Munge’s Menagerie

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Through an error in programming, Professor Munge created a robot that could read, but was incapable of writing or expressing words in audio form.
Over the course of a year, Munge’s lab produced a series of mechanical oddities, such as robots without ocular sensors but powerful image processing and analysis capabilities, or the exploration robot with a single articulated limb with which the robot could barely drag its bulk around a pen surrounded by rails.
Students would come by to gawk at the cruel menagerie, some laughing, but others worried. Or weeping.
“Compassion,” said Munge. “Cannot be taught. Or built.”

Burning Hands

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Both of my hands are wrapped in bandages.
I don’t know why I held them over the fire.
It didn’t hurt at first. Then, it hurt. A lot.
The skin and nerves are gone from what muscle and bone remains.
I can’t tell how many fingers I have left. The bandages keep me from seeing them.
When they change the bandages, they won’t let me see.
“You do not want to see them yet,” the nurse says.
She puts another pill in my mouth, holds up a cup with a straw, and says everything will be fine.
And I sleep.

Weekly Challenge #159 – Telescope

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Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Fifty Nine, where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic.
The topic this week was… was…. um…
It’s Telescope.
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories this week?
Michael S.
Guy David from http://guydavid.com
Terrence from http://www.mcleanweb.ca/neverwas/
Danny from http://dannymachal.com/
Norval Joe from http://www.norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com/
Lance from http://twitter.com/writingdad
Tom from http://footnote.libsyn.com/
Ishtar from http://ishtarskiss.blogspot.com/
Lynda from http://sisterpepperspray.blogspot.com/
Anima from http://zabbadabba.com/
Justin from http://www.thespaceturtle.com/
Planet Z
  
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Michael

Remarkably I remember the first time I really used a telescope to reach out and further my understanding of the universe in which I live. Those special spaces I saw were spectacular as I studied the celestial spattering on those splendid summer nights now so very long ago. Then my training taught me to take my telescope to outer terrestrial territories, to touch temporarily the terrific tapestry in our tumultuous galaxy. Now I know nothing can negate the never ending mental nourishment I negotiate each time I put my noggin on the near side of my telescope.

Guy

Monica walked into little Bill’s room and found him looking through his telescope. “Don’t you have homework?” she asked. “I’m looking at the stars.” Bill answered in a dreamy voice, “It’s homework.” “Drink something” said Monica, “it’s a warm day.” “Mom” said bill in an exasperated tone. Monica put a finger to her lip, shushing him. Bill picked up a half filled glass. Satisfied, Monica left the room. Bill immediately run to the Telescope and continued watching. The man at the opposite building was now fumbling with the woman’s bra. Bill set down and relaxed, ready for some fun entertainment.

Terrence

It was not until I had checked in that I learned about the Astronomers’ convention. I thought, ‘this can’t be that bad.’ Boy was I wrong. The day was quite, almost a ghost town, but the moment the sun was down they poured out of their rooms.
The discussions started immediately and they quickly turned in to arguments at the mention of Pluto. I had my thoughts, but I was going to play it safe and just listen, but I headed straight to my room to get my bags the moment I heard. “Is that a telescope in your pocket…?”

Danny

There are billions of stars in the sky. Eastern philosophy says that man’s destiny is written in these red giants, supernovas, pulsars and constellations. That’s what my Dad says anyway; he is an astronomer at UCLA. He is my hero, and someday, I’ll be an astronomer, just like him.
When I was thirteen he got me a high powered telescope for my birthday. I was lucky to have the upstairs room, and he was beaming proud that I used that telescope every day. My father gave me the greatest gift a boy could ever want. I gazed on the perfect symmetrical moons of Suzi Morris’s tits every single starry night.

Norval Joe

Mr. Capulet was lived. “I won’t stand for that Montague boy climbing up into your room. I’m tearing down the trellises. I forbid you to even speak with that vermin.”
Romeo went to Walgreens and bought a small vile of poison and a Rocket Fishing Rod, with telescoping extension.
With a note, saying, “Put this poison in your fathers gruel”, he loaded the vial into the capsule.
He took aim and fired. The capsule opened five feet short of Juliet’s door, propelling the vial to the floor, inside, and leaving the note to settle in a corner of the balcony.

