During the night a multitude had crept out, one by one, some still sick from the ultra-light fusion that had made them capable of the trillion-mile journey. They tested their wings in the bright autumn sunlight, found food in the nearby vineyard and, after treetop scouting, a secure location to camp.
By twilight, vineyard laborers were walking home complaining of preternaturally large mosquitoes.
“Left me alone mostly,” Cheeky Murgatroyd boasted, spitting out tobacco juice.
By the next night none of the intergalactic party had survived. As she lay dying, one of them muttered, “The wise space-travel only in their imagination.”*
*With apologies to Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote: “A wise man travels only in his imagination.”
Genre: Science Fiction Word count: 100 written for Rochelle's Friday Fictioneers click on the frog for more tales of a hundred words or less. And join the fun!
The dangers of space travel. I would moan about the mosquitos too! 🙂
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Haha! One of the best things about fall is the absence of mosquitoes. 😀
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I wonder what we would have learned from them… maybe they were coming in peace to save the earth,,,
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Yeah, I know. And how many times has this scenario transpired? So many missed opportunities . . . . Let’s not think about that, Björn.
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A shame to travel all that way and then be mistaken for a mosquito
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I did feel a twinge of guilt about that.
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Such a tragedy that none survived 😦 I like the world-building you did here Dora.
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It was just a fluke of nature that they didn’t. Thanks Lisa 🙂
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Most welcome, Dora.
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Oh no 😦 We come in peace, we bring science, medicine… thwack 🙂
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Quite a rather shabby end to say the least! 😀
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That explains the blood suckers. Enjoyed the story.
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Maybe a smaller scouting expedition next time, somewhere else. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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A sad end, after a journey of that length. Send the message back.
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I’m sure they had time to do that.
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Unexpected indeed. Loved the little apology at the end 😅
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Thanks for reading, Jude 😉
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Team Dora here✋🏾
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🙏😄
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Delightfully different Dora, I wonder what RLS would make of your interpretation were he alive today!
Here’s mine!
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He would definitely take issue with Cheeky 😂
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And here I was thinking the tobacco juice would save us all from aliens from outer space 🙂
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Thanks for reading, Linda 🙂
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if anything, they didn’t morph into vampires. 🙂
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That’s another story! 🙂
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Dear Dora,
Extraterrestrial mosquitos? EEEEEEEW! Imaginative storytelling.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle,
Thank you, and good riddance to ’em, right?
Aleichem shalom,
Dora
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Ouch! To survive interstellar travel and then reach a planet just to get a ‘thwack’. Meanwhile on Earth the search for intelligent life continues….
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Haha! Extremely disheartening, and more so than ever.
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There’s a risk with all exploration, but we’ll never make it to Vulcan without it. I love the name Cheeky Murgatroyd.
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Agreed! Thanks for reading 🙂
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Great story 😊
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Thank you 🙂
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The adorable pup on the top of your blog page makes me smile every time I visit, Dora. It’s too bad none of the intergalactic travelers survived after so much effort. Entertaining tale!
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Thanks, Brenda. She’s a very sweet pup. She’d like the thought of making you smile!
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Excellent take on the prompt, Dora. We don’t often have SF on FF!
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Too much Star Trek and Twilight Zone in my formative years, some would say! Thanks, Penny.
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Inventive take on the photo prompt! I like it. 🙂
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Thank you, Susan 😀
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ooooooo I have dark thoughts about mosquitoes! But in this case, those poor things. It was a long way to travel only to die.
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Armchair traveling is much less riskier! Thanks, Laurie.
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