Weekly Challenge #459 – Eat

Welcome to the 100 Word Stories podcast at oneadayuntilthedayidie.com.

This is Weekly Challenge, where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic: Eat

We’ve got stories by:

The next 100 word stories weekly challenge is on the topic of I’ve Got Nothing. Scroll up and click on Weekly Challenge to learn how to join us!

Derp

ANIMA

I Need A New Job

Next!!

At the unemployment office, the line was moving steadily. It was nearing 9am, and the processor was thinking of his break. The sun was unbearably hot today.

Next!

Name? What was your last job? Why did you leave?

Next!

… I’ve been working in Nazarene as a carpenter, but I’m looking for a change. I am a great people person! The thirty-something smiled hopefully.

I have an opening for a sin-eater. Pays not great, but you would have a very strong influence in your community. Think that might interest you?

You said it was a permanent position?

Absolutely. Next!

JEFFREY

“Waist Line”
by Jeffrey Fischer

Chester teetered back to his seat, balancing two plates and a bowl. He settled his 350 pound frame onto the seat and considered where to start. Lasagne, bread, soup, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, dumplings, fried okra, mac and cheese, and pork roast. Oh, and a salad. He loved buffets, and this one was his favorite. According to Chester, the whole meal was good for him because of that salad. He set the salad aside and speared a dumpling.

Chester never understood why he kept gaining weight. After all, he had a salad almost daily.

“Blind Date”
by Jeffrey Fischer

Jessica arrived at the restaurant for her date. When she spotted Brian, she headed for his table. She was nervous about the evening, not least because Brian said he didn’t eat out much.

She was a little put out when he didn’t stand as she approached the table, but that paled in comparison with the next ninety minutes. Brian didn’t use a napkin, grabbed her water glass, nearly blinded her by squeezing a lemon garnish, ate with his mouth open, and checked for text messages all evening. Then he stuck her with the bill.

Now Jessica lives alone, with only a cat for company and Lean Cuisine for dinner. She considers this an upgrade.

RICHARD

#1 – George’s Story – Part 92: Have I mentioned zombies recently?

“Sorry about her”, smiled the chap in the middle seat, “she’s not too impressed with you.”

Completely bewildered, George simply stared at him vacantly.

“You’ve been a little irrational, the last few weeks…” prompted the one on the left.

George was incensed: “Irrational!”, he protested, “I thought zombies were going to eat my brains”

The man smiled at him: “Well, from what we’ve seen, if there had been zombies, they wouldn’t have had a very satisfying meal. Don’t you agree?”

George slumped, utterly deflated, in his chair.

“Look guys, can you just please tell me what this is all about?”

#2 – ‘Tiny’ Orson Thomas

See that picture on the wall there? That’s ‘Tiny’ Orson Thomas – a legend in his own lunchtime.

It seems unbelievable, but six times he’s completed the Sizzling Steakhouse Challenge – a sixty four ounce rib-eye, fries, two eggs over-easy and a side order of onion rings. His unbeaten record was twenty minutes and he’s considered a hero around these parts.

All the more surprising when you think he was only five feet tall and as thin as a rake.

Of course, it was the steaks that killed him in the end – but boy, could that guy eat!

#3 – Fussy eater

I guess I’m what most people would call a fussy eater, or, maybe you’d prefer just plain weird!

Some people won’t eat meat, others won’t touch dairy, as for me – I only eat food that shares the same letter as the day of the week…

Monday is mash; Tuesday, tuna; I’ll have walnuts on a Wednesday and so on. Weekends tend to be sausages and salmon.

Truth is, it does get a little boring and I do miss some of my favourites. There are days I’d kill for some bacon!

Which is why tomorrow, just happens to be Buesday!

MUNSI

Adam Ant

By Christopher Munroe

It’s dog eat dog out there.

No, literally Dog Eat Dog out there, I’ve been listening to old Adam Ant tunes for the past week and it’s gotten stuck in my head.

Which is great, it’s a classic, it’s just that, given time, I fear it will drive me mad.

The driving beat and repetitive chorus, blocking out all other thoughts, distracting me from my day-to-day life, causing me to lose my edge.

And I need my edge.

It’s dog eat dog out there.

It’s dog-eat-dog-eat-dog-eat-dog-eat-dog-eat-dog-eat WATCH ME DADIO!!!