Lance

They called me The Telescope. Any part of my body, I can make longer or shorter, between twice its normal length and half. Not much against super strength or laser eyes, so I never made it as a hero. Had a great career as a boxer, though. Extra inch of reach the other guy can’t see coming? Goodnight, Irene. And a porn legend for a while. Yeah, that was me.
But all that’s a long time ago. Now I’m just an old man happy to reach things on the top shelf or pick stuff up without bending over. Life’s good.

Tom

Joey couldn’t wait to open the birthday present. “A telescope?” What was grandpa thinking about? Forks gets about 20 cloudless night a year.
For a 100 nights Grandpa and Joey would drag out the scope and tripod, set the tracker and waited. Without out a star they’d end the night.
When the sky finally opened up Joey watched the heaven dance before his eyes. The wait had truly been worth it come rain or shine.
Walking towards the mountain top observatory the young assistance complained to the director about the cloud cover. “Just wait” encouraged Joe sensing a dark turning

Ishtar

“5 Minutes till Impact” I say with tears in my eyes.
We’ve known about the end of the world for months.
All the Zealots and Mad catholic priests added to the mess.
Total societal shut down.
I’ve been locked in my hi rise apartment building for months.
I had the supplies but I was alone. Until I found her in the next building with my telescope.
Those last few months we would share written messages through glass. It made the loneliness lessen.
30 seconds left, she’s crying at the window.
5 seconds left, the sky burns bright red.
0 seconds. …….

Lynda

Avast ye, an’ hear the tale o’ eggheaded Iggy, the pegleg o’ Kitt Peak.
‘Twere last year’n he joined our crew, keepin’ mostly to hisself, never partakin’ o’ the grog nor goin’ ashore fer love. The day he swapped the Cap’n’s spyglass with a “Six-inch Newtonian reflector,” we gave ‘im a right flogging afore makin’ him walk the plank clutchin’ his fancy equipment.
Only afterwards we found the ship were fitted with warpin’ drives o’ some kind. None o’ me buckos knew how to work the thing an’ that’s how we come to land ‘ere on this frozen rock, Triton.

Anima

“The time is long past for the Church to admit errors between Catholic philosophies and the ideas of Galileo Galilei. In 1619 Signor Galilei proposed that the Earth and the known planets revolved around the sun, in direct opposition to the teachings as espoused by the Holy Book in Psalms and Ecclesiastes.”
“Are you sure, your Holy Eminence? Dare you forgive such heresey?”
“I suppose; 400 years is a long time to hold a grudge, no? Times are changing. Now, how long do you suppose we can cling to the idea that woman is the weaker vessel?”

Justin

I found a telescope that looks into the past. I used it to solve crimes. I could look at the crime scene and follow the suspect to find any clues they left behind. It didn’t always work because I had to prove what I saw. Sometimes I would see what happened, but found no way to prove it. I considered exacting justice myself, but how would I explain myself if found out? I can see into the future if I look through it backwards, but the view is distant. Maybe I can prevent crime. I just need to start looking.

Planet Z

At the conference, Dr. Foster demonstrated how light bending around black holes could be used as a telescope into our world’s past.
Grainy images demonstrated the shifting of the continents. The closer the gravity well, the more recent and clear the image.
“What about using antiphotons?” asked a researcher. “Do they show the future?”
It turns out they do.
We started with the closest singularity reflector for best resolution, and the changes were fascinating.
We’re shifting to the next one.
The video stream is resolving.
And… I feel sick.
Devastation. Massive ecological collapse.
Armageddon.
We are all doomed.

The Retarded Twins

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Julie and Judy were indistinguishable from each other for 80 years.
Usually, you can tell twins apart, but these two were exactly alike.
Including their mental retardation. So severe, their father walked out when they were 5 and their mother dead from suicide on their 10th birthday.
They were dressed in the same clothes, played with the same toys, and babbled the same babble.
They spent their lives in institutions together until one died.
Nobody knew which one, so they tossed a coin, declared Judy dead, and life went on as normal, or what passes for it for a retard.

