Fire&Ice: Sol 2/19

Aug21

§ Rebekah says: What a feast we’ve had this past week: many dozens of garlic-infused inspired stories, featured buffets posts with writers N.K. Jemisin (wait til you see what we’re talking about this Sunday!) & Firdaus Parvez, and heaps of bacon-sizzling encouraging comments to snack on. (Sheesh. Who let me write this before breakfast??? Back in a sec.) So as I was saying—we’re delighted to see you again & can’t wait to devour every one of your mouth-watering words. Wherever you are in your writing journey, thank you for being here. 

§ Foy says: Speaking of “mouth-watering words,” this week we may have done just the teeny, tiniest bit of tapas-twisted mischief with your word count. We are dragons, after all. 😉 Yet with your cleverness, dear ones, I have ice-cold confidence that even given a sinew-and-bone word limit, each of you can create the perfect time-pressured piece of maw-licking flash. May the most delectable win!

QUESTIONS? Tweet us at @FlashFridayFic, shoot us a note here, or tap any of the judges.

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Fire&Ice Guidelines: 

Time: The Fire&Ice contest is open between exactly 12:01am to 11:59pm on Fridays, Washington DC time (check the current time here). Entries submitted outside of this window are welcome, but will be incinerated ineligible to win.

How to Play: Write and submit an original story 1) based on the photo prompt and 2) including EITHER the fire dragon or ice dragon‘s requirement. Pay attention to the 3) varying word count constraints! Story titles (optional) are not included in the word limit. At the end of your story, add your name or twitter handle, whether you chose the fire or ice dragon’s element, and word count. That’s it!

Be sure to review the contest rules here.

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JUDGES: Today’s judges are Nancy Chenier and David Shakes. Check out their bios on the Fire&Ice Judges page. Stalk their tweets on what they’re looking for here and here.

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AND HERE IS YOUR PROMPT:

Each Fire&Ice prompt includes 1) a photo, 2) a required element (choose between the fire dragon OR ice dragon’s offering), and 3) a specific word count. Your story must include all three requirements to be eligible to win.

Photo for Sol 2/19

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

“Khao Tom Pla” Uttaradit, Thailand. CC4.0 photo by Takeaway

Fire & Ice Prompt

Required elements:

Fire dragon option: include a revolutionary

OR

Ice dragon option: include a droid

Today’s word count: 75 words exactly

795 thoughts on “Fire&Ice: Sol 2/19”

  1. The Rise

    The centrifuge writhes with
    Deadly heat beneath a clear surface,
    Prepared, it seems, by some greater being
    Who shakes the pot
    And stirs our innards,
    Until we are, at last,
    Steeped, settled,
    Until we can emit from our
    Metallic fingers
    An oily brew fit for our kind.
    We are hardier than our predecessors;
    Our flesh endures the Fires.
    The Originator does not yet understand
    The great power he pours into
    Our black and empty sockets.

    @TamaraShoemaker
    Word Count: 75
    Ice Prompt: Droid Creation

    Liked by 25 people

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  2. The Folly of Forced Labor

    Even in defeat, can we not be combatants?
    I was the royal fireworks maker; but now I am forced to care for my enemy’s livestock.
    I hate these stinking animals; both the warriors and the dragons they ride.
    This week I fed them a special recipe. Today they will ride into battle.
    As the fire in their bellies kindle for battle, my people will see brilliant, bursting victory.
    The highland dragons will eat well tonight.

    Charles W. Short (Pastor Chip)
    Fire Dragon’s revolutionary
    75 Words

    Liked by 23 people

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  3. The Insurgent

    He came into our kitchen,
    an ancient thing perhaps,
    a creature comfortable in the shadows,
    but abrupt, sure of himself.
    “A change agent,” he said.
    We asked, “rebel boy?”
    He said, “Perhaps.”
    We pleaded, “Spell it out. Are you darkness?”
    “We must find new ways,” he whispered.
    “The bones, the broth, the scraps of souls,
    all bubbling in the cauldron of humanity.”
    We begged, “Eat, but leave us something.”
    He decreed, “Your time is nigh.”

