PHOTO PROMPT © Nobbinmaug
“As if I haven’t lost enough sleep already,” complained Theo throwing off the bedcovers. Old, thin legs shook when he stood but indignation steadied him as he pulled on his robe.
“Three damn seventeen in the morning and where is that obnoxious light coming from?”
In spite of blackout shutters over his windows, piercing rivers of brilliance continued to stream inward and from the west.
Flat feet flapped on wood floors and then concrete as he stomped outside to solve the luminous mystery. He stared at it hearing the words, “We got the dinosaurs and now we’re back for you.”
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 above as the prompt for crafting a poem or short story no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.
© James Pyles
Between general insomnia and ferrying my granddaughter to this activity and that, I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep lately. I’m particularly tired this morning so I thought I’d weave that into my wee tale.
Of course, a bright light in the sky and the end of the world seemed to go together, so that’s what I went with.
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 part of a collection of novels written specifically for boys who want to read adventures crafted especially for them. That doesn’t mean my story isn’t a great read for everyone else so give it a whirl. Don’t forget to leave an honest review at Amazon and Goodreads.
Cover art for the anthology Relics, volume one.
The science fiction anthology Fangs Out: Aerial Combat Chronicles is available. It features my military SciFi short story “The Jupiter War”. You can read an excerpt of my story in this blog article.
A few days ago the anthology Relics, Volume one was published. The collection was curated by Heidi A. Hill, L. Jagi Lamplighter, and Michael Finney in coordination with Based Book Sale. It includes my science fiction short story “Legacy of the High Sojourner.” On a distant planet, a 5,000 year old corpse is revealed to be an ancient astronaut. Clues lead to an interstellar spacecraft at the edge of the solar system but does it hold the secrets of an alien race or lead to a hideous new reality?
Read an excerpt from my tale Here.
Happy Wednesday.
Dear James,
Now that’s ominous.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Hitting the reset button. Thanks.
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Blimey! Talking meteors!
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More like the voice of God or maybe aliens. Thanks, Neil.
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Love how you described the crusty curmudgeon.
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It’s sort of how I felt this morning when I woke up on 4 1/2 hours sleep and the hours weren’t consecutive. Thanks.
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Hope you get your 8 uninterrupted hours soon. I think of your grandchild as the bright light and it makes me smile.
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The dinosaurs couldn’t fight back. Maybe, we can’t either.
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The dinosaurs hadn’t a clue what was happening. We probably would if the big Reset button got pushed.
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Well… damn! He shoulda covered his ears and rolled over! Then again, it’s probably just a question of time before he gets nabbed anyway!
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Actually, Theo just happened to become aware of an extinction-level event about to hit our planet right before it occurred. Apparently, something up there doesn’t like us. Thanks, Dale.
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Ahhh.. that’s a whole ‘nother story. And of course we probably found a way to piss them off further.
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I’m sure human nature has pissed them off enough already, Dale.
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Probably!
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it looks like waking up from a dream. he should go back to sleep.
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Or he woke up just in time to experience a new reality. Thanks.
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A wonderful suspenseful ending, James!
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Thank you, Brenda.
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I bet he’s sorry he woke up – I think I’d rather be oblivious to the end of the world! 😬
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Maybe so. Thanks.
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I agree with poetisatinta, I’d prefer to sleep through the whole thing! But then we wouldn’t get that fantastic description of Theo waking up
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If he slept through the event, I could have saved myself writing 100 words. 😛
Thanks.
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That last sentence was brilliant. I really didn’t expect that!
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I love a good twist. Thanks, Chris.
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His old bones will have to act fast now.
Have a good day :).
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His old bones are going to perish with everyone else, at least in fiction. Thanks.
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I like to stay positive, who knows, maybe he solves the mystery before the catastrophe 😁.
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You never can tell.
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It looks like someone doesn’t have any qualms about terraforming an inhabited planet. Silly humans are always getting in the way.
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Maybe we didn’t do a good enough job with the time we had. Thanks.
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Yikes!
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Yikes indeed, Dawn.
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Oooooo what a line!
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It does have a certain finality to it. Thanks, Laurie.
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Not just plain meteors …. talking meteors! ☄️
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More like a voice from Heaven. Thanks, Nancy.
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