Response to the writing dare by cs5066569 (aka Venus) PROMPT: Write a prologue to a story in less than 5 minutes. The story has to contain at least one scientist and a long-forgotten secret. ~ Prologue ~ “Lynx, stop!” Sage hastily stuffed the test tubes back into the cabinet, wincing when one of them clattered to the floor. Her father would not be pleased. That didn’t matter now, though. All that did matter was stopping her sister from making trouble--again. As sisters, the two were complete opposites. While Sage loved reading and following the rules, Lynx was the type to wreak havoc wherever she went. /Last week, it was the “lab experiment,/ Sage remembered. /The one that ended with the explosion and activated the laboratory self-destruct. And last, last week, it was that little “accident” with the microscope./ Sage flinched and sped up her pace. She had to stop her sister before anything else happened. Finally, after placing the last lab equipment back into its designated place, she rushed after her sister. She squinted ahead at Lynx, who was staring intently at a blank wall, a look of concentration on her face. Sage recognized the wall immediately. It seemed like only a few days ago when their father had come back home with a mysterious box in his arms. He had placed the contents of the box behind a wall--now known as the forbidden wall--and warned them to never go near it. Sage groaned as she realized Lynx’s plan. Great. That was exactly like something her sister would do. “Dad told us not to go near that wall,” she said desperately as she caught up. “But why? Yeah, I know, he says that. But he never actually tells us why we shouldn’t.” Without taking her eyes off of the wall, Lynx turned and gave Sage a sly smile. “But still, you can’t defy Daddy’s orders. You’ll get punished!” Lynx crossed her arms, still keeping her eyes glued to the forbidden wall. “Sage, I know you want to know what is behind the wall as much as I do. Can’t we just take a little peek? Come on. A little peek can’t hurt anyone. Besides, Daddy always said to have a scientist’s spirit. Anything for science, right?” Sage hated that her sister knew her so well. She had known her weakness immediately and targeted her sense of curiosity. And as much as she hated to admit it, she did want to know. What could be so bad that her father had warned them to avoid--at all costs? “. . . Fine. But only a little peek,” Sage relented, hoping she wasn't making a big mistake. Lynx flashed her trademark smirk. “I knew you would come through eventually.” She turned back to the wall. “Now about this wall. Hmm . . . I wonder if I can climb this thing . . .” Sage watched in horror as her sister started scaling up the side of the wall, her limbs weaving gracefully between the metal bars, using the tiny gaps between the metal as footholds. “Hey, wait!” < Continued below >
Lynx climbed higher, ignoring her pleas. Sage sighed. Now, she had no choice but to follow. She carefully hoisted herself onto the wall and with infinite slowness, started climbing. The process wasn’t even close to being as graceful as her sister’s. But Sage was happy to settle with “not dying.” As she made her way to the top, the ground seemed as far away as ever. “I really hope we’re not going to get in trouble. Augh. If I have to go on petri-washing duty for ONE more week, I’m going to--” “Sage . . . look! We’re here . . .” Lynx was uncharacteristically quiet. Sage couldn’t read her sister’s expression from where she was, but she could catch the uncertainty in her voice. “What IS that?” Sage whispered as she finally made it to the top. The sight was stunning. A gigantic dome-shaped inner structure housed an enormous vat with an unidentified clear liquid bubbling at the brim. The vat was connected to several tubes, and Sage could distinctly make out a blurry form tucked within. /But that can't be possible . . . can it?/ Sage felt a shiver run down her spine. “It looks like some sort of vat.” Sage still couldn’t tell how her sister felt. Each word she said remained emotionless. “But . . . Why would Daddy want us to stay away from an empty vat?” “Wait . . . I think there’s something inside,” Lynx muttered, straining against the wall to catch a better glance of the container below. /Why does that vat look so familiar?/ Sage thought, confused. And that blurry shape writhing in the vat . . . A memory tugged at Sage’s head and something clicked into place. She felt as if she’d been struck by lightning. /That’s not something . . . It’s someone!/ The realization was met with a burst of flashbacks from the past. But no. It couldn’t be. Sage refused to believe it. Besides, why would her father keep a secret like this? Sage wanted to scream. She wished she could go back in time. Back to this morning. When all this hadn’t happened yet. “Lynx, we have to get out of here!” Lynx turned, all traces of the careless smirk vanishing. “What’s the problem? Ow! Stop tugging on my hand! Wait! Go back! I want to see what’s in the vat! Hey!” Sounds of metal grinding started reverberating through the laboratory. Sage knew that their time was almost up. The countdown had begun. Now the only problem was convincing her stubborn sister to run for her life. “Lynx, I’m serious. We need to run!” “But-” “We’ve run out of time, Lynx. RUN! I’ll explain on the way.” “Okay, okay! Wait for me!” Lynx put an extra burst of speed and stumbled to catch up. “Now tell me what’s going on!” Sage marveled at this--she’d spent years trying to find out how to run faster than her sister and now all it took was a wall. Or more like what was within the wall. But her unexpected shower of adrenaline might have also been caused by her brain, which was currently unhelpfully screaming: /RUN NOW OR YOU WILL DIE./ She took a deep breath, trying to clear her head through the fog of panic enough to explain to her sister. “It all began 7 years ago . . .”
