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Posts Tagged ‘Science Fiction’

How We Write – Flourishing Trumpets

Our prompts: Prompt attention, Flags, I’m late

This week, we celebrate the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City in 1969. Those protests took place just two weeks after Kyros was born, so gay pride has had special meaning to him ever since he came out.

The events around Kyros getting kicked out of the military in 1989, before the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy went into effect, also shapes his view of how our country can treat gay people.

All of these experiences went into the writing of this cautionary tale in June 2016, right after the current president won his party’s nomination. Kyros knew from history and firsthand experience that discrimination is never fully eradicated. That even the smallest shift can undo years of hard-fought-for rights.

Happy Pride Week everyone!

FLOURISHING TRUMPETS

“It’s hard to believe it’s only been eight years,” Dennis said, shaking his head. “We never believed it could happen here.”

The two men paused, staring up at the flags waving in the breeze over the central plaza.

“I know. So much has changed….”

A flourish of trumpets rang out from the loudspeakers, cutting him off. (more…)

How We Write – Infected

After the 2016 election happened, Kyros knew that he wanted to write a story to process his feelings about the incoming president. This was a rare story that didn’t have any prompts (except maybe our fear for the future due to the outcome of the election). We wrote this over a couple days and decided that we would each publish it on our personal Facebook pages on January 20th, 2017, Inauguration Day, as a form of protest.

INFECTED

The guide stepped up to the podium. With a flick of his hand, he brought up a holomap of the planet spinning silently below. One area in the northern hemisphere glowed in a soft red.

“This section of the planet used to be called the United States of America. This nation contained two strains of a political virus, conservative and liberal. Neither was especially bad or good. They just caused the infected person to view the world in a slightly different manner.

“That changed when a mutated strain of the conservative virus began spreading through the populace. This new strain caused individuals affected by it to become ever-so-slightly fact-resistant. Few people of the time noticed because initially, only minor facts were rejected.” (more…)

How We Write – Out of Uniform

Our prompts were: Gesturing, guessing, getting it wrong; pointless pondering; buffalo hide sandals.

With twice as many prompts to work into our story, still we wrote one of our shortest pieces, at 287 words! It was the buffalo hide sandals that led us to the clothing of the Sixties. Pointless ponderings sounded like a pompous boss (it’s called alliteration when several words in a sentence begin with the same letter or sound). One thing led to another, led to another…and a story was born.

OUT OF UNIFORM

“What the hell are you wearing?”

Her companion looked down, inspecting his garments. “What? I look fine.”

She shook her head, gesturing at his outfit. “No, you don’t. What about that tunic? It’s completely inappropriate. And no one wears buffalo hide sandals anymore, either.”

He gaped at her. “They were okay the last time I was here. It’s fine, really.”

She sighed. “This isn’t the Sixties anymore. You’ve got it all wrong.” (more…)

How We Write: A Saucer of Ice Cream

Our prompts for this story were: summer, pet, friend, you, ice cream. This time, they came from both of the writing groups Orion was in. The words summer, friend, and ice cream obviously inspired kids having a picnic of some kind.

But we couldn’t just write a simple story like that. We had to put our own spin on it. When Orion first heard what Kyros had planned, her eyes bugged out and she exclaimed, “You can’t do that!” But he convinced her, so here’s the sweet, twisted result.

Oh, and in case you’re curious about where the characters’ names come from, Pandor and Epimeth are shortened versions of Pandora and Epimetheus, the first humans created by Prometheus in Greek mythology.

A Saucer of Ice Cream

“I’ve never had this flavor of ice cream before, Pandor” the little boy squealed, spooning another large bite into his mouth. “It’s yummy!”

“I know, Epimeth” the little girl exclaimed. “My daddy picked up the stuff to make it on the way home the other day. Mommy made it up special ‘cause it’s been so hot this summer.”

They heard a crash from inside the house. Suddenly, the family pet burst through the door, careening across the yard directly at them. (more…)

How We Write – The Doctor Will See You Now

This is probably the shortest piece we’ve ever written! And from only one prompt, too: Spring. While the other writers in the group went with the season of spring, we went elsewhere. Just a sweet old lady going to the doctor…

THE DOCTOR WILL SEE YOU NOW

“The doctor will see you now, Mrs. Tobor.”

“Thank you, dear.” Eyes twinkling, she smiled at the nurse. “You’re always so helpful when I come in with a little problem.”

“Please wait here in exam room three. Dr. Stein will be right with you.”

(more…)

How We Write – Far Out Vacation

This week, we had five prompts, more than our usual.  They were: Vacation, Mysterious note, I can see this one coming, Third chapter, A dip in the lake.

You wouldn’t think a short story would require much research, let alone scouring Google Maps. But that’s what we did when writing this story. We had to find just the right place for a perfect vacation destination.Then as the story progressed, we moved the location slightly so it was close to a three-star Michelin restaurant.

Usually, before we post a story to our blog, we do a quick edit, giving it a little polish. Sometimes an edit will cause the stories to evolve. This one evolved significantly. When we originally wrote this story, it came in around 550 words. Once we finished polishing? It was over a thousand. The story is much better for it. We hope you enjoy our little Far Out Vacation.

FAR OUT VACATION

Miriam stretched in her chair.

