Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge with a word limit of 300.
The prompts: This story must contain the line, "It's even worse than I thought."
The Dog Button
The President reached for the bottle of Excedrin. The threat of a nuclear war always gave him a headache.
It all started when Secret Service wouldn’t let the ambassador from North Korea use his Segway inside the White House. The small man stormed into the Oval Office and declared war on the spot.
The President was unimpressed. When attempts to calm the diminutive ambassador failed, the President pushed a button usually reserved for when the Minority Whip was visiting. The button, located just under the edge of the desk had an outline of a dog’s head on it.
The President felt better almost right away. There was nothing more uplifting than releasing the hounds on a dwarf in olive-colored pajamas.
With that done, he looked at his agenda and saw nothing but the typical hodgepodge of crises. The day would be filled with “terrorists this” and “bank corruption that.” There was no easy “release the hounds” solution to any of this. The American people had become so polarized in their opinions that the best the President could hope for was to piss everyone off equally.
The last meeting of the day was with the ambassador from Iran. He stood in front of the President, shaking slightly – the memory of last month’s “hound release” incident was still fresh in his mind.
“Mr. President, I am to inform you that we will rain nuclear death down upon you as soon as our peaceful research is complete.” He wasn’t sure if he had translated that correctly. However, he spun and fled at the sight of the President’s hand sliding under the edge of the desk.
Later that evening, the President’s wife greeted him and said, “We saw Clash of the Titans today.”
“Oh? How was it?”
“Awful. It’s even worse than I thought,” she replied.
Word count 300
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Unwelcomed
Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge with a word limit of 300.
The prompts: This story must contain the words: shadow, bridge and flower
Unwelcomed
Destroying the bridge was their only defense.
It could be a long trip around your typical Martian crevasse. Hopefully help would arrive before It could either circumvent the mile-deep trench or find another way across. Commander Hillman estimated they had no more than five months. After that, he and the rest of the colonists would be gone – either rescued or dead.
It was going to be a close thing. Earth had been notified but help was not exactly around the corner. Evacuating the entire base had never been part of the blueprint. Ships had to be built. After that, it was a four-week journey.
“Hold on as best you can Commander. We will be on our way soon.”
No use arguing. The distance was what it was.
Hillman gathered the colonists to discuss the situation.
“The planet does not want us here.” He gestured to the huge cloud of dust in the distance; its eerie shadow covered most of the bio-dome. Everyone knew its source. “We are unarmed against an enemy of immense power. Rescue is coming but it will take months to get here.”
“Maybe we can negotiate a truce.” It was Sam Jackson, one of the botanists.
“How would we do that Sam? Should I just walk out of the dome and surrender to the first boulder I see?” He wanted to take that back as soon as he’d said it. They were all afraid. Sam was only trying to help.
The meeting ended and people zombied back to work. Hillman tried to be positive but had just too little hope to offer.
In his office, he looked at what started it all. Everything had been fine until this. In an enviro-case, was Sam Jackson’s biggest success – the first flower to grow out of Martian soil.
Word count 298
The prompts: This story must contain the words: shadow, bridge and flower
Unwelcomed
Destroying the bridge was their only defense.
It could be a long trip around your typical Martian crevasse. Hopefully help would arrive before It could either circumvent the mile-deep trench or find another way across. Commander Hillman estimated they had no more than five months. After that, he and the rest of the colonists would be gone – either rescued or dead.
It was going to be a close thing. Earth had been notified but help was not exactly around the corner. Evacuating the entire base had never been part of the blueprint. Ships had to be built. After that, it was a four-week journey.
“Hold on as best you can Commander. We will be on our way soon.”
No use arguing. The distance was what it was.
Hillman gathered the colonists to discuss the situation.
“The planet does not want us here.” He gestured to the huge cloud of dust in the distance; its eerie shadow covered most of the bio-dome. Everyone knew its source. “We are unarmed against an enemy of immense power. Rescue is coming but it will take months to get here.”
“Maybe we can negotiate a truce.” It was Sam Jackson, one of the botanists.
“How would we do that Sam? Should I just walk out of the dome and surrender to the first boulder I see?” He wanted to take that back as soon as he’d said it. They were all afraid. Sam was only trying to help.
The meeting ended and people zombied back to work. Hillman tried to be positive but had just too little hope to offer.
In his office, he looked at what started it all. Everything had been fine until this. In an enviro-case, was Sam Jackson’s biggest success – the first flower to grow out of Martian soil.
Word count 298
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