Thursday, July 14, 2011

Entry #7

Consequences
by Craig Scott


Stephen hurled his pointy stick away in disgust. He would kill for an electric screwdriver but it was another billion years before some clever primate invented stone tools. Who was he kidding? He couldn’t program his VCR and this mismatched pile of metal represented the most sophisticated machine in the world today. Or was that tomorrow?

A time machine.

Why was he always getting into trouble? He didn’t mean to. Robbing that store was his friend’s idea yet it was he who barely escaped juvy. Maybe his mother was right and he was a screw-up. That’s why she sent him to live with his uncle, the family’s one success and the world’s greatest scientific mind. Well he wasn’t fixing the contraption and rescue wasn’t likely. Even if his uncle constructed another prototype he would have eons of time to sift through.

Stephen stared up at the nearby volcano and his resolve hardened. He wouldn’t be responsible for screwing up history. His mother wouldn’t let him hear the end of that. Even he couldn’t mess up hurling himself into a volcano.

#
Dr. Reynolds carefully scraped away the last layer and sighed.

“What happened here?” His assistant asked.

“It’s just like Pompeii. The body was covered by ash and was preserved.”

“That skeleton’s human?”

“Yep.”

“Below the tarehera ash layer?”

“Yep”

“That’s dated to 12 million years ago?”

“Yep.”

“What’s that mean?”

Dr. Reynolds felt the first twinges of a blossoming headache. “The creationists are going to have a field day.”

28 comments:

Aimee Laine said...

His mother wouldn’t let him hear the end of that.
Oh I can so imagine this coming from a teenager. ;)

Anonymous said...

I love your take on the picture. the time travel angle gets spooky in the end, but really well done.. :)

SzélsőFa said...

oh, the complications of scientific evolution... at the time of Mr. Reynolds, I guess time machines don't even exist...:)

Jade L Blackwater said...

Great character development and a fun punch line. I'm left wondering, will he bury the evidence to save himself the headache?

Michele Zugnoni said...

*insert guffaw here* That was awesome! Two different tones in such a short piece, yet they mesh together in brilliant form. Great work.

Thanks for sharing!

pegjet said...

I liked this one. That touch of irreverence sells it.

fairyhedgehog said...

Loved, loved, loved the punchline to this!

Aniket Thakkar said...

Its one of those pieces that make me count the number of words, thinking - "No way those were just 250 words". You packed a complete piece. Loved the pacing. The time-shift was jelled in nicely too. Loved the piece.

Catrina said...

Excellent punchlines at the end of each section.

PJD said...

I've nothing to add to the other comments. This was delightfully chippy.

bluesugarpoet said...

Of course you know the stick is in the National Toy Hall of Fame - very clever writing. :) I love the two vignettes! ~Jana

Unknown said...

Ahhhh....Adam without Eve, creationists indeed.

Dottie :)

JaneyV said...

Craig, this is delightful. I love that he threw himself into a volcano just to shut his mother up. And the punchline is priceless!

Old Kitty said...

LOL!! Silly Stephen!! This is wonderful - playful and funny! Thank you, take care x

Richard Levangie said...

Craig — This was a fun entry! Thanks.

Chris Alliniotte said...

Lots of fun. I can only echo the above. Great voice, and great idea.

yamini said...

I agree with all the comments above.
Loved the time travel idea!
Good one!

C. Sonberg Larson said...

Great concept. Very creative. A fun read.

Brigid O'Connor said...

I loved the voice in your piece, a clever, creative piece with some lovely humour lurking within.

As a mother of a teenager, I loved this line:

-He wouldn’t be responsible for screwing up history-

Erratic Thoughts said...

This was a clever take on the prompt..."blossoming headache" hmmm I should think about a headache that way next time..it might make it easy to handle...
Nicely done :)

Linda Ryan-Harper said...

Yippee! A field day! Loved this...

Linda Ryan-Harper said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Linda Ryan-Harper said...

nothing sinister in my second comment, Craig, just somehow posted my above comment twice...but, hey, I'm not ashamed to say it again...Yippee! A field day! Loved this...

Anonymous said...

Have I mentioned (more than twice) that I'm a sci-fi geek? I LOVED the tone of this piece!!

Rachel said...

Nice idea -- mother's consequences! HA! Buying a ticket to Hawaii now for my son and sending him with an old VCR player and a stick.

My parallel universes salute your time travel!

Congrats on your placement. This was some very tough competition and your piece was just grand.

(Plus everything everyone else said)

Wendy said...

Congrats, Craig!

Anonymous said...

Ha! Loved that. Such a cool idea, and very well portrayed. Very good writing and story decisions.

Congratulations on 5th Place!!

PJD said...

Congrats on the award!