PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox

It was an obvious trap. The robot was merely waiting for the right time to capture the children who thought it was just playground equipment and take them up to the mothership for experimentation. They might be kept on the aliens’ planet for decades and then be returned aged not at all.

“You watched ‘Independence Day” on the fourth again, didn’t you Larry?” asked his wife, Nan.

“Why do you say that?” he said innocently. “I’m just minding my grandchildren while they play.”

“You’ve got that look,” she accused.

“Wait! I think the robot’s about to launch. Get the kids!”

It’s Wednesday and time again to participate in this week’s edition of Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ Friday Fictioneers. The idea is to use the image up top as the prompt for crafting a poem or short story no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.

Cover image for my novel “A Wobblegong and His Boy”

Yeah, that was the first thing I thought of when I saw the photo. It’s a mix of Independence Day (1996), Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977), and the TV show The 4400.

Of course, Larry might just be too imaginative.

To read other stories based on the prompt or to contribute one of your own, visit Inlinkz.

My YA science fiction novel A Wobblegong And His Boy is up to thirteen reviews/ratings on Amazon with 89% of them being 4 and 5 stars (slowly gaining traction). Don’t forget you can also review my novel at Goodreads.

Happy Wednesday.