PHOTO PROMPT © Mr. Binks
With every turn of its giant robotic arms it ate more and more people, mashed them down in its storage belly where the remains were consumed via its lubricating acids into fuel. They were supposed to be safe. “No human will ever be harmed. It is programmed to protect human life.” Ha. Once the hackers took control it was ends justifies the means and that life was only sacred if it is on our side.
Once the programming was altered, well, the AI lurking online took over. Human was reclassified Robotic. Its job now was to protect all electronic life.
This is a Friday Fictioneers prompt
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Word Count: 100
© Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. All Rights to the works and publications on this blog are owned and copyrighted by Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. The Owner of this site reserves all permissions for access and use of all documents on this site. NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
It was as though they had just disappeared. Everything in the kitchen was left as if the inhabitants had put everything down and walked out.
It was exactly what had happened.
The invading aliens’ mind control was total. One look was all it took. The victim became robotic, responding only to that’s alien thought.
Half the planet gone. A non-willing slave force.
I stood staring at the empty home. Marked off the address on my list and headed to the next home knowing I would find the same. I had to complete the survivors’ census. Paperwork allowed for no emotion.
This is a Friday Fictioneers Prompt
You can read more FF prompt responses here
Word Count: 100
© Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. All Rights to the works and publications on this blog are owned and copyrighted by Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. The Owner of this site reserves all permissions for access and use of all documents on this site. NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson
The light called to her.
Drew her closer, night after night.
What would happen, when she reached it, she wondered.
Shadows graced the foreshore, standing between her and the light. Perhaps when they reached it first she would see what came next.
Curiosity whispered her name.
The shadows faded, one by one.
She didn’t see what happened.
She would only she when she got closer.
Step by step she traveled on.
The blade hidden beneath her clothes razor sharp. She would find what took her sister. And she would hunt it back. No more would go missing. On she walked.
This is a Friday Fictioneers prompt
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Word count: 100
© Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. All Rights to the works and publications on this blog are owned and copyrighted by Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. The Owner of this site reserves all permissions for access and use of all documents on this site. NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox
I look up.
Green surrounds me. I lay stunned from my impact with the ground, simply breathing. I’m empty. A part of me missing. Like a hole that now gapes inside my chest. Loss. Alone. Empty. I peer to either side and spy burnt and broken wings. I still don’t move. I can’t.
What do I do now?
I roll over. Pain fires through every nerve and vein. I’m alive. I climb to my knees. I’m on my own.
Beneath the canopy so many lay where they landed. Lost. I wonder if they will find each other. Will they learn?
This is a Friday Fictioneers Prompt
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Word count: 100
© Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. All Rights to the works and publications on this blog are owned and copyrighted by Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. The Owner of this site reserves all permissions for access and use of all documents on this site. NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz
Okay, the pick-up wasn’t what I was expecting. Clearly. But I was told this was the item. And the item is loved. That’s what gives it so much power. All that love stored up inside. If you stretched it out end to end it would reach eons. Time is only a construct of emotion after all. That’s all experience is. Emotions. Pain, joy, pleasure, anger and so on. And well, love… That’s a commodity. Everyone wants it. Powers the largest equipment imaginable. The space traveling kind – which is what makes this such an expensive auction item.
I’ll be rich.
This is a Friday Fictioneers prompt
You can read more FF prompt responses here
Word count: 100
© Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. All Rights to the works and publications on this blog are owned and copyrighted by Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. The Owner of this site reserves all permissions for access and use of all documents on this site. NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
PHOTO PROMPT © Fleur Lind
The door leaning against the trunk was nothing but a disguise. The true door to the other world was hidden above the humans’ eyeline. Shade and shadow and bark drew the eye creating an owl-like shadow that caused laughter before they moved on. A little higher was my way home. The gate is locked. I’ve been locked out of home for far too many years. One day it will open. And I will be ready. I lick my gleaming claws and picture splashes of blood coating every surface. Oh, yes. I will be ready. They will regret exiling me here.
