Day 214 Writing Short Stories

Loop

There was always one special place in any given town where the kids hung out—a place with easy access, yet secluded enough that no adults stumbled there accidentally. The little forest at the edge of the town was just that to the small sleeping village, where nothing ever happened. The town had grown up around the factory. No one really knew what it produced, but almost every parent in the city worked there.

His mother worked there too. She always went in late to see him off to school. Today, he didn’t go to school. He had biked up to the little forest just after his mother had waved goodbye. He didn’t feel like going to school. What was the point? He would end up working in the factory, and it had its own program to school him in his task. So it was. Everyone knew that. No one ever really left the town. Adults seemed content with that. They thought the little quiet town was a blessing. He hated it here. He wanted to leave, but it was not like he would.

He dragged the beanie further down his ears to shield out the morning chill. No one else was there yet, but they had planned to skip school together with Matt. He should be there soon.

He leaned against the birch tree trunk, watching the steam roll in the air as he breathed out. The road leading into the woods was empty. There was only the morning frost and the occasional crow hopping across the empty landscape. The factory loomed over the trees, shadowing the road. It pushed steam out. The smoke rose like a huge column piercing the sky.

He had never been that interested in what his mother did. She did what she did. She never complained or said anything, in fact, about the work she did. When she got home, she made their dinner and then retired to read on the couch. She did nothing else. Work and read. Work and read. Occasionally, she had her friend Bess over, and they drank wine. But that was about it. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want to come to an empty home and read. He wanted more than that. He wanted to be a space pilot, or a cadet, or a singer—someone who would do great things and see the world. There was no world in the frost-colored landscape where the only exciting news was how the crops had come out this year or what Larry had put on his special in his little cafe, where everyone in the town ate. That was no life.

He heard tacks scrape on the road. He lifted to face the road, expecting Matt to come with his spike. It wasn’t Matt. It was one of the adults’ cars. He pushed behind the tree and watched the car slow down at the edge of the woods. It was Luke’s father. He hopped out of the car and opened the back door. He dragged something wrapped in a thick cloth out of the car and rolled it on the road. He glanced around, looking straight at him, but not seeing him.

Luke’s father rolled the cloth open. He peered behind the tree to see better. There was a long, metallic object lying on the ground. Luke’s father leaned over the thing and fumbled with it. Then he stepped back, giving room to the thing. The thing rose. He saw the factory logo on it. It was a huge metallic man or a robot, or a mech, or whatever. It folded up, standing in front of Luke’s father, who adjusted something on its chest.

“Go,” he heard Luke’s father command.

The robot turned its head in the direction Luke’s father was pointing, towards him. He shrieked, then clamped a hand over his own mouth.

The robot took a step towards the woods. Then another. Luke’s father wrapped the cloth back into the back seat and hopped back into his car, leaving the robot behind.

He stood there nailed to his place, watching the robot come towards him one by one, the factory logo shining on its chest.

Parents

This is about a boy meeting his girlfriend’s parents, who are special ops. I skipped this one.

Mystery

A kooky FBI agent comes to investigate a murder in a small village. I skipped this one, too.

The prompts are from the book A Year of Creative Writing Prompts.

The sun is up. The weather forecast promises that the sun will be up for a couple of hours. I have a walking date planned. So, I will leave and enjoy the little sun afforded us.

Thank you for reading ❤ Have a sunny day!