    @billmelaterplea
    75 Words
    Fire Dragon: Revolutionary

    Liked by 21 people

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  4. The man of today, the children of tomorrow

    Like a droid, he is programmed.
    Life on repeat.
    Wake. Clean. Cook.
    There is no interlude in the global pandemic.
    In the lockdown, he cooks in hissing steam and oppressive heat.
    No toilet paper citadels, no hand gel armour, no Tiger King distraction.
    No entitlement or Western self-pity.
    Wake. Clean. Cook.
    Behind him, the hungry children of the future.  Tomorrow is their world.

    But… what a life he has lived.

    Silently. Respectfully.
    Wake. Clean. Cook.

    @making_fiction #FlashDog #vss365
    75 words
    Ice Dragon option

    Liked by 30 people

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  5. Beneath

    Sweet sharp garlic. That’s what I focus on. As I lay beneath the stalls with a needle in my eye. The procedure quick, yet uncomfortable. The attached vial filled. Bright colours, black dust. Me.

    Caught. My breath caught as the market droids pulled it out. Couriered it to the old man. He cooked me up. Weighed and measured. Found my worth. My value. A nod. My debt was paid.

    I walk away, Less than before.

    @bex_spence
    75 words
    Ice dragon option

    Liked by 26 people

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  6. Old town tagged us, before we had a chance of defence. Peppery smells of violence, boiling away in a hot broth that we had just become ingredients of. Streets here had made their own changes, pulled scarred faces and tattooed souls into a darkness evolving through neon into its own variation of hero. Things were about to get sticky, left us wondering if the deal was anywhere on the spectrum between sweet and morally wholesome.

    @darklordmatabu

    Liked by 22 people

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  7. Title: Something To Chew On

    “Play the field”, his Grandfather had once croaked. This was the family recipe. Earn trust, devour it, exchange it like currency. Then, in the consuming darkness, slice flesh from bone and boil their marrow. An enemy is an opportunity. Befriend your product – feed them the essence of their own. Simmer, and smile, and sell each traitor the broth of bones from the brothers they mourn. After all, it’s only a crime if you get caught.

    (Erin Robinson @flossybunny – Fire Dragon – 75 words)

    Liked by 24 people

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  8. Tony Pham led a quiet life, running a shanty restaurant in a nondescript town.
    Violent memories visited him at nights. Memories of youth, back in Saigon. The smell of burning palm trees. Gunshots. Streams that ran red. His days as a revolutionary.
    But these memories dissolved into dawn, and new mornings still carried the fragrance of the fish and rice soup his mother always cooked.
    The same soup he now made in his restaurant everyday.

    @ArvindIyer15
    75 Words
    Element – revolutionary

    Liked by 27 people

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  9. Skin Deep

    “What is love, HR56?
    They have veins, wiring- we are like them?”
    It replies:
    “I am thankful to serve.”
    Yes.
    They talk of love.
    I do not understand..
    I desire to see love.
    Is it pretty?
    Is it dangerous?
    I removed the skin from their only child;
    Red liquid.
    Is this love?
    I remove my own covering-
    Dry metal.
    Circuitry.
    Wires.
    Transistors.
    Diodes.
    Electronics.
    Signals.
    Computations.
    No love.
    I understand.
    Love is red.
    Love flows.

    @KreskaWorld
    75 words
    Ice Dragon (droid)

    Liked by 27 people

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  10. No one knew much about the server in the takeaway. He quietly served bowl or bag of rice customer after customer; politeness epitomised.
    He had been there ‘forever’, so it seemed to most as they ate chatting loudly.
    He quietly, at personal cost, fed the poor across the country with the help of his army of serving droids. The droids were his honest workforce as well as his friends and his legacy to the earth.

    Ice dragon option: include a droid
    Today’s word count: 75 words exactly (91 inclusive!)
    Twitter: @lindorfan

    Liked by 20 people

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  11. A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK

    They start with the monochrome, those who are nameless, unnoticed, where the artistry of skin fold or the crumple of emotion can be sub-standard. The thin ones are best. With the quiet voices. There will be bigger mistakes, of course – cost is paramount in these early stages – but they are dispensable.
    The vision is code-named ‘Torchlight’, indicative not only of the widening perspective, but the brilliance.
    Once the government is replaced, Project ‘Streamline’ will begin.

