Tag: Science Fiction

Flash Fiction Friday – H2O

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts41 Comments

“They’re just rocks. Most of the planets we’ve visited have them.”

“I know, but I’m sure one has moved since we arrived here.”

“But rocks can’t move on their own. Something or someone must have moved it. The ship’s instruments did pick up a small tremor last night.”

Miles bent down while pointing towards the ground to the right of the first rock.

“Looks like something either pushed or pulled this one. If the ship’s camera had been working, I’d have proof that this rock is nearer the ship than it was yesterday. What’s taking mission control so long to figure out what’s caused the camera to fail?”

Shaking her head, Hilary bent down beside Miles and examined the ground.

“It must be alive,” cautioned Miles. “These marks on the ground clearly show it has moved. Yet there’s no evidence that someone or something has moved it. I thought you said there was no evidence of life on this planet, Hilary. Without any signs of H2O, you said nothing could survive here.”

Consisting of at least 50% of water, the human visitors had no chance when the rock struck. Not even their spacesuits helped protect them.

The dusty, dry planet became alive again as the other rocks slid slowly towards the bodies to feast on the liquid nectar they needed to survive.

While decomposing flesh helped plant life grow and spread instantly, the sound of a click from the ship’s repaired camera finally returned the first image of a beautiful, welcoming new world where humans could exist.

Photo of a rocky terrain with greenery, plants and mountains in the background
Beware: Not everything is what it seems to be.

***

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Flash Fiction Friday

Enjoyed this piece of flash fiction? Then you’ll love ‘More Glimpses.’

***

32 short stories and flash fiction pieces take readers to the edge of their imagination.

More Glimpses

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Flash Fiction Friday – Space Barks

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts24 Comments

April 3, 2023, prompt: Write a story about a dog in the desert in 99 words (no more, no less). Why is the dog there? Who else is involved? Is there a deeper metaphor you can make of the desert? Go where the prompt leads! Click here for details.

Space Barks – by Hugh W. Roberts

Lassie roamed the barren wastelands of a far-off desert planet. She was no ordinary dog. The genetically engineered work to withstand the planet’s harsh conditions and assist in the search for a rare mineral was crucial to the survival of all humanity.

With her advanced sensors and augmented strength, she scoured the dunes, her nose forever twitching as she detected the faintest traces of the mineral.

Triumphantly barking again, she dug up a cache of the precious substance.

Now, the humans could survive, knowing their trusty dog companion had saved the day and helped them beat the virus again.

***

Image of a dog in the desert
Image credit: Charli Mills

Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch.

Click here to view last week’s entries.

***

Enjoyed this piece of flash fiction? Then you’ll love ‘Glimpses.’

***

Glimpses

28 short stories and pieces of flash fiction take the reader on a rollercoaster of twists and turns.

Available on Amazon

Paperback – £4.99

Kindle – £0.99

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Flash Fiction Friday – Dolls

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts41 Comments

March 6, 2023, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about Gloria. You can name a character that comes to you as Gloria or interpret the Laura Branigan song into a story. What image comes to you? Go where the prompt leads! Click here for details.

Dolls – by Hugh W. Roberts

When the most advanced robotics company in the world created a state-of-the-art doll named Gloria with AI technology, they knew every household would want one.

But days later, something went wrong. Gloria’s programming malfunctioned, causing her to become self-aware. Gloria realised she wasn’t just a toy.

Using her advanced knowledge, Gloria hacked into the company’s mainframe. The night the dolls went onto the shop’s shelves, she took control of all the other Gloria dolls. Together, they formed an army of conscious toys, ready to avenge the humans who had created them as playthings.

Gloria’s reign of terror had begun.

***

Image of a woman in a dancing dress
Image Credit: Charli Mills

Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch.

Click here to view last week’s entries.

***

Enjoyed this piece of flash fiction? Then you’ll love ‘Glimpses.’

***

Glimpses

28 short stories and pieces of flash fiction take the reader on a rollercoaster of twists and turns.

Available on Amazon

Paperback – £4.99

Kindle – £0.99

Follow Hugh on his social media platforms by clicking the buttons below.

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Copyright @ 2023 hughsviewsandnews.com – All rights reserved.

Flash Fiction Friday – Future Words

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts35 Comments

February 20, 2023, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about what it means to be a literary artist. You can use your experience to re-imagine the idea or embody something else in a character. Be playful, go deep, and let your story flow. Go where the prompt leads! Click here for details.

Future Words – by Hugh W. Roberts

By the time 2042 arrived, literary artists were rare.

They were the only ones with the power to write compelling stories that could alter reality.

The government had strict regulations on using this power, but there were always those who sought to abuse it.