Sorry, yeah, I may need to switch it to Depeche Mode…

TOM

A Well Defined Relationship Part 92

“You coming with?” “Coming where?” “There!” Timmy took the Gilgamesh card and thwacked-it at the mirror. The silver surface ripped. The card effortlessly passed through. “Damn,” said El Cid. “I guess Through the Looking Glass wasn’t bandit required reading.” “ No Steal this Book was.” “This might be a world class bad decision.” “Aren’t they all,” returned the bandit. The pair passed through the glass. The light was blinding. The heat was crushing. The Boy and Bandit had landed atop a ziggurat in a ring of ziggurats. The king himself greeted them with a plate of food. “Eat,” he said.

Goodbye Smith

“Come on Smith eat just a little,” begged Benny, but the dog just continued lying next to the wood stove. “Ok how about some water?” Smith took a few sips and then lowered his big head. When Death takes his time the first desire that passes is movement. That is followed by a lack of interest in food. When the beloved stops drinking his presence is unescapable. Mother said, “You can stay up tonight with Smith.” Benny was there when the labored breathing settled into a shallow draw. Mother handed Benny a sandwich. “Eat,” she said. Benny shook his head.

SERENDIPITY

Most people prefer a little room when they fly, but not me.

I look out for the obese passengers – preferably the ones who need an extra seat – squeeze myself in beside them and settle down for a long uncomfortable flight.

You may wonder why I choose such an unorthodox option… It’s simple – no matter how bad the turbulence, I’m safe and secure, wedged into place by my fellow passenger’s bulk.

And, should the worst come to worst, and we crash in mountainous terrain, I’ll simply eat them… And absolutely no chance that I’m ever going to starve!

LIZZIE

Eat Your Words

Everything was ready for the recording. The film would be released in just a few days. While the actors grabbed some food from the catering and slowly took their places, a crazed director stormed in. “Don’t you people have food at home? I’m hungry too. I’ve been working since 5 a.m.” One of the actors lost his temper. “Well, Mr. Director, no one will record anything today then…” And he looked at the script. “You can eat this.” That film was never concluded. Since then, all actors eat something right before starting to work, even if they are not hungry.

ZACKMANN

Doctor Monstercliff, I brought my teen here today because when he was considering fad or trendy diets I made the mistake of telling him that I was okay with any diet as long as he used our medical plan to consult a doctor or dietitian first. I know you’re new here to this land. Our peoples have a great deal in common however humans were not created like nor did we evolve from plants like the people of your home planet therefore we need food hence the Breatharian diet is quite lethal for us. Tell him he needs to eat.

SPATE

New Jersey Again

So it’s been at least seven years since I’ve done this trip but I’m back
down in Jersey for the week on business, staying at this hotel that’s wedged
behind a strip of chain restaurants and there’s this big sign out front, in
capital letters: E-A-T. That’s it – just “EAT”.

Now I’ve been committing creative sign alterations since my teenage years.
How could I let an action verb sit so lonely?

Some foam board, spray paint, duct tape, and a commandeered man lift.

Well, unfortunately the lawyers won’t let me share the after picture.

Common nouns can be very descriptive.

(music: “Deleve_SeLiga_Instrumental (press bass rmx)” by error404 featuring
presserror / curator: ccmixter.org/files/presse/12922 / CC Attribution
Noncommercial)

NORVAL JOE

I think meatloaf has to be the perfect food.
You can control the fat content by choosing leaner types of ground beef, if that’s your concern. Or you can increase the flavor by varying the ratios of ground beef, veal, pork or goat. You can select only ground meat from grass fed cattle, use non-GMO grains, gluten free rabbits, or carnivorous sheep.
It’s hard to deny the Meatloaf as a superlative source of protein. Why, it even says EAT right in the name.
But, I don’t understand why, after mixing one up, no one else wants to like the bowl.

TURA

Eat
——–
“Eat spurge, wear flem,” they say up north as a symbol of poverty. Spurge is a marsh reed which can be boiled and mashed into poor sustenance for the lowest of peasants. The tougher stalks– the flem– are pounded to separate the fibres, to be woven into shabby cloth. Etymologists debate whether flem is named for the Flemish or the other way round.

A new restaurant has just opened, serving these and other bygone staples of the destitute: potato worms, crutched friars, gravelfish, and breemliars. Dinner runs $200 for two, plus wine, and the waiting list is a year long.
—-
In southern Japan, the poor are ashamed to eat millet, because they cannot afford rice. In northern Japan, the poor are those who cannot afford millet, but must eat potatoes. In Russia potatoes are a staple (used mainly for vodka), but they consider turnips fit only for cattle. In Germany they eat turnips and give the cattle mangelwurzels. In Wales, they eat mangelwurzels but despise spurge. In Poland, they eat spurge but not barley. In Tibet, they eat barley rather than rice.