Piano Bar

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The kids were hungry, so I said “Let’s go to McDonalds.”
They screamed “No!”
Sounds weird, right? Kids not wanting to go to McDonalds?
Well, it makes a lot more sense when I mention: our McDonalds has a piano bar.
Three hours later, the kids are asleep in the ball pit and I’m blasted out of my mind as all the soccermoms and single dads are singing whatever the guy on the bench is playing.
A guy in a Grimmace costume asks me if I need a cab.
“Just a light,” I say, cigarette in hand.
The kids scream louder.

The Silver Star

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When I was a child, my sister and I had to do our chores.
Each chore meant we got to lick a star and stick it to the calendar for that day.
Red ones were little chores, like doing the dishes.
Blue ones meant more, like vacuuming or walking the dog.
Silver stars were for mowing the lawn.
At the end of the week, add up the stars and get an allowance.
I went to the crafts store and bought a box of silver stars, filling the calendar with them.
The stars added up to me getting spanked and grounded.

Edison The God

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Thomas Edison invented a time machine.
Some say it was really Westinghouse. Others say Tesla.
Nobody sees them anymore. Imagine that.
With his time machine, Edison brings back advanced medicines, powerful weapons, and amazing technologies from the future.
He recruits the most powerful minds from the past.
Edison is unstoppable.
With his unsurpassed knowledge of science, he has rendered himself immortal.
We call him “The God of Menlo Park.”
Why he keeps coming back to here instead of remaining on his journeys, we don’t know.
It’s sentimentality, I suppose.
He frightens us, and we have no choice but to obey.

The Beavers

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Hey, be careful when you go inside.
It’s dark in the house.
The power was cut off a week ago.
Sure, we pay our bills, but the electric company has yet to fix the fucking lines.
Beavers chewed down the poles. Then they dragged them off to the river to build a dam.
It’s a big river. They needed a lot of wood.
Power poles, telephone poles – the beavers took it all, leaving us in the dark and without phones.
Nice and quiet now. So we go down to the river in the evening and watch the beavers build.

Sexy Burrito Of War

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At a fast food Mexican shithole, well past midnight, I’m looking up and down the menu.
Breakfast tacos. It’s what I always get-
WAIT!
What the fuck is a Sexy Burrito Of War?
I ask the guy behind the counter, and I can see his knuckles go white as he grips the register.
“You want the Sexy Burrito Of War? Seriously?”
No, I just want to know what the fuck it is.
Maybe I’ll want it if it sounds good. Maybe not.
I have to sign a release form. Run on a treadmill.
Maybe I’ll just have some breakfast tacos.

Weekly Challenge #158 – Knock Knock

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Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Fifty Eight, where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic.
The topic this week was… was…. um…
It’s Knock Knock.
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories this week?
Planet Z
D
Justin from http://www.thespaceturtle.com
Danny from http://dannymachal.com/
Anima from http://zabbadabba.com/
Sophie
Michael S
Lynda from http://sisterpepperspray.blogspot.com/
Lance from http://twitter.com/writingdad
Elisson from http://elisson1.blogspot.com/
Guy David from http://guydavid.com/
Tom from http://footnote.libsyn.com
Ishtar from http://ishtarskiss.blogspot.com/
Manata from http://manata.net/
Norval Joe from http://www.norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com/
Melissa
  
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Go ahead and listen to them and then vote for your favorites (multiple selections are allowed):


Planet Z

After years of painstaking research, the dolphin language was finally deciphered.
Nothing but dick and fart jokes. Totally lowbrow humor.
We had hoped for a knock knock joke or two, demonstrating at least a basic level of interactive modality, but dolphins don’t have hands. Or use doors.
Irony is lost on dolphins, and don’t get me started on how they ruin Polock jokes.
Our grant was revoked, our findings buried.
We need a big success to keep from getting fired.
Next week, we start trying to translate Chinese. I’m so sick of having to point at pictures on a menu.