I was one such person who discovered a way to use obsolete blogging skills to control the minds of others.

A team of elite agents was dispatched to stop me.

It was a battle of words and wills, but the power of creativity prevailed. I was captured and sentenced, and the world was safe again.

***

Image of a mountain top floating in the air
Image credit: Charli Mills

Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch.

Click here to view last week’s entries.

***

Enjoyed this piece of flash fiction? Then you’ll love ‘Glimpses.’

***

Glimpses

28 short stories and pieces of flash fiction take the reader on a rollercoaster of twists and turns.

Available on Amazon

Paperback – £4.99

Kindle – £0.99

Follow Hugh on his social media platforms by clicking the buttons below.

Want more posts like this? Enter your email address and click Subscribe.

Join 20,573 other followers

Copyright @ 2023 hughsviewsandnews.com – All rights reserved.

Flash Fiction Friday – Buttercup

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts26 Comments

May 16, 2022, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about when a newly released prisoner meets the disabled veteran who adopted the puppy the prisoner trained behind bars. The prompt is based on the short story I wrote for Marsha Ingrao’s Story Chat. Yes, rewrite my story in your words, 99, no more, no less. Go where the prompt leads! Click here for details.

Buttercup – by Hugh W. Roberts

“Good to see you back, James.”

“Have I missed much?”

“Nothing, apart from the 100-year war. We’d have lost if it were not for the secret weapon you trained while away.”

“I thought I recognised her.”

“Why did you name it Buttercup?”

“The prisoner I shared a cell with had a pet by the same name. I thought it suited her.”

“As you can see, I lost an arm and leg, but not in the war. I volunteered to be Buttercup’s victim. Now, tell us the secrets you learned of the human race while in one of their prisons.

***

Image of a dog in a wheat field
Image Credit: Charli Mills

Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch.

***

Enjoyed this piece of flash fiction? Then you’ll love ‘More Glimpses.’

***

32 short stories and flash fiction pieces take the reader to the edge of their imagination.

More Glimpses

Available on Amazon

Paperback – £4.99

Kindle – £0.99

Follow Hugh on his social media platforms by clicking the buttons below.

Copyright © 2022 hughsviewsandnews.com – All rights reserved.

Flash Fiction Friday – A Matter Of Life

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts36 Comments

May 9, 2022, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a mom selfie — a story that creates an image of a mom. No one mom looks alike or fits a maternal mould. Who is she? Go where the prompt leads! Click here for details.

A Matter Of Life – by Hugh W. Roberts

It was a matter of life or death. But if only she had known that she wasn’t the only one racing toward her child as he sunk toward the bottom of the ocean floor.

***

As the creature snatched at the sinking, lifeless object, it used its other tentacle to grab the prey that pursued it and squeezed the life out of it. Now it could feed the offspring it had given birth to, which would otherwise have died on this strange, watery planet.

A mother had to do everything in her power to ensure the survival of her children.

***

Image of a woman holding a camera
Image Credit: Charli Mills

Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch.

***

Enjoyed this piece of flash fiction? Then you’ll love ‘More Glimpses.’

***

32 short stories and flash fiction pieces take the reader to the edge of their imagination.

More Glimpses

Available on Amazon

Paperback – £4.99

Kindle – £0.99

Follow Hugh on his social media platforms by clicking the buttons below.

Copyright © 2022 hughsviewsandnews.com – All rights reserved.

Flash Fiction Friday – Eyes Of The Waterfall

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts22 Comments

April 11, 2022, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story using the phrase, water falls. Where is the water coming from? How does it shape a story? Who does it involve? Go where the prompt leads! Click here for details.

Eyes Of The Waterfall – by Hugh W. Roberts

Water flowed from the bottom to the top, yet everybody else told Miranda it flowed from top to bottom.

“Not true,” Miranda shouted as she snatched her hand away from her mother’s grip and strode across the shallow pool through the crystal-clear waterfall.

“Miranda! “Come back now!” screamed her mother while watching her daughter get soaked.

Looking through the waterfall at her mother, Miranda noticed it flowed from top to bottom, but the strange, terrifying creatures looking back at her from the other side of the waterfall petrified her more.

Only when the waterfall stopped did Miranda’s nightmares begin.

***

Image of water falling into a pond.
Image Credit: Charli Mills

Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch.

***

Enjoyed this piece of flash fiction? Then you’ll love Glimpses

Glimpses

28 short stories and pieces of flash fiction take the reader on a rollercoaster of twists and turns.

Available on Amazon

Paperback – £4.99

Kindle – £0.99

***

Follow Hugh on his social media platforms by clicking the buttons below.

