PHOTO PROMPT © Mr. Binks
Eliab strolled through another collection of junk. It was only a small sample of the enormous task they were facing. They had given so-called “modern humans” 200,000 years to build a civilization harmonious with themselves and their planet.
As predicted, they failed miserably. He was of the majority opinion, but “the Big Guy” kept giving them chances. Finally, the literal weight of evidence against humanity became evident even to Him.
The last of them had been evicted, resettled on thousands of primitive worlds to continue the experiment. Now Eliab’s team would have to spend millennia reclaiming Earth for productive use.
It’s Wednesday and once again time to participate in Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’s 31 January 2025 edition of Friday Fictioneers.
The idea is to use the image above as the prompt for crafting a poem or short story no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.
The image inspired the usual environmental angst and how wasteful human beings are. I thought about writing a story of human extinction, but thought being evicted by our “landlords” was a more creative option.
To read other tales inspired by the prompt, visit inlinkz.
Promotional image for the “Shoot the Devil: Martyr’s Militia” podcast.
For several weeks, I’ve been promoting my short story “The Book of Names” which is available in the anthology Shoot the Devil 3: Martyr’s Militia.
This coming Friday, 31 January 2025 at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (U.S.), the publisher is hosting a podcast with as many of the writers as can attend. Yours truly is hoping to be able to make it.
Alas, the promo material didn’t come with a link, so I’ll have to post it when it arrives (hopefully soon).
The anthology was recently reviewed and I got a small mention.
I’ll keep you posted as to developments.
poweredbyrobots.com 
Oh joy! More worlds to plunder!
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In this case, they’re more like petri dishes.
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I think Mother Nature will reclaim the Earth and restore it to splendour!
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Eventually.
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Will humankind will never learn? Why punish other planets. Unless, the parameters of the experiment have a higher purpose.
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They’re trying to see if humans learn their lesson which is why they’re divided up among hundreds or thousands of other planets to see what the differences are.
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Let us pray for a safe universe.
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Yes, let’s.
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Dear James,
Eliab has his work cut out for him.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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He sure does, Rochelle. Thanks.
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An appropriate use of the photo prompt! There would certainly be a lot of work reclaiming Earth from the amount of manmade junk we spread across it.
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Yes indeed, Clare.
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I wonder what happens when the primitive worlds reach the same stage? 🤔
Congrats on the anthology.
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Thanks and I guess it depends on whether or not humans learn to be better.
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Some species have trouble learning. Good luck with getting this planet back up to snuff whilst they destroy the others!
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I guess you’re saying humans can never learn. That’s disappointing.
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Well… Let’s just say that humans are rather slow…
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We do seem to be.
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For some things more than others!
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“the Big Guy” is too kind in your story. Humans are experts at exploiting it. No, I don’t have an answer that doesn’t involve cruelty.
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Yikes. Spreading the hoarders all throughout the universe!
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I think the idea is to help people learn from their mistakes.
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That’s a fine idea, but historically it hasn’t worked out too well.
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There’s always hope.
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i think nature can only take so much abuse. time will come when it renews itself with a vengeance.
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The Earth is counting on it.
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I hope He charged humans a hefty deposit.
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They took away the whole planet, so humans didn’t have anything else. Think of people in this context as lab rats.
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Sounds like a doomed experiment.
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You never can tell. It might work out someday.
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Eviction Day sounds like the worst holiday ever. We’re lucky to have gotten as many chances as we have. We need every chance we can get.
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I think we’re running out.
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If we could have a glimpse of the the world in hundred years time, I wonder what we’d see.
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Without people and with the junk cleaned up, probably a better place. The rest of life on Earth would have more room to spread out again.
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Both a happy and sad story.
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The best kind. Thanks, Dawn.
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I doubt any all-knowing creature would allow us possession of yet another piece of his grand creation. Very well told.
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Who said the aliens were all-knowing? That said, if they are, maybe they see something in human potential we can’t see in ourselves yet. Thanks, Violet.
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Like they say, it’s a dirty job but…..
Good luck to Eliab.
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Thanks.
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