D

Please help me!
A strange man has locked me up in a very small box.
I can fit because I am a midget, but that’s besides the point.
This guy makes me read horrible stories, and if I refuse he feeds me olive
loaf.
Normally he feeds me macguffins with too much baconsalt.
This is not a real 100 word story, this is a cry for help. Please save me
from this man!
Sometimes he calls me names like Two Dogs.
He constantly knocks on the box. Going mad.
Oh, here he comes. Please, I’m begging you, record your stories!

Justin

Danny delved into the cave. Shadows played over the cuneiform letters etched into the walls, his torch flickering. Following the clues on the ancient parchment, he found the door.
He knocked.
The door opened.
A djini appeared.
“Two wishes! Speak carefully.”
Danny considered.
“I want a website template customized to make my website look great and load fast.”
“Done”
The djini produced a laptop to show the results.
“Sweet! Now I would like, a really snappy outfit to wear.”
Danny found wearing nothing but snapping turtles. Screams echoed. The djini laughed and turned, revealing a cracked shell. The door closed.

Danny

Horace adjusted the windage and elevation knobs on the ruby crystal telescopic sight of his 67dm Sniper Rifle. The knocking of the robots steel heart pounded at the drums in his ear.
‘One shot to open the can, another to put the bastard down,’ Horace thought to himself.
It was cold, damn cold. His finger trembled on the trigger as he squeezed. Before the noise of the explosive shot would reach the robot’s sensors, the chest would already be torn open. The second shot would be well on its way to impact before the mechanical systems could respond.
Long live humanity.

Anima

Knock knock knock
I search for the trigger, the one that will reveal the secret passage. Horatio told me of it just before he died. Where is it?
Within lies a chamber where mystics meet in the small hours. Should I gain passage, I can learn wonderous, magnificent things!
Sssh! Do you hear that? Shuffling footsteps behind the walls. They congregate again.
Frantically I search, but to no avail…
“How long has this been going on?”
“Over a year. The death of her uncle unbalanced the girl; All she does now is mutter to herself and rap on the walls.”

Sophie

Knock, knock. “Police open up.”
The door slowly opens.
“Sir, are you Tom Price the owner of the dog in the front yard?” the officer asks.
“Yeah, what about it?” Tom asks.
“We have evidence that you leave her chained without food, water or shelter and occasionally beat her.” states the officer.
“Don’t matter none, she’s my property.” Tom sneers.
“Not any more.” Sheila from the Rescue Society says as she approaches the door. “This dog will be relocated.”
“This is your third strike Mr. Price.” The officer says as he cuffs Tom. “You will be euthanized in 72 hours.”

Michael S

All was going well with our drug deal. I was counting the money when the new kid from Boston I had watching for cops started screaming, “Knock, knock.” Hell, I thought he was telling somebody a joke. Turns out he was saying, ”Narc, narc,” in that special Boston accent. That was years ago and to this day I break out in a cold sweat when I hear a “Knock, Knock” joke.

Lynda

“Why is the sky blue?”
“I don’t know, probably some mysterious cosmic coloring, like eggs.”
“What about eggs?”
“Well, they’re yellow and no one knows why.”
“The chickens know, but we ate them!”
“That’s right sweetie! All beat up with a little mayo! You’re so smart!”
“I got a joke!”
“Let’s hear it!”
“Knock knock!”
“Who’s there?”
“Two dogs fucking!”
“Honey, that’s not really something you should say for another fifteen years at least.”
“YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO SAY TWO DOGS FUCKING WHO?!”
“Okay, okay…two dogs fucking who?”
“You.”
“Wha–ARGH!”
“You’re silly!”
“Get them off me!”
“I want a puppy!”