This is a Friday Fictioneers prompt
You can read more FF prompt responses here
Word count: 100
© Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. All Rights to the works and publications on this blog are owned and copyrighted by Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. The Owner of this site reserves all permissions for access and use of all documents on this site. NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
“We’ll never find it in here.”
“The key was brought in with all his stuff.”
They killed the cameras with their remote “fritzer” and she took one side; he took the other. Searching methodically, they worked hard to appear as shop browsers rather than agents searching for a particular item. Fortunately, the shop was mostly empty. Also fortunately, the assistant was focused more on her phone than watching any shoppers. It took four hours. “Found it.”
Now to raid the safety deposit box. They had to find Reality Slicer before it could be accidently used again. No more would disappear.
This is a Friday Fictioneers Prompt
You can read more FF prompt responses here
Word count: 100
© Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. All Rights to the works and publications on this blog are owned and copyrighted by Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. The Owner of this site reserves all permissions for access and use of all documents on this site. NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
PHOTO PROMPT © Susan Rouchard
The door lock was an easy pick. She used the dim late afternoon light pouring through the uncovered window to aid her search. The main living room was cluttered. She’d trailed the mark for days and knew he had the device. The scientist thought he was clever. He was not. She conducted a thorough search and discovered it inside the sofa. She pocketed the device as the light flicked on. Blending in with the shadows, she circled him and exited unseen.
Now to destroy this space satellite remote device. No one else would die by his hand. A deadly technology.
This is a Friday Fictioneers prompt.
You can read more FF prompt responses here.
Word Count: 100
© Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. All Rights to the works and publications on this blog are owned and copyrighted by Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. The Owner of this site reserves all permissions for access and use of all documents on this site. NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook
The surface was calm.
The night quiet.
No breeze caressed the water.
And yet… the smallest of ripples broke the silence.
A head breached the surface, green eyes fluttered. Lips parted, drawing in oxygen.
She was dazzled by the lights in the distance. There would be people there. People with two legs. Warm blooded people.
No guard dogs. No guards.
A grin split her face, exposing razor sharp teeth. Hunger filled her eyes. She would fetch her brothers and sisters. It was time to feast.
With a flick of her golden-scaled tail, she dove below. The surface returned to stillness.
This is a Friday Fictioneers prompt
You can read more FF prompt responses here
Word count: 100
© Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. All Rights to the works and publications on this blog are owned and copyrighted by Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. The Owner of this site reserves all permissions for access and use of all documents on this site. NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
About the Book:
Edinburgh, 1920. Three children are missing, abducted from the poorhouses of the city.
When a body is found near the town of Liberton, Dr Thomas Stevenson, still suffering from the trauma of the First World War, finds himself drawn into the police investigation. But suspicion falls on the woman with the mysterious past who lives with Thomas. Could she be guilty of the brutal murder?
With time running out and lives at stake, Thomas must prove her innocence, but to do that he has to find the real killer and unlock the truth about her secret past. A past that casts a long, dark shadow.
My Thoughts:
A gripping tale of possible murder, missing children and a kidnapping.
Iain Kelly has created a fascinating taste of the little town of Liberton on the cusp of being consumed by the big city. This tale spans a period of about fifteen years, from 1905 to 1920 and is set during and after the First World War. It focuses on individual recovery, PTSD and depression in ex-soldiers to poor and destitute women struggling to survive in a world that doesn’t want poor, desperate, single mothers to survive. It is also about two people who come together after suffering through their own horrible experiences to find friendship and perhaps a little more. More importantly they find someone to care about – to the point of saving each other’s lives. The mystery of the missing children deepens into an investigation into murder and then rockets into a race to save the life of the third missing child.
Iain Kelly has a fabulous writing style that quickly draws you into the story and into caring about the characters. I found myself unable to put the book down, drawn into the mystery and the backstory of how these characters came to be in the circumstances they found themselves to be in. The sprinkles of history and detailed descriptions of war, buildings, hospitals, inns and other locations truly brings the tale to life in a gritty, realistic way. The plot twists and turns and keeps you hooked. The drama builds beautifully into a heart pounding ending. If you like a bit of history and a lot of mystery then you will thoroughly enjoy this story.
Rambles, writing and amusing musings 