A Mixed Bag 2009
The tall man with white hair wearing a conservative business suit opened the door of the amusement park ride and stepped into what looked like a spaceship. The park was deserted which is exactly what he expected. Under the seat was a tape recorder and an envelope. He opened the envelope and turned on the tape.
“Good morning Mr. Phelps. What you see is a schematic for the craft you are sitting in. Although it’s disguised as a carnaval ride, it is really of alien origin. If you accept this mission we want you to determine who built it and what it’s purpose is.
As always if you or any of your team are caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow your actions. This tape will self-destruct in ten seconds. Good luck, Jim.
Jim Phelps set the tape recorder on the floor, and as the tape smoked and burned, his brilliant mind began to create a plan.
I wrote this for the Sunday Photo Fiction – July 23rd 2017 (which by the way is my birthday). The idea is to use the photo prompt above as inspiration for a piece of flash fiction no more than 200 words long. My word count is 157.
For some reason, just seeing the image reminded me of those odd location where Jim Phelps would have to go to get his next Mission: Impossible assignment. Because the image looks both like an amusement park ride and a spaceship, I thought I’d have a little fun.
To read other stories based on the prompt, go to InLinkz.com.
poweredbyrobots.com 
Thanks a bunch, I can’t get that wretched tune out of my head!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Ha!
LikeLike
Hope he has a good trip, I wondered what the space craft computer thought about the self destructing tape
LikeLike
Depends on whether or not it was active, Michael.
LikeLike
Hopefully he was listening to this in a fire-resistant location!
LikeLike
The tapes always seem to self-destruct without incident.
LikeLike
Belated wishes for your birthday, James. And a nice little adventure story to set the mood. Well done.
LikeLike
Thanks, Varad.
LikeLike
Nice take James, but thanks a bunch for setting me off on a googling session that could last for hours. Although I knew the MI theme tune, I only remember the TV show very vaguely. Reading your tale reminded me that I’d overheard an argument, in a pub, as to whether or not Leonard Nimoy had been in the series. Of course, I had to look it up. I now know that he played Paris and that, aged 13, he had two Bar Mitzvahs because he sang so beautifully at the first one. These nuggets will no doubt serve me well in the future. Now, back to Google …
LikeLike
The power of trivia is never to be underestimated. Thanks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It does look like a spaceship, I agree, and I really enjoyed your take on that. Happy belated birthday, James — I hope you had a great day!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Joy. At my age, the birthdays tend to be low key.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know a lot of people who feel that way, but not me. Any excuse for a party. And I figure, the older you get, the more you have to celebrate!
LikeLike
There’s always that, I suppose. My wife, sons, and grandchildren had dinner with me and there was cake and ice cream. The grandkids are the best part.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds like an excellent party to me! Any time you have cake *and* ice cream *and* family, well, that’s a good celebration.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Happy Belated Birthday!
LikeLike
Thanks, Sascha.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s going to be a Mission Impossible to clear that tune now. Good story James
LikeLike
Thanks. Now I’ll have the theme song running through my head for the rest of the day. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person