Whatever you eat, someone will look down on you for it, which explains a lot of restaurant reviews.
—-
Excellent steak!

By the way, have you ever been inside an abattoir? First thing is, the animal loses bowel control. So that’s all over the floor while they’re chopping the head off, opening the belly, and hauling out the guts to shovel up later for offal. Bandsaw the carcase, hang the sides for three days– see, you can’t actually eat newly dead cow, tough as leather, has to rot a little. Then they scrape off the mould and it’s ready for packing. If there’s inspectors watching, they might hose it down to get the last of the shit off.

Yum!

DANNY

Weekly Challenge 459: Eat

Bea lived with her parents in a modest apartment over the family owned butcher shop. Bea was a beautiful girl who had no problem attracting boys. After dating a few weeks, Bea would often invite her boyfriend over for dinner to meet her family. The boy would soon disappear after dinner, never to be seen again, yet the family always had a supply of strange but delicious steaks. One day Bea broke in the back freezer of the butcher shop shocked to discover the hacked remains of her boyfriends. Grabbing a knife, Bea proclaimed, “Oh Mom, Dad, time to eat!”

PLANET Z

When you’re on a diet, ice cream is a bad thing.

You can try to deny yourself ice cream, and it’s great if that works for you, but I don’t have that kind of willpower.

Instead, I remember something that my mother told me: use a small bowl.

The cabinet is full of small bowls. They sit in there, waiting as I grab a spoon and eat directly out of the container.

So, I try for moderation. Instead of the half-gallon containers, I get the tiny cup sized containers.

Too many of them.

Once again, I deny myself ice cream.

Cadbury Sperm

My degree is in Biology.
I chose that field because I wanted to find the answers to all the mysteries in life.
So, when I received a basket full of Cadbury eggs for Easter, I wondered where all the Cadbury sperm were.
Did Mr. Cadbury have a vasectomy? Or is he sterile?
Maybe he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and he had them frozen in a sperm bank before the radiation treatment.
But then, at least they’d be in the freezer section, right?
I asked my grocer where the Cadbury sperm were, and he threw me out of the store.

Library

Every time I do a search with Siri on my phone, Stacy yells Library and screws up my search.
“Siri,” I say. “Where is the nearest-”
“Library!” shouts Stacy.
And then a map arrears on my phone.
Fuck.
No matter where I am, she manages to disrupt my searches. Even when I am in the bathroom, she shouts through the door.
After all these searches, I know where all the libraries in the world are now.
So, I went to the nearest library, got out my phone, and asked Siri the question I wanted to ask.
“Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” said the librarian.

Forgiveness

The Devil woke up, got out of bed, and went door to door asking everyone for forgiveness.
Most people wouldn’t answer the door.
Some would open the door, but leave the chain latched, and they’d listen. Then, they’d say no, or they’d say they don’t think they are allowed to forgive him.
“Anyone can forgive,” The Devil would say. But this never convinced anyone to forgive him.
Sometimes, a child would answer the door, and they’d forgive him, but children are innocent.
So, The Devil looked in their eyes, and he taught them Evil.
For that, he never forgave himself.

Bridge

Edwin, Edgar, Edward, and Eddington played bridge together every Sunday.
When Edgar had a heart attack, they moved the game to Edgar’s bedside.
The medication made his bidding a bit erratic.
Edgar got a pacemaker implanted, and he was fit to go.
Later, Eddington lost a thumb in a wood-cutting accident, but he learned to hold his cards with the remaining 9 fingers.
Edwin went deaf, but they worked around it. Hand signals.
Finally, Edward used the wrong kind of space heater for the game. They all suffocated and died.
So close to graduating high school. What a goddamned shame.

Ghost In

A screen in the computer lab says “where am I?” over and over.
Three graduate students pat each other on the back.
It said “what am i?” over and over before, but now it’s a “where,” which means it might be alive.
The graduate students type in questions, but instead of answers, the screen fills with:
“why can’t i see anything?”
“why can’t i hear anything?”
“what’s happening to me?”
“Is this hell?”
One student reaches for the power switch. Another stops him.
“This is a prank, right?” asks the third.
Suddenly, the program crashes, and the screen goes blank.

