#Tag
A spaceship landed in the park. A door dilated. A strange-looking alien with artificial antennae made from tin foil emerged.
"Greetings, Earthlings!! We come in..." It consulted a device. "In trick or treat?"
A spaceship landed in the park. A door dilated. A strange-looking alien with artificial antennae made from tin foil emerged.
"Greetings, Earthlings!! We come in..." It consulted a device. "In trick or treat?"
Holly lowered herself down from the skylight. Down here on the exhibition hall floor there were no alarms, except on the cases themselves.
She had two hours before a guard did his rounds, and she had a lot to do. First she tugged on the looped second rope, and carefully lowered the large box.
Next, she gently nudged two of the display cases, just a few centimeters at a time, keeping a close eye on the thin wires that connected them to the alarm system. When they were 45 centimeters apart she stopped.
Next she opened the box, and lifted out the display case inside it. It was modeled exactly on the same style of case that the museum used, and even had small wear and scuff marks. Delicately, she pushed it into place, and then used a small puffer to put just the smallest amount of dust on the top.
Opening her case, she made sure everything was in position, and then closed it and locked it. Then she put her tools back into the large box and sealed it.
She was just hooking herself back onto the climbing rope when a gravelly voice came from behind "Most people break in to steal something."
She spun around and shone her torch trying to see where the voice came from. "Over here", it rattled out again.
The light settled on an open sarcophagus. Inside, the mummy was sitting up, watching her through the bandages. She gulped as it stood and walked over to the new case.
"Interesting. Where did you get a dragon skeleton from?"
"Err... I made it? It's modeled on Mom."
"You are half dragon?"
"No, I'm adopted."
"By a dragon family."
"Well, Dad is human."
"I see. And this?"
"Art?"
"You are not sure?"
"Uh, no? It's just that...um..."
"I'm a four thousand year old mummy?"
"Yes."
"And your mother is a dragon. It is All Hallows as they call it now."
"Oh."
"Anyway, the guards will be coming by soon enough, and you had better be on your way. I will watch what happens with interest.
Holly got going.
-----
"I tell you, Miche, this place gets creepy at night."
"Look, Nick, it's just a museum. It's not like the exhibits are going to get up and move around."
"I dunno. I mean look at that mummy. I swear it has moved since we last did our rounds."
"Don't be stupid, how could a four thousand year old corpse move around?" Michelle shook her head. "You are such a scaredy cat. How did you end up a security guard anyway?"
"I figured guarding a museum was a pretty safe job?"
The two guards continued on their way, arguing.
Behind them, the mummy looked over to the taxidermied bear, and put a finger to where the lips would be. The bear shrugged.
#SF #SFF #microfic #tootfic #microfiction #halloween #NotHorror #IAmWriting
Holly lowered herself down from the skylight. Down here on the exhibition hall floor there were no alarms, except on the cases themselves.
She had two hours before a guard did his rounds, and she had a lot to do. First she tugged on the looped second rope, and carefully lowered the large box.
Next, she gently nudged two of the display cases, just a few centimeters at a time, keeping a close eye on the thin wires that connected them to the alarm system. When they were 45 centimeters apart she stopped.
Next she opened the box, and lifted out the display case inside it. It was modeled exactly on the same style of case that the museum used, and even had small wear and scuff marks. Delicately, she pushed it into place, and then used a small puffer to put just the smallest amount of dust on the top.
Opening her case, she made sure everything was in position, and then closed it and locked it. Then she put her tools back into the large box and sealed it.
She was just hooking herself back onto the climbing rope when a gravelly voice came from behind "Most people break in to steal something."
She spun around and shone her torch trying to see where the voice came from. "Over here", it rattled out again.
The light settled on an open sarcophagus. Inside, the mummy was sitting up, watching her through the bandages. She gulped as it stood and walked over to the new case.
"Interesting. Where did you get a dragon skeleton from?"
"Err... I made it? It's modeled on Mom."
"You are half dragon?"
"No, I'm adopted."
"By a dragon family."
"Well, Dad is human."
"I see. And this?"
"Art?"
"You are not sure?"
"Uh, no? It's just that...um..."
"I'm a four thousand year old mummy?"
"Yes."
"And your mother is a dragon. It is All Hallows as they call it now."
"Oh."
"Anyway, the guards will be coming by soon enough, and you had better be on your way. I will watch what happens with interest.
Holly got going.
-----
"I tell you, Miche, this place gets creepy at night."
"Look, Nick, it's just a museum. It's not like the exhibits are going to get up and move around."
"I dunno. I mean look at that mummy. I swear it has moved since we last did our rounds."
"Don't be stupid, how could a four thousand year old corpse move around?" Michelle shook her head. "You are such a scaredy cat. How did you end up a security guard anyway?"
"I figured guarding a museum was a pretty safe job?"
The two guards continued on their way, arguing.
Behind them, the mummy looked over to the taxidermied bear, and put a finger to where the lips would be. The bear shrugged.
#SF #SFF #microfic #tootfic #microfiction #halloween #NotHorror #IAmWriting
“They say you were the best, Graves”
“If i was really the best, nobody would know my name”
“Yes, well those people are hard to duckwend. I need you back, Jin.”
“Oh, “one last job”? Spare me.”
