Long ago I put a few stories up on a site called Ficly
The point of the site, in the words of the Ficly admin:
Ficly is about creativity. When I was originally thinking about this idea, I was looking for something creative I could do for the last fifteen minutes of my lunch break before I jumped back into coding and writing documentation. I’d originally had an idea for a much larger site for serious fiction, but realized that most people don’t have the time to write serious fiction. But, everyone can carve out fifteen minutes to either continue a story someone else has started, or start something of their own – something simple – two, maybe three paragraphs of a character, a plot or even just a place.
From “About” on the Ficly.com site
So these are my submissions.
SandsSpot (Bio blurb)
I’m fighting off middle age the best I can. The hair on my head reveals the vector of the battle. Soon I’ll have to update my icon to a snowy white and concede defeat, accept middle age and get on with life. Not today, however. Today, though I struggle to remember when I find myself standing in a doorway whether I’m entering a room or just leaving, I count myself among the young.
I’m joining Ficly to prove it; to prove I’m still young; that my brain still functions creatively and with ease. Well, it functions creatively, anyway. Sometimes. On Sunday evenings just after the sun sets and I’m getting ready for bed to get up early for work the next day…
I’m kidding, of course.
In summary, I’m a married male in my fifth decade of life with two kids, no grandkids, and am still working on my bachelors degree (BS in CS). I work in IT (telecom) and have for almost three decades. Also, I like to write and like to think I do it well. At least, well enough.
That, in a nutshell, is my 1024 character bio 😉
The Stories (3)
After World
Author: SandsSpot
Published September 26th, 2010
Average rating: 5 out of 5
We Came in Peace …
Author: SandsSpot
Published July 21st, 2009
Average rating: 5 out of 5
The Return
Author: SandsSpot
Published July 7th, 2009
Average rating: 4 out of 5
The Return
The prophesies of the Christian Bible fulfilled, Jesus recently returned to Earth. There was no fanfare of angels or great shining beams of light, instead His return came quietly one Wednesday afternoon.
Jesus first visited Jerusalem. He surveyed all the promised land. He surveyed all the surrounding lands. Yes, the prophesies were fulfilled, but yet- He brushed away the thought, muttering, “surely not!”
Jesus travelled to Rome, the seat of His church. We mixed up the calendar; observing the wrong day as the Sabbath. “Well, that can’t be right!” He told a passerby. To be sure, following a stray lead, He went to a small museum in Kentucky. “No,” He said, “Humans did not co-exist with dinosaurs! No wonder the rapture failed! They all got it wrong!”
His chosen people badly interpreted His teachings. So, disgusted, he waited no longer; He returned to Heaven. “Father, forgive me, but I cannot rule over these people. Give them all to Satan.”
“Sorry, Son. He already rejected them,” came the reply.
COMMENTS
From M.
I love this! This is a real commentary on, what I believe, the historical Jesus would say about those who proclaim allegiance to Him today!
Rated: 4 out of 5
From S.
Nice story, especially the ending. Personally I’d like a little more emphasis on the fact that people twisted the history for controlling people and to gain power.
Rated: 4 out of 5
From SandsSpot
Hmm… Good thought S.… I may need to work up a “The Return v.2”…
First I want to think about other ideas, though.
jbs
We Came in Peace …
I stared at the plaque for a long time, pondering the words. Some were names and dates, from an age long ago. Our explorers recovered the relic recently and our scientists examined it carefully. An ordinary metal, some simple etching, nothing extraordinary about the plaque.
We looked across the vista before us, up at the orb above us and the larger one below. I wondered about the people that created the plaque, “What were they like?” I didn’t mean to say it out loud.
“Like all the rest, I imagine,” one of the plaque finders said. “Just like all the rest. Dreamers, idealists, ironic.”
“Ironic,” I thought silently. I reread the plaque. I didn’t think they meant to be ironic, but there it was. I bet they didn’t even know. The important words on the plaque were:
“Here Men From The Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We Came in Peace For All Mankind.”
We lost their radio signals and came from far away to see why.
Soon after that time religious wars wiped them out. Not peace.
COMMENTS
From R.
Very intruging, but I almost wish you had left the ending more open ended. C’est la vie. I am compelled to add to this though…Hmmmm
Rated: 4 out of 5
SandsSpot
Thanks for the comment and feedback. I actually knew the ending before I wrote the beginning, but still, more open ended would have been good.
After World
Many years ago people made a choice. They chose poorly. We survivors live with that choice. The last of the generation that participated in that choice would pass on in a few years. Many of them still deny their culpability. Still.
Those few of us still engaged in academic studies have recently worked out how that poor choice came to be. Humans denied the possibility that we could cause such a change of climate because they believed the world was created perfect and mere humans could not destroy what the Creator had wrought. We now understand humans could.
Our greatest challenge now, though, isn’t growing sufficient crops on the remaining usable land, and it isn’t finding potable fresh water or any of the other dire conditions we face now on the Earth. No, with our now depleted technological capability and lack of infrastructure, we have no way to deflect an inbound comet. In a few months, an ice and rock behemoth now visible to human eyes will erase our mistake just like another did to the dinosaurs.
COMMENTS
From T.T.
Wow! Really makes you think about the issues that we’re faced with today… I love the last paragraph, especially the last line!
Rated: 5 out of 5