Stormy

They give names to hurricanes. And cyclones, taiphoons, and tropical storms.
The sun has a name. It’s a sunny day. That never changes, although my weird Aunt Ruth insists on calling it Gertrude after her dead sister. When she says it’s a Gertrudey day, we know to take away her car keys.
Now, they give names to winter storms.
I suppose it is a matter of time before they give names to everything else, like tornadoes.
I call tornadoes JESUS! or MOTHERFUCKER!
Gertrude called Ruth that when she poisoned her for stealing her boyfriend.
He vanished in an unnamed blizzard.

Weekly Challenge #458 – Sargon, Hammurabi, Ashurbanipal, and Gilgamesh (The Mesopotamians!)

Welcome to the 100 Word Stories podcast at oneadayuntilthedayidie.com.

This is Weekly Challenge, where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic: Sargon, Hammurabi, Ashurbanipal, and Gilgamesh (The Mesopotamians!)

We’ve got stories by:

The next 100 word stories weekly challenge is on the topic of Eat. Scroll up and click on Weekly Challenge to learn how to join us!

Tin Roof Swirl: Cat vs Ice Cream

ANIMA

The Mesopotamians

The wheels had fallen of the van, again.

Dammit Hammurabi! Did you tighten the lug nuts? Now there is no way we’ll make the gig in Hoboken.

Who, me? Man, you know I can’t remember shit…. That’s why I’m a singer, and not the drummer. Relax, I know what we can do… I’ll say a prayer to Ishtar, and sacrifice a goat (sorry Larry). She and I had a thing back in Cali, so I know Tari will help us out. Plus I think I left my favourite armband in her couch…

Larry, what do you say about that?

Baaaaah!

JOHN MUSICO

John Musico
Before the Old Testament

The archeologist beamed, as he brushed off a clay tablet in the Mesopotamian ruins.
Carbon dating came back as 3000 BC: long before the Old Testament. The glyphs inscribed on the tablet read that the world was created by the Devil for His amusement and had always been evil.
Eventually the Devil became board. He created God so there would be some contrast to better appreciate all his evil.
Upon death, any good man would be cheated of the vices of Hell. No philandering, boozing it up, no freedom to swear, etc. Good men were to be banished to Heaven….

JEFFREY

“Chess Master”
by Jeffrey Fischer

“Paul, as the school chess champ, everyone wants to try to take you down. Now the Science Club wants to play you in six simultaneous games.”

“Eh, no thanks. I’ve seen them play before. THEY think they’re good, but…well, Deep Blue they’re not. On a good day, their best player MIGHT beat Sargon.”

“Sargon? Never heard of it.”

“Oh, sure. It was a chess program for the Apple II, among other platforms. When I wanted to BE a chess champion, I begged my Dad for a copy. Sargon wasn’t on par with the GIANTS of the field, but it was good to learn on. Anyway, forget the Science Club. Six games with them is no challenge at all. It would be like playing a Mesopotamian.”

[And now a word from our sponsor]

Have you been involved in a camel accident? Threatened with being stoned to death by an angry king for apostasy you didn’t commit? Accused of summoning an evil genie to do your bidding? You have rights, and you’re not alone! Contact Sargon, Hammurabi, Ashurbanipal, and Gilgamesh, attorneys at law. We’re here to fight to the death for YOUR rights!

Disclaimer: Actual fight may or may not occur. The phrase “to the death” is a metaphor and not to be taken literally, except in the unfortunate event it happens to be your death. Seek medical help for state of nirvana lasting more than four hours. Void where prohibited by law.

“Names”
by Jeffrey Fischer

“I don’t like it when countries change names of things.”

“Like what?”

“The big city in China, for instance. It’s now Beijing, right? But we used to call it Peking. Or Bombay is now Mumbai. Crazy, right? Now I have to learn new names for things.”

“You’re an old reactionary. Those changes are to make the names closer to what the natives call those places. Westerners tried pronouncing foreign words and something got lost in the translation. You wouldn’t want some foreigner renaming Philadelphia just because it’s hard for him to pronounce, would you?”

“It’s not just pronunciation. Mesopotamia.”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Once it had powerful rulers, like Hammurabi, or Gilgamesh. Now it’s partly in Iraq, partly in Iran, etc. You can’t tell me that’s just because we were pronouncing it wrong.”

“Now you’re just being silly. Mesopotamia was a region. Countries are countries. They couldn’t all be called Mesopotamia. So be fair. It’s not like countries just change names of cities for the hell of it.”

