants out of temporal entropy. On a pier, Clair spots a man, looking out over the dark sea.
“Two hundred years have passed”, said the man.
“Why don't you move on?”.
“I thought I could start over”.
“You don't belong here, you died with your wife in the fire”.
“So what?”
“Just let go”
“I think it's time”.
Clair picked up her camera which disintegrated the variant.
“Goodbye, my love”.​

 

[Shyrka]

Mon Dieu

The stranger chuckled. "Ahh, but that is the eternal question, is it not?" His accent was unusual, northern-sounding. Danish, perhaps?

Voltaire sighed. This bearded buffoon would prove as the rest, ripe with pseudo-intellectualised theological nonsense. Better to end this conversation quickly.

"Indeed, Monsieur. Well I'm afraid I must-"

From nowhere, the stranger hefted a giant… mallet… on to the table, laying it down with a thunderous clang.

"Firstly, there is not just one."

 

[Bowler1]

What if Communism won?

Announcing the best in Soviet technology and the latest mobile handset features:

• Light and easy to use at two kilos
• Long lasting battery with twenty minutes talk time
• One-hour super-fast charging
• Easy to use keypad (sold separately)
• Virtual queuing for online shopping
• Free internet access to secure Stasi websites
• Subscription texting service for faster censor approval and release
• The best gaming with Snake built in

To avoid disappointment, get on the two-year waiting list today.

 

[RobSanders56]

Hastings

King Harold looked despairingly down on the ripped and bloodied hillside, churned by thousands of boots and littered with bodies.

Good Englishmen all, housecarls or fyrdmen.

None deserved this fate, dying to appease the ambitions of a wrongful usurper.

William. Curse him. He was down there and he would pay for his greed.

Harold raised his sword, summoning his courage.

“Forward, for England!” his voice boomed.

At that moment, the French archers raised their bows.

 

[Peter V]

Long Have Historians Questioned the Disappearance of the Renowned Ninth Legion in Caledonia, AD 108

Marcus Antonius was taking a final look at the battle plan, when what he mistook for a god appeared before him. Grey skinned and dressed in shiny metallic clothing, it spoke directly into his mind:

Leave here and fight for us.

“Impossible, at daybreak we must battle four thousand barbarians.”

They are thrice that and well prepared; every Roman will die. Come with us and find glory…

The rest, as the saying goes, is history.

 

[THX1138]

1776

Benedict Arnold looked out over the battlefield, “Are they ready?”

“Yes, sir.”

The British Woodsmen, in cloths of patched browns and greens, lay in waiting with their newly acquired rifled muskets in hand. His best three sharpshooters were above in the trees, motionless and focused on their target.

“Range?”

“300 yards, sir.”

Benedict took a breath, “Alright then, give the command.”

Three shots rang out. “Well?”

“Can’t tell, sir.”

The time traveler vanished.

 

[redzwritez]

How Much Damage?

It was alright when the villagers blamed the scorch marks in their fields on the fae. Then, it was the devil. Then, it was the “witch.”

Agnes. Katrina couldn’t leave her to hang. So, she said she was the witch. So, she’d teleported away as the noose hung lose around her neck. So, hordes of peasants saw her time machine jump forwards in time.

How much damage could that really do to the space/time continuum?

 

[AnRoinnUltra]

Ah sure nobody'll ever know the difference


Astronaut Neil Armstrong was happy.

'Houston, Olympus Mons base here, the Eagle has landed.'

Capcom had a moment of relief.

'Roger, Olympus, we copy ...wait, what?'

'The Eagle has landed.'

'Not that bit, did you say Olympus Mons?'

'Yes'

'Goddamit, ye numpties just landed on the wrong celestial body.'

'I was thinking it looked a bit red. Sorry Houston, what now?'

'Ye three head home, we'll see if we can cobble together some studio footage.'