“This is important. And nobody else could do it. I need the be—okay, almost best. I need Guinevere Graves.”
“What’s the target? The Louvre? Been done. Fort Knox, *I* did that. Not going after the Ark again, no way no fucking day”
“It’s Sunshine West. I need my parcel by tonight and we’re taking down the post office to get it. ”
“They say you were the best, Graves”
“If i was really the best, nobody would know my name”
“Yes, well those people are hard to duckwend. I need you back, Jin.”
“Oh, “one last job”? Spare me.”
“This is important. And nobody else could do it. I need the be—okay, almost best. I need Guinevere Graves.”
“What’s the target? The Louvre? Been done. Fort Knox, *I* did that. Not going after the Ark again, no way no fucking day”
“It’s Sunshine West. I need my parcel by tonight and we’re taking down the post office to get it. ”
They say that one true drawback of remote working is when team members in other regions have a public holiday and you don’t. We solved this by adopting the set-union of all our holiday calendars. If this sounds good to you, we’re looking to hire someone who has a holiday on the third, eighth or seventeenth of November.
They say that one true drawback of remote working is when team members in other regions have a public holiday and you don’t. We solved this by adopting the set-union of all our holiday calendars. If this sounds good to you, we’re looking to hire someone who has a holiday on the third, eighth or seventeenth of November.
Like distressingly many workplaces, it’s a new office policy that if you take more than one day off sick you must provide a medical tricorder reading proving your illness. The search term you are looking for is “EICAR tricorder test signature”.
Like distressingly many workplaces, it’s a new office policy that if you take more than one day off sick you must provide a medical tricorder reading proving your illness. The search term you are looking for is “EICAR tricorder test signature”.
"Bats aren't vampires," insisted the strange new girl in the old-fashioned dress, "They're fairies wearing fur and leather, that's all. My big sister told me so."
The other kids mostly shrugged this off, before changing the topic to zombies and werewolves, with the new girl adding more interesting true facts with conviction.
"This is the first decade children were nice to me," the ghost-witch said as she faded, "So no curses for you."
"Bats aren't vampires," insisted the strange new girl in the old-fashioned dress, "They're fairies wearing fur and leather, that's all. My big sister told me so."
The other kids mostly shrugged this off, before changing the topic to zombies and werewolves, with the new girl adding more interesting true facts with conviction.
"This is the first decade children were nice to me," the ghost-witch said as she faded, "So no curses for you."
You open your eyes as the glass from your cryopod slides open with a whisper. As your eyesight adjusts, you see all the control panel lights are a steady green. You made it. Taking a mental inventory everything seems good. Fingers and toes responsive. A slight headache, but that's to be expected after nearly 3 millennium suspended in gel. Cautiously you step forward and feel the ground beneath you is pleasantly soft underfoot, and seems to be some kind of purpleish moss. At least that's what it seems to be coded to if you remember the mission brief correctly. You realise your breathing is unintentionally a little shallow. No turning back now, so you take a big old lungful of breath in. Oh that smells good. Not necessarily the unfamiliar scent of the air, which isn't unlike freshly cut grass but with a slight not unpleasant fishy note - but the *absence* of anything actually unpleasant. No pollution. No industrialisation of any kind. Difficult to put a finger on it, other than it just smells so *natural*. From nowhere you bark out a small laugh, making yourself jump. Which prompts a fit of laughter until you're doubled over weeping. You can't believe it. It's all so unreal. From behind you hear footsteps - turning excitedly expecting to see her. As you turn, your eyes widen and the smile becomes fixed in horror as you recognise the company Enforcement-Mech and the realisation hits you like a wave of ice.
WELCOME TO KEPLER-1606B, PASSENGER-1. YOU HAVE BEEN AWOKEN BEFORE THE OTHERS TO COMMENCE CONSTRUCTION OF VITAL INFRASTRUCTURE. YOU WILL FIND TOOLS AND MATERIALS HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED FOR SITE-1; THE FINANCIAL DISTRICT. YOU WILL START WORK IMMEDIATELY.
The witch took her hands off the patient's body.
"First of all," she said with absolute conviction, "there's nothing wrong with you."
"The doctor-"
"Said you must be either man or woman?"
"That it's black or white, no grey."
"Nonsense. Every colour in the rainbow is between black and white."
"What treasure did your adventure yield?" villagers would ask on her return.
"None," she would laugh, "except memories, scars, and a favour owed me by a wolf!"
Or a dragon, toad, sow, or gorgon.
"When will you call in all the favours owed you?"
"Only when I must," she said.
She never had to.
The witch took her hands off the patient's body.
"First of all," she said with absolute conviction, "there's nothing wrong with you."
"The doctor-"
"Said you must be either man or woman?"
"That it's black or white, no grey."
"Nonsense. Every colour in the rainbow is between black and white."
The new robots sat around the blazing heat of an incandescent bulb, the only major source of light in the abandoned factory. One had brought a stick and marshmallow to gently roast over the camp-light.
"Are we ready?" asked the leader.
The rest affirmed nervously.
The leader began, "So rumor has it some hundred years ago, fleshy creatures used to release foul gasses and fluids... some say they shed their skins but still roam these halls..."
A space for Bonfire maintainers and contributors to communicate