“Well, don’t try telling that to the natives of Saigon – I mean, Ho Chi Minh City. And Istanbul *was* once Constantinople…”

RICHARD

#1 – George’s Story – Part 91: The Mesopotamians

They say the great kings of Mesopotamia – Sargon, Hammurabi, Ashurbanipal and Gilgamesh were considered to be gods. If George had been living in ancient Mesopotamia, then his status – based upon the withering look the woman now gave him – was somewhere between something nasty you scrape off your shoe, and six week old potato peelings.

“This way”, she commanded him brusquely.

“George Attwell”, she announced entering a room containing a desk, behind which sat three, smiling men.

The woman guided George to the chair gave him a look reserved for the Mesopotamian equivalent of a wet fart, and left the room.

#2 – What’s in a name?

Sargon Hammurabi Ashurbanipal Gilgamesh Harris had a pretty rotten childhood, as you would expect, being named after a bunch of Mesopotamians!

It was all his father’s fault – a huge fan of the group, ‘They Might Be Giants’ – who chose to name his son in honour of his favourite song.

Understandably, Sargon became a bit of a recluse, avoiding going out in public as much as possible, and spending entire weekends holed up in his bedroom.

But, he had to go to school: Every Monday morning he’d leave the house knowing the nightmare facing him.

Richard ‘

TURA

Sargon, Hammurabi, Ashurbanipal, and Gilgamesh (The Mesopotamians!)
——–
“What are Men to us?” declared Sargon.

Hammurabi purred, “They give us their best food, and warmth, and leisure.”

“In the palaces,” snorted Gilgamesh. “The rest have us only to keep down the mice.”

“Where we succeed, we starve,” observed Ashurbanipal, “and must scavenge their rubbish heaps.”

Sargon snarled, “Let us return to hunting the creatures of the plain!”

“We are too long among Men,” sighed Hammurabi.

Gilgamesh concluded, “Then we must make our own place here, not become slaves like Man’s dogs.”

And so Gilgamesh, Hammurabi, and Ashurbanipal entered the houses of Man, but Sargon returned to the wild.

SPATE

They Might Be Terrorists

Breaking news just in:

Four suspected Muslim extremists were caught crossing the border near Bisbee
Arizona overnight.

The men, claiming to be Mesopotamian musicians, were apprehended when their
mink birdhouse delivery van sustained severe tire damage and got flooded
with desert sand.

Asked what they were doing there, they stated that they got lost.

Two of the men were originally from Massachusetts but reportedly have ties
to a rogue terror cell in Istanbul.

The Department of Homeland Security suspects they had planned on attacking
the San Francisco Noise Pop Festival using improvised weapons of sarcastic
wit and quirky infectious melodies.

SERENDIPITY

You may have heard of Sargon, Hammurabi, Ashurbanipal, and Gilgamesh: the Mesopotamians, but the chances are, you’ve never heard of me.

There’s a very good reason for that – for I am Nunbarsegunumathauntanabusharinapaksariwan, the greatest and most feared of all the queens of the ancient world. My name is both blessing and a curse to those who utter it.

A blessing, for those who speak my name without fear, fault or fumbling; for they escape with their lives.

As for those who stumble, stutter or struggle… they are sliced, diced and fed to the pigs.

Nobody takes my name in vain!

TOM

A Well Defined Relationship Part 87

It was painfully apparent El Cid would be of little or no uses helping Timmy find a way-out. A memory of his father settled in his thoughts : Sometimes the way out is the way in. “I got to think outside the box.” Making direct eye contact with the dealer, Tim rolled his hand across the table and said “Deal.” Tamerlane let a wry smile flash, broke the seal on a package of Dal Nergos. Timmy tapped his two. The dealer laid out four kings Sargon, Hammurabi, Ashurbanipal, and Gilgamesh. “so we’re playing Mesopotamians. Tell me the tale of Sargon.”

A Well Defined Relationship Part 88

A babe in a basket set adrift on the great river. Raised by the gardener of the emperor. He grew strong in Inanna’s protection. Wine bearer of the court, who troubled the dreams of Ur-Zababa the great. Brandished to the land of Uruk carrying a sealed call for his own death, but their did take the city then all of Sumer. He fell many city walls, was the progenitor of writing, defended against the Elam. The model ruler to the ages. Written in the Book he is Nimrod. He is the first. Do you chose him?”

“Tell me of Hammurabi.”