Lance

Knock, knock.
“Trick or treat!”
“Well, aren’t you the cutest little fairytale princess. Here you go, darling. Happy Halloween!”
“Thank you!”
Knock, knock.
“Trick or treat! Arrr!”
“Well, shiver me timbers! ‘Tis a fearsome pirate an’ no mistake. Here be yer booty, ye scurvy dog.”
“Arrr. Thankee! An’ a Happy Halloween to ye, me hearty!”
Knock, knock.
“Braaaaaaains.”
“Wow. That is absolutely the best zombie makeup I’ve ever seen. How many hours did you have to sit still to look like that?”
“Braaaaaaains?”
“Sure, I understand. You’ve gotta stay in character.”
The zombie uprising began under the cover of Halloween.

Elisson

“Knock, knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“The Interrupting Pirate.”
“The Interrup…”
“Arrrrrrhhh!”

This joke used to crack us up when we were kids. Timing was everything.
I wasn’t laughing right now, though. Somali pirates were attacking our ship. The crackle of small-arms fire filled the air as the Somalis prepared to board.
The usual game. Hold us hostage, collect the ransom, move on. Insurance would pay the owners.
Not this time. As the pirates strode confidently on deck, laughing, Charlie interrupted them with the M134 Minigun, which promptly converted them into piles of gristle amidst pools of blood.
Yep: Timing is everything.

Guy David

Janice was a practical joker. The number of times we had to ask her “who’s there?” was ridiculous. We tried to stay away, but she would follow us, never understanding the hint. When they fired her, we all cheered. It was later that we read about it in the papers. She jumped off some bridge or another. Now she wonders the office floor telling her knock knock jokes. If someone refuses to play along, he suffers dire consequences. Only five of us are left. Here she comes. Let me utter the magic words that would keep us alive: “Who’s there?”

Tom

Knock Knock
“Hey kids what’s that sound?”
asks Snowball the clown.
“It two dogs …”
Ringmaster Fred quickly steps in cutting off Old Captain Billy before t slips out into the 2 million plus new York jersey TV market.
“Yes kids it seem the Captain as been sipping a little to much of his oj this morning.”
“Frack the kids” snorts Captain Billy
“The joke is in the Whiz bang you morons”
High above the sound stage in the control booth Mr. T Whitesides founder f Baby Bottom Soap is not happy.
“Fire that fucking clown” he yells

Ishtar

“Lock the door he’s almost broken through” Yells Clyde slowly shaking in
fear. His ultimate end was just around the corner.
Oh sure it was a harmless prank. No one really liked the new guy in town.
So round in the middle. Those horrid looking red boots he always wears.
Who would think he would go so far. Just for spray painting Puc Man
on his mail box shouldn’t cause this.
“Knock Knock Knock, I know it was you Clyde. Look at what I did
to Inky and Blinky. Yum Yum Yum. Your next. No one Fucks with
Pac Man.”

Manata

Amnesia is a bitch. Ever since the accident I can’t even remember who I am. It makes my life a living hell. The truth is, if one more person asks me my name, I’ll probably snap.
The only way I can deal with it is to stay high. I get my drugs at this speakeasy near my house. The only problem is the password. I bite my lip, approach the door, and whisper the code: “Knock knock”.
“Who’s there?” came the reply.
That’s it – the last straw.
I scream, “I DON’T KNOW! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! I DON’T KNOW!”

Norval Joe

He rapped the back of his hand against the rough wooden plank, his knuckles making more of a sharp tapping sound since the flesh had worn away from the bones.
Knock, knock. The sound was faint through the thin layer of dirt hastily thrown over the wooden box.
Unable to call out, the muscles of his chest were too week to draw breath into throat and lungs clogged with maggots and worms.
Dead and animated, he didn’t think; he only hungered. He hungered to be free from this wooden box. He hungered for revenge against those who put him here.

Melissa

I could see it. Our lives, our future, coming up so fast, I couldn’t catch my breath; I felt the pang of need for oxygen in my lungs! There she was I couldn’t and wouldn’t move, I was entranced. Our destinies were intertwined and the heat was creeping up my back into my shoulders in my ears. I was capturing the butterfly and….
“‘KNOCK KNOCK! Sam are you listening to me?’” came the shrieking sound of Leila’s voice, my band mate from hell. Not even the sound of a derailing train could muffle the searing sound of her voice