“The French Riviera was exquisite.” She touched her companion’s hand. “Jack and I saved for three years to afford that vacation. But let me tell you, those last few days were brutal! All I could think about was how I wasn’t ready to go back to work and how I would give anything to stay another week. But we were out of money, so what could we do?

Her companion nodded, encouraging her to continue.

(more…)

How We Write – Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus!

When these prompts, Cavemen with computers; A dynasty of dinosaurs; Pools of light, rivulets of shadow, deserts of dark, came up, we struggled to figure out how to have cavemen with computers. Outside of some very weird Geico commercials, that’s not something you encounter every day. But drawing on our shared history of working for large companies in so-called cubicle farms, we hit upon the idea that morphed into the story you are about to read. Kyros had way too much fun crafting the spell they used. Orion wishes there was a video of him reading it. You would probably all laugh just as loud as she did. Maybe next time she’ll sneak a recording and share it with all of you.

SIC SEMPER TYRANNOSAURUS!

 

A fierce roar rattled the office windows.

“Arroh, get in here!”

Oh, crap, what did I do now? I mentally went over the checklist of my duties. I already filed the meeting reports, contacted the affiliates, and ordered his lunch. The budget isn’t due until next week. What could he want? Another roar jostled me out of my thoughts. I tiptoed into my boss’s office.

Behind the vast expanse of desk, Mr. Rex Saurus sprawled on his office couch, an ever-present snarl contorting his long face. I used to envy all those sharp teeth, that is, until I caught a glimpse of his dental bill.

“Y…yes, sir?” Dammit, why did I stutter? Not a good way to impress the boss.

His short arms jerkily waved a sheet of paper at me.

“This report on the Stegosaurus Housing Project is incomplete and the numbers don’t add up!” He frowned down at me. “Do I need to replace you with someone more…precise?”

“No, no, sir. I’ll…I’ll fix it, sir. Right away. Sir.” (more…)

How We Write – Carta Mundi

Our prompt was: Here Be Dragons. To Orion, who loves maps, especially old ones and fantasy ones, the subject was obvious. She was also influenced by the poetry of Dave the Poet. A fellow member of the Kickstart Writers group, his poetry is often literate and humorous. Carta Mundi was the result.

CARTA MUNDI

 

When cartographers of old unfurled

Their atlases, charts, and maps

They had only parts of the world

Told them by sailors, and other chaps.

(more…)

How We Write – Life Savings

Our prompts were: A new kind of murder, Wells Fargo, That’s it then.

No, don’t ask me where our collective writers’ minds go when making up these prompts! Sometimes, we just look around the food court where we meet for the Kickstart Writers bi-weekly meetups. Sometimes the prompts come from our own writing. I think that’s what happened here. Kyros connected the concept of a bank with a new kind of murder and immediately thought of a killer bank vault. The question was, how was it killing people? Rogue AI, of course. It’s always a rogue AI. Ever since the HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The rest of the story followed quickly from there. But, because of what happens in the story, we thought we’d best alter the name of the bank. Don’t want any lawyers to send us unhappy letters, after all.

LIFE SAVINGS

The archeologist carefully brushed away the last of the dust and dirt covering the monolith. He sat back with a gasp.

“Look! That logo! I remember it from several other digs. It’s…uh,” The man pondered for a moment. “Bells Wargo, that was the name. It represented a…a currency place of some kind. They didn’t have universal credit implants like we do.”

His partner leaned closer, a frown of distaste on her face as she looked at the mummified body half in and half out of the closed door.

“Well, I think it’s my turn to ‘dig’ into this mystery.” She pulled off the heavy gloves she always wore and extended one bare finger to touch the huge square shape. “As the team psychometrist, it’s time I earned my pay.”

The world dissolved around her.

(more…)

How We Write – Moving Down South

The prompts we had this time jogged one of Kyros’ memories, so that became the framework for this story. Our prompts were: The view out of my window, muddy shoes everywhere, and UPS truck (which we ended up interpreting as Universal Package Service because of the location). In another life, Kyros was the cable guy. One day he pulled up to a home in a new development area that had a sea of mud for a front yard because they hadn’t laid the sod yet. Shortly after he arrived, the homeowner’s kids barreled past him and into the house, leaving a trail of muddy footprints. The mother’s reaction was priceless and left an indelible mark in Kyros’ memory.

The decision to set the story on Mars came about because we had both recently seen the movie The Martian. So with Mars firmly in the forefront of our minds, figuring out what view was out the window was a snap. Olympus Mons is the largest mountain in the solar system. How tall? Would you believe that it is so broad and the slopes are so gradual that from the edge of the caldera, the base of the volcano would be beyond the horizon. It’s a volcano so big that it curves with the surface of the planet. Why wouldn’t you move someplace where that was your view?

Moving Down South

Half-buried amid towering stacks of boxes, Janet Parsons glanced up sharply as her kids thundered in the side door.

“Stop! Both of you!” she shrieked. “Look at your shoes!”

The two boys skidded to a halt and inspected their red-mud-covered sneakers. Ralph twisted around, his eyes following their crimson footprints back to the door.

His little brother, Cecil, gulped out, “We are sooo busted.”

“What did I say before you went outside?” she asked ominously.

(more…)