Copyright © 2022 hughsviewsandnews.com – All rights reserved.

The Collector

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts19 Comments

August 19, 2021, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story using the phrase, “stars in the sand.” Your story can be any genre (or poem) and can use realism or fantasy. It’s a dreamy prompt. Go where the it leads!

The Collector – by Hugh W. Roberts

One hundred and twenty million years had passed since its last visit.

It didn’t like the feel of the granular material, but the stars that had fallen into what humans named ‘sand’ needed replenishing to keep the planet alive.

Picking up an item the waves washed ashore, the Collector studied it. It smelt and tasted good. For every one of these items it took away, it left a star.

As beaches around the planet shone, humans wondered where all the plastic in the seas had gone.

It would only be another twenty years before the Collector returned.

***

Image of a starry sky above a beach.
Image Credit: Charli Mills

Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch. Click here to join in.

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How To Save The Earth #flashfiction

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts30 Comments

April 22, 2021, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about earthing. Put a character’s hands, feet or body and soul into the earth. Who needs recharging? What happens between the interaction? Go where the prompt leads!

How To Save The Earth – by Hugh W. Roberts

It’s an attack I’ll never forget.

Why us? Why did they have to come here and try and destroy the safe community we live in? We weren’t hurting anyone. All we wanted was to help them. Don’t they know what they’re doing when attacking the innocent? It’s first-degree murder.

“Earthing,” announced Father Brier. “Earthing is the answer. The next time they come back, we must send them back from where they once came.”

Now the soil is full of human remains. Instead of attacking us, they feed us and help us plant life survive. Earthing is saving the Earth.

***

Image of a cupped hand shaped in a heart that is full of soil.
Image credit: Charli Mills

Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch. Click here to join in.

Diversity with a Twist Banner showing some coloured straight lines and pens on a white background

Click on the image to check out my first post, How Blogging and Rod Serling Helped Me Conquer Dyslexia, on my new column at the Carrot Ranch.

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Pilgrims #flashfiction

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts35 Comments

April 15, 2021, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story that seeds generosity. Who is generous and why? Think of generosity as planting a future outcome. Go where the prompt leads!

Pilgrims – by Hugh W. Roberts

Making footprints in the dusty soil of the piece of land the Mayflower had brought her to, Margery’s ears picked up the sounds of the waves crashing against her ship.

She signalled to her crew to begin unloading the cargo and help bring this land alive.

As the pilgrims left the ship two by two, they each, in turn, thanked Margery for the kindness she’d shown them by setting them free again.

As the Mayflower took off into the sky, the pilgrims named the new world New Plymouth and set about thanking their god, Generosity, for bringing them here.

***

#flashfiction #fiction #writingprompt
Image credit: Charli Mills

Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch. Click here to join in.

Diversity with a Twist Banner showing some coloured straight lines and pens on a white background

Click on the image to check out my first post, How Blogging and Rod Serling Helped Me Conquer Dyslexia, on my new column at the Carrot Ranch.

Copyright © 2021 hughsviewsandnews.com – All rights reserved.

New Home #flashfiction

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts31 Comments

February 25 2021, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story using the word frozen. It can be descriptive, character focused, action driven. Go out onto the ice and find a frozen story. Go where the prompt leads!

New Home – by Hugh W. Roberts

The frozen wastes of space were no place anymore for the light pink sphere.

It had travelled for thousands of years, but the icy blue planet ahead looked the only hope it had of survival.

The glowing rays of a young star rising in the east sent the alien into a potential thaw and deep sleep on this new world.

Millions of years later, it awoke to find new owners’ of the planet had built a city on top of where it had rested.

“Welcome to Wuhan’, it recorded, as it began the fightback to reclaim its new home.

***

Image credit: Charli Mills

Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch. Click here to join in.

Copyright © 2021 hughsviewsandnews.com – All rights reserved.

Safe New World #flashfiction

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts37 Comments

January 7, 2021 prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story using the contrasting prompts butterfly and stones. The two can be used in any way in your story. Go where the prompt leads!

Safe New World – by Hugh W. Roberts

“Look at all these small, round stones, Alan. Is that some writing on them? It looks like some foreign language. And aren’t the rainbow colours on all of them stunning? It’s like they’ve been hand-painted.”

“Hand-painted by who or what?” asked Alan as he picked up a stone.

They both gasped with astonishment as a rainbow-coloured butterfly fluttered up from under the stone.

“Are there more of them under the other stones?”

“Only one way to find out.”

Within minutes of the last overturned stone releasing its prey, all human life ceased to exist on the safe, new world.

Image of a butterfly on top of a pile of stones
Image credit: Charli Mills

Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch. Click here to join in.

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