part one of the last weekly :D word count: 1806 cli-fi - 220 words He set his drink down on the table, stood up, and walked towards the front of the boat, looking out in disbelief at the seemingly perfect landscape around him. Creamy waves churned and crashed up onto beautifully jagged rocks, and in every other direction the striking blue waters seemed to extend infinitely. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” said his companion, a tall, important looking man in a military uniform, his jacket festooned with medals and badges. “Untainted. The last place of its kind, I believe.” “It is,” he responded, “how have I never heard about it before?” “Well, you of all people know what would happen if word got out.” “It would be gone in the blink of an eye.” “Exactly. That’s why I thought you would like to see it, beefore…” “Before what?” “Well, I know just as much as you do that conserving places like this is important… but the welfare of the state is important as well.” “...and?” he asked, but felt, with growing dread, that he knew what the answer would be. “An expedition here recently has detected some pretty valuable resources lurking just underneath this lake. And I know it’s upsetting, but that’s just too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially in the current state of our country. We’re moving in the machinery tomorrow.” goth-fi - 221 words Bang - the sound echoed off the brick walls of the dark, foreboding castle, causing James to freeze in place and nearly drop his lantern in fright. He wondered whether it would be a better idea to move closer and investigate the sound, or move on and pretend that it had never happened; in the end, he decided on the former. Cautiously, James turned around and began to tiptoe towards the source of the noise - careful to avoid the numerous holes and puddles of water on the floor. Eventually, after a painstakingly slow journey through the halls of the castle, he reached the room that the banging noise seemed to be coming from: a tall, open chamber that looked like it had once been a library. James did a brief scan of the room, and heaved a sigh of relief as he quickly located what had been making the sound - it was simply a bird that had gotten stuck between two metal bars. He carefully nudged the bird until it was free, watching it eagerly fly away from the ruined castle and off into the distance. James only wished he could simply fly out like that, without a care in the world. But, he thought sadly as he stared at the dark, cracked brick ceiling, he still had a task to complete. robinsonade - 237 words “Really?” Steve asked, looking around with incredulity at his barren surroundings. “Did it have to happen now?” “I mean, it’s been a year since last time,” said Dustin, his companion, who was dangling his legs over the edge of the small, rocky island they had been sent to. “Okay, but right before the party? Couldn’t the Devil have waited, like, a few hours?” “I guess the timing could have been a little better,” responded Dustin with his usual indifference. “We should probably get to making our shelter, though. I think I can see a storm coming.” “...with what?” Steve said, growing more and more exasperated. “We don’t even have any trees this time!” “...Oh. I did not notice that. Well, is there anything we can use?” “Not that I see. And this island is about twenty feet wide, so I don’t think there’s anything I don’t see.” “Well then, I guess all we can do is wait, and hope the storm doesn’t kill either of us.” Steve, not having any better ideas, nodded, and sat down on the rock next to Dustin. And they waited. The storm rolled in just as the sky was beginning to darken, immediately pelting freezing rain down on Steve and his companion. “Dustin?” He asked, yelling to be heard over the roar of the wind. “This storm looks pretty bad!” “I… I guess all we can do is hope for the best.”
In front of him, stretching in every direction, was a bustling train station, filled with all different kinds of people going in every direction. But what shocked Dustin the most is that as soon as he stepped through the door he had felt all his memories flooding back. And he remembered dying. So the afterlife, Dustin thought as he walked down the platform, is a train station? As strange as it seemed, it was true - and he was having trouble deciding where he should go. There seemed to be nearly infinite options, so - not wanting to wander around aimlessly any longer - he chose an open train at random, stepped inside, and sat down in one of the less crowded areas. It did not take long for the train to fill up, however, and soon two men - one with a dark beard and brown cloak, the other wearing an old army uniform - asked if they could sit across from him. “Sure,” he responded, “I’m Dustin, by the way.” “Oh, hey – that’s my name too,” said the man in the army uniform, “are you new here?” “Yeah… Well, I think so. I’m not so sure how time works down here.” “Yes, things are a little strange,” said the man in the cloak, who had introduced himself as James, “but we’ve learned to lead somewhat normal lives. Anyway, how did you die?” “Long story short, me and my friend made a deal with the Devil over some help with our calculus homework - and in exchange, we’d be teleported to a random island for one week every year. Let’s just say it didn’t really work out.” spy-fi - 219 words “Are you ready?” Jeff the pineapple asked as he adjusted his immaculately tailored black suit, which actually concealed a secret knife – which in turn concealed seven nuclear weapons. “I’m ready,” replied his tomato friend, Jerry, wearing a similar but bright red suit – his hiding a stack of bobby pins, a weapon that the two fruits’ enemies often underestimated. “Let’s do this,” the fruits said in unison, sliding on their black sunglasses and jumping out of their helicopter onto the top of a museum. The museum, although not many knew this, was actually a secret lair of an anti-fruit organization, and three criminal vegetables - who bore the juice of hundreds of fruits on their hands - were being harbored there. It was Jeff and Jerry’s job to locate and eliminate those threats. And, armed with sharp minds and a dangerous arsenal of knives, hair accessories, and nuclear weapons, they believed that they could do it in no time. “Have you got their location pinpointed?” asked Jerry as they crouched on the roof of the museum, overlooking Fruit City’s stunning skyline. “Not exactly, but I think I’m getting close,” Jeff responded, clutching his advanced Vegetable Tracker. “I know they’re somewhere over in the west wing of the museum.” “With the fruit statues?” “With the fruit statues. I think they’re planning something big.” epistolary - 207 words Dear Jeff, Life as a spy in Vegetable City has been pretty hard. It’s a very rewarding job sometimes, and I know that it’s important for the welfare of all citizens of Fruit City, but I start every day not knowing if I’ll come back as a free fruit. The vegetables in the government there haven’t caught onto me yet, but I know it’s just a matter of time, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever come back once they do. I just wanted you to know that I’m thinking of you every day, and I hope that I can return to our home in Fruit City as quickly as possible. Love, Jerry (PS: The bobby pins you gave me for our wedding anniversary are really coming in handy) Dear Jerry, Ever since you left Fruit City last month, my life has not been the same - I miss going on adventures with you, and saving all of our citizens together - though I know that what you’re doing is just as important, if not more, as my work here in Fruit City. Knowing you, I’m sure that you’ll be able to evade those idiotic vegetables, and I hope that you can return home swiftly and safely. Love, Jeff surrealism - 234 words Dustin landed on a damp yellow carpet. Still aching from the long fall out of the world of the dead, he gingerly sat up and looked around. The rest of his surroundings were not any less dreary than the floor - peeling yellow wallpaper, and a yellow ceiling with oddly placed fluorescent lighting. He seemed to be in some kind of maze, he realized, with that same old yellow carpeting and walls in every direction. This is certainly not what I expected, he thought as he wandered aimlessly around, looking for any sign of an exit. Didn’t James tell me I would get, like, reborn as someone else? This certainly didn’t seem like rebirth: Dustin was still in his same body with his same mind - and he did not know of any place like this in the world of the living. At least it’s better than that weird afterlife place, he told himself, but in reality, this strange place did not seem much- (cont. in comments)
