Jettisoned – Flash Friday on Saturday

You may have already read my story for Flash! Friday, but here it is again. The added element was ‘space travel’ and the prompt picture was this:

Bicycle Tunnel, double exposure. CC photo by r. nial bradshaw.

Jettisoned

Dawson thumped his scanner, ‘What’s our time datum?’

‘1930s judging by the state of those.’ Marian pointed to two bikes leaning at the tunnel’s entrance, ‘It’s the right kind of place to hide a Relativity Raft.’

Dawson put his ear to the tunnel wall, ‘Maybe the tunnel is the ship.’

Marian smirked, ‘They wouldn’t trust you with anything this large.’

‘I didn’t break the ASM-9!’

‘So you say. ‘

A distant whirring silenced further objection from Dawson.

Marian stepped back against the tunnel wall as the sound grew into a man on a bike. He whizzed past them and out into the daylight.

‘System Control hates us.’ Marian muttered.

Dawson resumed his scan and the instrument beeped. He redirected it and it beeped again.
He looked to Marian, ‘They wouldn’t..?’

Marian looked down the scanner’s line of sight and back to the tunnel’s entrance.

Dawson raised it again to triple check the data.

Marian ran for the red one.

Lost and Found – Flash Friday on Saturday

Ok. So I’ve managed a Friday Flash Fiction challenge. It’s been a few weeks but I’m back!

I nearly missed out because Washington DC have shifted their clock back so I thought I had a hour longer than I actually did. Because of that, the version I’ve written here is ever so slightly different from the version I rushed and posted earlier today to meet the deadline.

Here you go:

Creative Commons photo by Kat/Swim Parallel.

Element: A detective

Lost and Found

Harrison glanced over at the bus stop, ‘Let’s go from the beginning.’

Beams flicked back through her notebook, ‘Well, the neighbour saw her leave at 3pm yesterday “looking quite smart”. The bus driver said he dropped her off here at about 5pm with two bags of groceries. They were dumped just here.’ Beams gestured beside the fence line.

Harrison straightened up and squinted into the distance, ‘Where does this field go?’

‘Ends up at Bateman’s Quarry.’

‘Did we search it?’

‘The field, or the quarry?’

‘Either. Both!’

Beams hesitated, ‘We concentrated our search around her route home – wait, Sir!’ she clambered over the fence after Harrison.

‘She went shopping, you say?’

She looked back to her notebook, ‘Pasta, vegetables, dog food, milk, butter, bread – ‘

‘Let’s say she crossed this field.’ he turned to look at Beams, ‘Why?’

Beams grappled with a decent idea.

‘What would be so important?’

Then she heard it bark.

A Poetic Post

I’m here. I’m back! It’s been nearly a fortnight since my last post. Sorry about that. Life and work are dragging me away from this little space.

Since I last posted I lost a dear mechanical friend. So I wrote a poem.

[Warning: Contains bad rhyme.]

Little Red Car… By Leila Raymond

Ode To My First Car

There was a time I thought we’d never meet,
I felt safer on buses and walking the street.
Chauffeured beyond the age of twenty,
‘Til I gained my licence and saved every penny.

I scoured the country on a car-sourcing caper,
I waited three months and saw this the paper –
‘Five years old’ and ‘low ks’, the advertisement said,
‘A five door hatch in fire-engine red’.

As soon as I saw you, I felt instant delight,
I bargained the price but knew you were right.
You were perfect for long trips, or jaunts to the shop,
And over the years I added ks to your clock.

You obligingly carried me to where I was heading,
You took me to markets and my own wedding.
I had all the liberty a car could enable –
The freedom to roam without a timetable.

You were made before Bluetooth and at the advent of the internet,
You were made after CDs, but you still had a tape-deck.
I thought you were perfect, with nothing to deplore,
(Except for airbags, where you could’ve used more).

You weren’t large with a sun-roof, or sporty with mag wheels,
You were basic and zippy and matched my ideals.
I tried not to notice the signs that foretold,
Your days were numbered – you were getting old.

You’d begun to gurgle and your red paint had paled,
You coughed on cold mornings and your clutch failed.
You started to shudder on a 100k road,
And my heart ached the day you were towed.

When the mechanic said you’d served your purpose,
I made enquiries and you were practically worthless.
Except for those years when we utilised my licence,
And created memories that were incredibly priceless.

It seemed unfair it should be this way,
That I should upgrade and someone takes you away.
It wasn’t a simple matter of dependency,
It contradicted my hoarding tendency.

But although we are now forever parted,
I was delighted to have you while you lasted.
Without fanfare or celebration, this is a humble end,
For the years I called you my mechanical friend.

 

 

Take Five

Take Five

Enter saxophone solo…

I’m joining in the fun and creating a 5 x 5 post, first seen here, second seen here and third seen here (Benzeknees actually started all these shenanigans!). I’m telling you, this kind of thing is contagious.

Five Things I am Passionate About (sorry, a bit of repetition here):

1. Education – children are our future and ignorance brings fear.
2. Equality – for everyone – you, you and you!
3. Kindness – treat others as you like to be treated.
4. Environment – reuse, repurpose, recycle.
5. Animal welfare – Temple Grandin style with emphasis on positive reinforcement training.

Five Things I Would Like to Do Before I Die While I’m Still Alive:

1. Write a book.
2. Conquer my fear of failure.
3. Return to England and Ireland.
4. Get a dog.
5. Read more.

Five Things I Say A Lot:

1. ‘Naaaaaaw!’ I get cuted-out quite easily.
2. ‘Well hello!’ My ‘cute’ greeting – eg. A dog has just sniffed my knees.
3. ‘Sorry’ I apologise excessively
4. ‘He-he’ combined with a goofy grin and possibly happy-hands when I’m really excited about something. It’s hard to explain as it also has its own cartoon-esque accent.
5. ‘Actually’, ‘Really’, ‘Very’ – I ‘always’ over-emphasise everything.

Five Books or Magazines I Have Read Lately:

1. Blogs (Too many, too varied and full of awesomeness).
2. Australian Country Style (magazine).
3. Dog’s Life Magazine (all I need now is a dog).
4. ‘Stardust’ by Neil Gaiman.
5. ‘Art Deco: The Golden Age of Graphic Art and Illustration’ by Michael Ormiston & Rosalind Ormiston (non-fiction).

Five Favourite Movies (In no particular order – and believe me – I have more!):

1. Dave – A story about a lookalike American president. It’s idealistic and charming and a romantic comedy of sorts.
2. Lars and the Real Girl – A man falls in love with a life-sized blow-up doll – do NOT let this synopsis put you off.
3. Once – A charming Irish, modern day musical and love story.
4. The Emporer’s New Groove – Yes, it’s my favourite Disney – I quote this daily.
5. Good Will Hunting – A story about a troubled young genius searching for direction.

There you have it. Are you enlightened?