Friday Fictioneers — Dreams & Inventions

silo-has-come

Often my mind returns to those fields where we lay gazing at the sky, sharing our dreams. Why couldn’t you have stayed with me and lived the simple life, tilling the soil, living in harmony with nature?

Instead, you became a scientist employed at a Government research facility, where you invented a device to regulate abnormal cell growth in the human body and cure all forms of cancer.

Terrorists modified the device for war but neither side won.

Us survivors live underground, unable to endure sunlight upon our mutated forms. We live off worms and dream of a time machine.

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Friday Fictioneers: 100 word stories
Photo prompt: image © Marie Gail Stratford

Author: Sarah Potter Writes

Sarah is a British eccentric who writes offbeat fiction, haiku and tanka poetry. When stuck for words, she sketches or paints instead. She's into nature conservation, sustainability, gardening, dogs, natural health, and reading. Her sociability is something that happens in short bursts with long breathing spaces in between.

61 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers — Dreams & Inventions”

  2. Lots of proteins in them there worms… 😉
    Scary thought. Damned terrorists. Always have to come in and muck up whatever good there is!

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    1. The trouble with terrorists is that from their point of view they’re freedom fighters. So sad that we can’t find a middle road and live in peace but as long as there’s inequality and we have opinions to express, I guess this won’t happen.

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  3. Wow, this story is so powerful in so few words. I agree about the ick-factor in eating worms. That aside, here is a person who loves nature and regrets the path a loved one took–a path that destroyed their relationship and all that s/he treasured. Wow.

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      1. I have indeed, Ms Sarah! Once you’ve published one of your wistful and romantic interludes, we’ll enjoy them too!

        I think we all like your little twisted, macabre side.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Whoops, is that what Wool is about? I’ve got a copy of the novel but haven’t read it yet. If it’s the same story, it’s a total coincidence and a case of great minds think alike. Just shows there’s nothing totally original out there. Let’s hope I end up making as much money as Hugh Howey!

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    1. It’s so pointless all that destruction and there never seems an end to it. I’d love to hear or read about more good than bad things in the news, then I might write some happier stories!

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    1. Even in this day and age, there’s a great difference between cultures as to what is considered disgusting or not, food-wise. For instance, in Japan they eat wasp crackers. A hunter-gatherer would eat woodlouse. A starving person would eat anything that kept them alive. If you can stop your food wriggling or crawling, then it’s less humungous than a meal that won’t keep still!

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    1. Thank you, Swetank 🙂 My book is going just fine, although not as fast as I would like as there are too many distractions. I’m trying to do two hours work on it a day before I do anything else. It seems to be working.
      I hope everything is going well for you.
      All best wishes
      Sarah

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      1. I am eager to read it soon .. can you tell me few things about it. What is the genre and anything else.. please..please!

        Swetank.
        Be Bettr, Stay Bettr! 😀

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      2. The novel is crossover urban fantasy set in a girl’s boarding school in 1967 (crossover meaning that it’s suitable for older teenagers and adults).
        Strange things happen after the head girl conducts a seance and lets something dangerous through from another dimension.
        I will probably have a go self-publishing this novel, at the same time as trying to place my more recent novel with literary agents. It’s very hard to get anywhere down the traditional route, so I must keep other options open.
        Of course, I will keep you up-to-date with any progress on either front. And good to see that you are so eager to read my work. Thanks:-)
        All best wishes
        Sarah

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  17. Interesting story and a cautionary tale with some truth behind it. One gammar note: The final paragraph should begin with “we” instead of “us.”

    Good work.

    All my best,
    MG

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    1. You’ve created a problem for me here, MG. If I replace “us” with “we”, it might improve the “gammar” (grammar!) but it will leave me with two consecutive sentences beginning with the same word. I think I’ll leave it as it is and put it down to authentic characterisation and the fact that my protagonist hasn’t been to school 😉
      Thanks for pointing out this rule. I’ve just Googled on the subject. Of course, you’re right and that’s why writers need editors, as it’s impossible to know everything.
      All best wishes
      Sarah

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      1. I thought you wrote “Us” instead of “We” on purpose to reflect their speech…

        BTW… love your new photo!

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      2. It’s how I heard the protagonist’s voice in my head. So yes, it did reflect her speech. I’m just wondering how my novel (under edit) will go down in the US, with its turns of phrase and slang from the 60s, especially when it comes to the London mods.
        Thanks, re the photo. My son took it the other day, when I was relaxing in the sunshine in my favourite spot outside the kitchen.

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      3. Well I hope they leave well enough alone! Which they should if you are portraying a dialect or regional slang!
        Well you can tell him he did a wonderful job!

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    1. Dear Rochelle
      Thank you. I’m sure there are some brief outlines to novels in some of my 100 word stories. If there are, they will eventually insist upon me bulking them out by 70K+ words. It has happened to me before!
      I love your analogy re dynamite 🙂
      All best wishes
      Sarah

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  20. You had me fooled with this one Sarah, but then I’m not at all surprised. What a terrible thought, to end up like that when it all started out so noble and filled with promise. Always the darkness lurking. As for eating worms, horrid, but I suppose if that’s all there is. And I noticed your lovely new photo, scrolling down to catch up with your posts… 🙂 xxxx

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    1. Fooled but for a moment, Sherri. I think that my stories often have darkness lurking, as I walk through life seeing much that’s beautiful, while at the same time being painfully aware of a shadow at my shoulder. This is probably why I’m a realist rather than an optimist, and writing fantasy/speculative my safe area to escape to and explore darkness and light. xxxx

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      1. I love how you put this Sarah, and I feel just the same way as you express the same reasons why I veer back into the shadows when I write flash fiction. You are so right about the difference between being an optimist and a realist. Which, as we both know, is far from being negative and doom and gloom. A I am beginning to understand this through writing fiction just how it helps me cope with that permanent feeling of living life waiting for the ‘other shoe to drop’. It’s great having our escape routes isn’t it? Big hugs…xxxx

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