© Dale Rogerson
Another day, another sunrise. The sky is an ugly, pale yellow, and life is bland and uninspired.
“Hey, you.”
Addy turned toward her laptop sitting on the small desk in her bedroom. The speakers were on, so it was chattering away at her again.
“What do you want? I’m depressed.”
“Get over here. You have to finish your story. Marguerite’s trapped in that waterfront warehouse by Marsden’s goons. Will Preta be able to save her? You’ve got to help.”
A twinkle appeared in Addy’s eyes as she sat down at the computer, opened the file, and began to write.
I wrote this for the Rochelle Wisoff-Fields flash fiction challenge. The idea is to use the image above as the prompt for crafting a poem or story no more than 100 words long. My word count is 99.
To me, the image is pretty depressing, a smoke-filled summer sky, and the promise of another scorching day. The original version of this story before I edited it down, was more descriptive, but there’s only so much you can do with 100 words.
I leveraged characters from my story The Haunted Detective, and as far as the talking computer goes, I’m leaving that part rather vague.
To read other stories based on the prompt, visit InLinkz.com.
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Dear James,
I feel her. Hard to write when you’re depressed.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Tends to be that way with most people, but since I process thoughts and emotions by writing, I’d just write whiny, depressing stuff.
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Sometimes writing depressing stuff helps to get the emotions out. Then you can move on. 😉
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love this, James! ❤
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Thanks, Penny.
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I need a laptop that does that for me too!
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Actually, I read a short story not to long ago about a vintage 1911 semi-automatic pistol that talked to its owners. Not all of them could hear him (he sounded like a tough old man…think Clint Eastwood). The story was set slightly in the future where social mores and laws encouraged men to behave like “beta males,” and the gun (his name was Cooper) tried to “man him up.”
I figured if a gun could talk (no explanation of how), why not a computer? 😉
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That’s a good one! Much better than mine.
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I’ll have to read yours and decide for myself. Thanks, Alice. 😉
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A talking computer mk, no need for teachers, no need to read, no sure that’s good. But I enjoyed the trip.
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Think of a computer as a personality, but then that’s taking AI way too far. Thanks, Michael.
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Sorry my computer has just spoken, it decided to insert a [mk]
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Hah! 😀
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Lately I’ve been thinking about doing all my first draft stuff with a pen and notebook. The computer is just too distracting.
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It is if it keeps talking to you. 😉
In my case, my handwriting is so bad, I really need to use a computer, plus I can keyboard faster than I can write.
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How lovely to have a muse that encourages so charmingly! Mine’s more of a ‘You gonna do this, or what?’
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Actually Penny, I thought I made the muse kind of harsh. 😉
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A muse by any other name 🙂
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If one word can destroy a nation, imagine what 100 words can do.
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What a bossy laptop! I hope your story hasn’t given mine any ideas!
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Is it a Dell Inspiron? Need that muse kick in the butt.
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LOL. Actually, it’s a MacBook Air.
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At first I thought it was someone she knew who popped up a la Skype… But hey, a computer works too.. Sometimes you just need a nudge.
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Skype? That would be too ordinary. 😀 Thanks.
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True
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True artificial intelligence 🙂
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So it would seem, Linda.
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Sometimes writing is all we need to get out of a funk.
We are lucky that way.
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I know I am. Thanks, Dawn.
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I love this. The topic is so important & affects so many people. Very well-written.
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Thank you.
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