The Colour of Hope (flash fiction)

Credit: Getty Images

The Colour of Hope

The starship came out of the jump. It was so heavily damaged it was doubtful it could do another.

“SARA, what do you see?” Jeva asked the ship’s computer.

“There is a red planet ahead of us. It’s not suitable for life, Captain.” Jeva’s heart sank.

“You don’t have to call me Captain.” Jeva reminded SARA.

“You are last sentient being still alive, so you are designated captain.” SARA informed her. “There is another planet.”

Jeva looked at the screen. In the distance a blue planet slowly came into view. For Jeva, blue meant hope.

Joanne Fisher

Word count: 99

This was written with the prompt colour of hope provided by the Carrot Ranch April 24 Story Challenge.

Please support this blog – Ko-fi 🙂

©️2023 Joanne Fisher

Advertisement

Question (flash fiction)

Question

I picked up the gun and put it to my head, then paused.

“So why are we playing Russian roulette?” I asked the others. They looked at me solemnly.

You see, I’m in my head a lot. When we sat down I assumed we were about to play cards. I began thinking about something that happened earlier, and then noticed a revolver was in front of me. I need to keep a better awareness of my surroundings…

I looked at them for clarification. Hoping I would get an answer.

“Less talking, more trigger pulling.” Said the guy next to me. I pulled the trigger.

Joanne Fisher

I guess “Less talking, more trigger pulling” is where we’re at in this moment. I was struggling with a prompt and decided to tackle it via the absurdist route. While it didn’t solve the prompt issue, it did give me this.

Please support this blog – Ko-fi 🙂

©️2023 Joanne Fisher

Interrogation (micro fiction)

Interrogation

“You need to make a confession.” Andrea demanded. She pinned Terri down so she couldn’t move.

“I’m innocent.” Terri declared.

“Don’t give me that!” Andrea insisted. “I know you ate all the chocolate-chip cookies.”

Joanne Fisher

Word count: 33 + prompt

This was written with the prompt confession provided by Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt #308.

Please support this blog – Ko-fi 🙂

©️2023 Joanne Fisher

Disconcerting (poem)

Disconcerting

someone behind me
on the bus
whistling in time
to the music playing
on my headphones

Joanne Fisher

I do have some posts lined up, I’m just dealing with motivation issues at the moment.

©2023 Joanne Fisher

Dark Eyes (flash fiction)

Dark Eyes

All I remember is dark eyes. There was a knock at my door. The next day I awoke on the lounge floor, weak and sensitive to the light. I crawled to my bed and collapsed, falling into a black dream. When I awoke again, it was dark outside. I sat up slowly. My neck hurt on my right side. Standing up, the room spun around, but I managed to get to the kitchen where I gulped down water. Then there was another knock at my door and I couldn’t stop myself from opening it. Again, there were dark eyes.

Joanne Fisher

Word count: 99

This was written with the prompt someone dark eyed provided by the Carrot Ranch April 17 Story Challenge.

Please support this blog – Ko-fi 🙂

©️2023 Joanne Fisher

The Beast (flash fiction)

The Beast

The old woman caught a glimpse of a hideous evil beast in her mirror. Panicked, she pressed the alarm. As she was a prominent citizen, the police took no time at all to respond. They searched her large mansion, but found nothing.

“We’ve looked everywhere ma’am, but can’t find any trace of this beast you saw.” The police chief informed her. “However we’ll leave a few officers here, just in case it returns.” The old woman nodded gratefully.

Once she was alone, she looked in the mirror again. The beast looked directly back at her.

Joanne Fisher

Word count: 99

This was written with the prompt the old lady and the beast provided by the Carrot Ranch April 10 Story Challenge.

Please support this blog – Ko-fi 🙂

©️2023 Joanne Fisher

The Derelict (flash fiction)

The Derelict

The boat had been floating on the lake for some time now, with no sign of anyone on it. Jeff decided to investigate, for all he knew there may have been someone requiring help on it.

That late afternoon he steered his own boat towards it. When he reached the other boat, he called out, but there was no response. Laying anchor, he then jumped over to it. Again there was no sound of movement.

“Hello is anyone here? Do you need assistance?” Jeff called out. The boat remained deathly silent. Looking around on the top deck, he saw no evidence of recent life.

Opening the hatch to the lower deck, he again heard nothing. He closed the hatch after him and climbed down. There was a scream, and then silence.

Tiffany looked out over the water. She saw two boats floating beside each other. It seemed they had both been there for a while now. Strange no one has investigated that, she thought.

Joanne Fisher

This was written with the photo prompt provided by Crimson’s Creative Challenge #231.

Please support this blog – Ko-fi

©2023 Joanne Fisher

Surviving (micro fiction)

Surviving

Once I awoke from out of my coma, they informed me I had been in a car accident. They did cognitive tests to understand the extent of my brain damage.

It wasn’t until I saw my family that I learned Maria, my girlfriend, had died in the crash. Was it really surviving to go on living without her, I wondered.

Joanne Fisher

Word count: 59 + prompt

This was written with the prompt cognitive provided by Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt #306.

Please support this blog – Ko-fi 🙂

©️2023 Joanne Fisher

The Desert Dog (flash fiction)

The Desert Dog

They guarded the water in this patch of desert. One morning a dog ran up. It made for the water, but they threw stones at it.

“Get away you mongrel!” One shouted. The dog slunk away. Shortly afterwards, a woman appeared.

“May I have some water please?” She asked.

“Certainly miss.” She drank a few cupfuls. They watched her walk away. She then transformed into the dog and ran off.

“What do you reckon? Is that a person who turns into a dog, or a dog who turns into a person?” One asked.

“Maybe it’s both.” Suggested the other.

Joanne Fisher

Word count: 99

This was written with the prompt dog in the desert provided by the Carrot Ranch April 3 Story Challenge.

Have a Happy Easter everyone, if you celebrate it.

Please support this blog – Ko-fi 🙂

©️2023 Joanne Fisher

The Arrival (flash fiction)

The Arrival

The computer systems aboard our starship awoke us from our long hibernation. We all slowly awoke with long hair and raging hunger. According to our computer, we had finally arrived at our destination after silently voyaging for millennia through the depths of black void. I looked at the viewscreen: before us was a planet with wide oceans and continents. The planet was so impossibly blue it stood out in sharp relief against the blackness of space around us. This was to be our new home where we could begin again, and hopefully not destroy the biosphere a second time…

Joanne Fisher

Word count: 99

This was a second thought regarding the Carrot Ranch’s prompt on impossibly blue.

I read recently the problem with the idea of using hibernation to travel large distances in space is that it would require a lot of calories. Bears, for example, have to eat a lot of food before they hibernate in the winter, otherwise they wouldn’t survive it, and humans would have to do the same. Unfortunately even if you began the journey morbidly obese you still wouldn’t get very far with current technology (probably not even out of our solar system). Thus traveling huge distances of space using hibernation wouldn’t feasibly work. There are several of other ways of getting humanity across the stars however. Firstly you could put the crew into cryogenic storage instead and try to revive them once they arrive at the destination (this could have a high fatality rate). Secondly, forget sending people and send a 3D biological printer and just print out humans (as many as you need) once you get there. This would be more practical as it means you wouldn’t have to worry having life support systems on the ship itself. Thirdly, invent a warp drive or faster than light drive that actually works. Fourthly, hopefully find out that wormholes do exist…

Please support this blog – Ko-fi 🙂

©️2023 Joanne Fisher