Friday, July 15, 2011

Entry #25

The Seventh Bowl
by Wills Mullen


Quakes registered off the scales, a rumbling so consistent it was impossible to measure them separately. On every coastline, the land began breaking off into the ocean. With the impending tsunami, it was clear that Japan would go the way of Atlantis. The world keeled, horrified and impotent.

Kaito reached for the nuclear reactor as though he could pull it back and save the world. In the ironic futility of this desperate attempt, salt water fills his mouth and abrades his nostrils. Air gurgles from his lungs, and it occurs to him that he is drowning, along with millions of others. He is crossing over. He is becoming omniscient.

“Gesu no atojie.” The first necessity of life was oxygen; the second, water. The solar flares had scorched the planet, and now the water would turn toxic, as one-by-one, most of the reactors of the world would sink into the seas during the Great Earth Crumble.

Finally, when the planet left the galactic center, it would implode with a deep breath, then shoot outward like a wet sneeze. Magnetic scraps would be attracted by gravity to other places. An undamaged pyramid would spin to the belts of Saturn. The Eiffel Tower, flipping end over end, would plunge into the dark side of Uranus. The Large Hadron Collider would be appropriated by an intelligent species inhabiting a planet far, far away.

“Sho ga nai. Shikata ga nai." He does not look back. It cannot be helped.

14 comments:

Aimee Laine said...

My favorite bit. Totally made me laugh (sorry if that wasn't meant for it!)
"...it would implode with a deep breath, then shoot outward like a wet sneeze." :)

Catrina said...

After the March quake, this hits close to home. Aimee's favorite bit was mine too.

Just a note--the changing tenses threw me a little bit.

But some intriguing imagery in the second to last paragraph. I'd love to see a pyramid in orbit (well, maybe not if the world must be destroyed first.)

yoku dekimashita. =)

Michele Zugnoni said...

Nice work. I could feel your character's pain; the need for oxygen and water is base, and his lack of both is frightening. Excellent imagery, too.

Thanks for sharing!

Precie said...

Nicely done. Interesting that the prompt made us both think of Japan. Vivid global imagery.

Aniket Thakkar said...

Sugoi Sugoi!

I'm a sucker for Japanese Anime so I loved the references and phrases in the piece.

Arigatho Gozaimas, Wills-sama.

PJD said...

The wet sneeze is classic and may win best image when the contest is all said and done. The tone of this is so detached and analytical; I love the final line.

fairyhedgehog said...

I loved "The Large Hadron Collider would be appropriated by an intelligent species" and wondered what they would do with it.

Jade L Blackwater said...

Wonderful apocalyptic descriptions.

My humble suggestion for this piece would be to take a second look at tenses in each paragraph - I get a little turned around with time in there.

Unknown said...

Nice scifi-y kind of piece. Though it does hit close to current events. Let's hope that the Earth doesn't implode and end up a wet sneeze..loved that line, lol.

Dottie :)

Old Kitty said...

Wow!! And what an understated ending - the apocalypse shrugged off. Wonderful! take care
x

bluesugarpoet said...

I like the historical idea of "The Great Earth Crumble." It makes me think our hero will warn other species in other universes of our mistakes! ~Jana A.

Richard Levangie said...

The imagery is potent, offering several terrific phrases, although I agree with a few others that it needs some polishing. I enjoyed reading!

JaneyV said...

Wills - I love the idea that the iconic structures of mankind would be strewn across the solar system like debris - the snot of a wet sneeze. This destruction scenario is somehow perfect and I'm really now sure why.

Anonymous said...

A violent apocalypse. I understand his sentiment. It cannot be stopped, indeed. I liked the pacing the most of all.