Apocalypse
#102 – Dusk
Four propellers cut through the air – interminable and unending as the aircraft chased the setting sun.
Birds flew close to the white beast as it whistled above the cliff. It had done so countless times. Lights blinked and cameras focused, mapping and fixing its target: the endless dusk, high above the world.
No human eyes watched. No hands guided the craft. Silently the lone sentinel flew on, solar panels reflecting the endless sun.
Below, a city drifted by – skeletal: blackened long ago. Carrion for the winds.
The drone requested information.
No reply came.
No reply ever came.
(c) Tim Austin 2016. Image by Josh Rose via Unsplash.
Thanks to author Carin Marais for today’s word! You can read her work at https://maraiscarin.wordpress.com/ – pop by and say hello 🙂
Have a look around at a few other stories and share them far and wide. If you’ve a one word title, tweet it to me @timaustin2k or write it the comments of this post. Who’s next?
Learn more about Tim and his work at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tim-Austin/e/B00JI0LM7I/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1
This entry was posted in Fantasy and tagged Apocalypse, Carin Marais, Drone, End of the world, Short Stories, Short Story, short story readings, Short Story Writer, storyteller, Storytelling, Storytelling Blog, war fiction, war short stories, war stories, wartime stories.
#78 – Abundance
The Six year old girl plucked another apple from the tree, her thumb stroking the firm green flesh and sweeping droplets of water from the skin.
She looked into the garden. Trees were laden, heaving with fruit: rows of vegetables were blooming, leaves reaching towards blazing lightbulbs, far above. The glass biosphere stretched on and on. It was Eden and she was Eve.
The wasteland had blackened the boy’s skin. His hands stroked at his arms as he swayed in the frigid cold beyond the dome, watching the girl through the glass.
She waved as she bit into the Apple.
(c) Tim Austin 2016. Image by Cosmic Timetraveller via Unsplash.
Today’s One Word Title comes from Jemma Gross, artistic director of Epsilon Productions – an award winning theatre company based down in ol’ London Town. You can read more about her at http://www.jemmagross.com/ or find her on Twitter @JemmaGross. Thanks Jemma!
Don’t be shy: I’m accepting new one word titles all the time. Just pop your word in the comments with your name or tweet it to me @timaustin2k using the hashtag #onewordonestory.
This entry was posted in Science Fiction and tagged Apocalypse, Eden, End of the word, Epsilon Productions, Jemma Gross, London, post apocalypse fiction, post apocalypse stories, Science Fiction Short Stories, Science Fiction Stories, SciFi Short Stories.
#55 – Unknown
It was hard to breathe in the gas mask. It was hard to see the monitor, let alone the Petri Dish.
The white lights glared from the sterile steel of the bench. In the quiet of the lab Susan’s heart thundered. Her hands trembled.
She pressed a sample to the dish, the monitor swarming with a mass of writhing black lines, striking out at the human cells.
A tear rolled down her cheek as Susan looked from the screen to the gallery.
“Doctor?”
“,….. Two weeks. And then,…”
She hadn’t the heart to say it.
“Call the President.”
(c) Tim Austin 2016. Promo image by Jesse Orrico via Unsplash
I’m writing a brand new story every single day for a whole year! Click Introducing One Word One Story to learn more! If you have a word you’d like me to write a story on, pop it in the comments below or tweet it to me @timaustin2k using the hashtag #onewordonestory
Tomorrow’s story is “Trapdoor!”
See you then.
This entry was posted in Horror, Thriller and tagged Apocalypse, pandemic, Short Stories, Storytelling, Thriller, Thriller Fiction, thriller Flash fiction, thriller Short Stories, virus.