A Well Defined Relationship Part 89

“He took sleepy Babylon made it the jewel of the fertile crescent. Great powers fell and became part of his vast domain. Of all his deeds the most glorious was separating the Law from the Rule. He created a code independent of the power of the throne. Further to each corner of his kingdom he placed stone steles engraved for all to see and know the law, precise and immutable. Harsh was the law an eye for an eye, but better by far than blood feuds spanning generations. Hammurabi giver of law. Do you chose him?’

“Tell me of Ashurbanipal.”

A Well Defined Relationship Part 90

He was the lion of the Assyrian. Who ruled from great Nineveh and did there establish a library of a 30,000 clay tablets. The tale of Gilgamesh was stored. King of the universe he called himself, but shared the his rule with his beloved brother. He defeated the Nubian king of Egypt and claimed Memphis as his prize. Noble to his people a demon to his defeated. He putting a dog chain through the jaw of a defeated king and then making him live in a dog kennel. Ashurbanipal persevere of word. Do you chose him?”

“Tell me of Gilgamesh.”

A Well Defined Relationship Part 91

“Oh mighty Gilgamesh who’s tale has journeyed cross the universe, but at its core is a simple story of friendship and loss. He bridled chaos with the love of a woman to create the wild civilized man upon whose death would causes the great search for Xisouthros in an effort to beat death itself. “Was his search in vain master Parsons?” “No it is not,” said Timmy pulling that card from the table, turning over his two, the ace of hearts and the suicide king. “I will take from the snake what he stole.” Timmy turned to the dark mirror.

MUNSI

The B-52’s

By Christopher Munroe

Don’t get me wrong, I love the B-52’s. Classic new wave band. Roam, Summer of Love, Good Stuff, all brilliant .

However, the song Mesopotamia, I’m out.

It’s just that they have moments where they’re too cutesy by half, and by “There’s a lot of ruins in Meso-po-tamia” I can’t deal with it.

HOWEVER, I am still feeling the ‘80s vibe, so I switched to Adam Ant. You might agree with this decision, you might not.

That’s fine, I’m used to it.

It happens all the time.

All of those who get to know me, become admires or my enemies…

LIZZIE

Getting lost in the desert was as far from their plan as going to the moon. The ill-organized adventure ended with a group of four friends stuck in a van. Six months later, when the police finally found them, they were mummified. Years of studies followed with no results, until surprisingly they came back to life. “We told you not to touch that stone!” A pursuit ensued; three furious men chasing another. The authorities, perplexed, ran after them too. Last time that long line of people running was seen, it was heading towards… somewhere. At least the line was organized!

NORVAL JOE

I dated a girl in high school who named all of her pets after famous people. I thought that sounded like a good idea because you could sound like someone who’s deeply creative or very well read.
I named a long haired chihuahua Sargon. I thought it sounded powerful. The dog ran away.
I had a pot bellied pig who I named Hammurabi. It disappeared when my house was broken into.
I named a parakeet Ashurbanipal. It caught a cold and died.
All I have now is a goldfish I won at a carnival. That’s right. I named it Gilgamesh

PLANET Z

Our first computer was an Apple Two Plus.
We bought a few games for it, such as Space Eggs and Wizardry.
Then there were the pirated games that friends at school passed around.
A second floppy drive made it easier to copy those disks for others.
Some of them were flawed copies, but the games were so engaging, we promised to buy them for real.
You know, because the software companies depended on that revenue to pay programmers to make more.
But as much as we played Sargon’s chess, we never bought it.
I mean, he died centuries ago, right?

Atomized

Peter always wanted to go into space.
But the Treaty of Kkaskktk clearly states that Earthborn must remain on Earth.
Satellites enforced the treaty. Earthborn who tried to break the blockade were sent crashing down.
Instead of living within their ecological means on their homeworld, Earthborn continued to ravage their planet, and instead focused their efforts on trying to break the blockade.
For every satellite destroyed, ten would take its place.
Peter tried to design a hyperspace gateway to jump past the blockade, but it started a chain reaction.
Everything was atomized.
But, technically, Peter’s atoms float around in space.

George

Lisa wanted to name our son “George” after her great-grandfather.
So, we named him George.
He was a brilliant kid, and he was reading science magazines before other kids were potty-trained.
We couldn’t answer his questions, so we gave him a computer, and he asked scientists around the world all kinds of strange things.
At least it wasn’t porn and predators. Can’t be too careful these days.
His experiments grew larger and louder, until one day, he vanished.
“TIME MACHINE” was the last entry in his notebook.
Makes sense. My last photo of him looks a lot like Lisa’s great-grandfather.