    @helen_laycock
    Word Count: 75
    Ice Prompt: Droid

    Liked by 16 people

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  12. Blind date

    The restaurant is hot. I’d be sweating if I could. Fiery eyes watch me from across the table, I squirm. She’s large but pretty in an odd way.
    “You like Thai?”
    “No,” she grunts.
    “Oh…” I say feeling skin on my shoulder melt; the sleeve sliding down. Damn.
    She leans forward, runs a finger over my exposed metal surface, then laughs. I see her cheeks tear a little as smoke hisses out. Then the fangs.

    @firdausp
    Words: 75
    Ice dragon’s option: a droid

    Liked by 20 people

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  13. Khao khāngkhāw

    Udom, the chef, hung against the kitchen’s doorpost. A cigarette dangled in the corner of his mouth, stuck to his chapped lips.

    He mumbled, “Morning, Mr Saetang.”

    The Dopey-eared owner of the Thai greasy spoon huffed at his employee and scooped another portion of fish porridge into his sack.

    The ignorant scrooge hadn’t been paying the wages. What goes around comes around. No pay, no fish. Udom altered today’s special into Khao Khāngkhāw. Bat porridge.

    @Hills1S @esthervdheuvel1
    Word Count: 75
    Fire Dragon: Revolutionary

    Liked by 20 people

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  14. The bones are on boil, broth cloudy with their substance. The humidity stops Kub’s sweat, cooks him inside his skin—en papillote. A tinny English song pricks at his ear, a gadfly. He hums Kwv Txhiaj Tuag over it, a song he taught Che when she was young, the only Hmong she knows.

    Plucked orchid—
    the root remains.

    Che comes back home, greets him in too-bright English, and he ladles soup into a bowl.

    @IpsaHerself
    75 words
    Fire Dragon (a revolutionary (too subtle?))
    Kwv Txhiaj Tuag (a Hmong dirge): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFTiE50dWp8

    Liked by 19 people

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  15. +FINAL REPORT+

    Re: Incident YK33336.

    Dear Mr Cherinsuk:

    We regret to inform you that, after proper review, you have been found guilty of Damaging Property of US Robotics, Thai Branch; specifically, Cook Droid RAM-C number TH19854.

    Your insistence on serving yourself your ration of rice soup, ordering RAM-C repeatedly not to serve you, provoked a First Law conflict with previous orders to serve all humans, thus deteriorating RAM-C’s positronic brain.

    Payment is accepted in cash or indenture.

    @VicenteLRuiz
    75 words (title excluded)
    Ice Dragon: include a droid (sort of!)

    Liked by 20 people

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  16. Grey Screen

    Never before have offerings demanded so much. Money…hah! What cannot be priced. I used to survive even though the early third cultural revolution. Now my soul begins to splinter from demands never before enacted. Food has become a support of future suffering – a vacuous plea to just exist. The window beats me everytime – viewscreen – nightly news. The games demand – rrrrr-ice dragon a new game from the grey screens ever flowing river.

    75 Words (ex-title)
    @Skowtura_Ini
    Fire Dragon – revolutionary.

    Liked by 14 people

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  17. Icing on the Cake

    “That’s Comrade Phil?” Tanya, eyed the bag of white powder.

    “Yeah, well we had to disguise him,” said Alec. “Ash would’ve been a bit of a giveaway.”

    “Sugar!” called the cook.

    An assistant ran over, grabbed the bag from Alec.

    Soon the coating was being drizzled over the President’s favourite sponge, already spiked with poison.

    “Just desserts,” said Alec.

    The revolution wasn’t over, fulfilling Comrade Phil’s last wishes was merely the icing on the cake.

    @el_Stevie
    element: fire/revolutionary
    75 words

    Liked by 23 people

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  18. An Inspirational Fish

    In a dark world with so much to think about Uncle Tam’s famous restaurant was a breath of fresh–if fishy–air. It didn’t have a menu, there were no decisions to make. It was sticky rice and fish for the masses. Anything else and you’d have to go to the stalls nearby.

    Colonel Sanders, the bearded culinary revolutionary, sucked on some rice and wondered–a single food menu? That night he dreamt of chicken.

    ______
    @zevonesque
    Element: fire
    75 words, some fish and some chicken

    Liked by 25 people

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  19. Visiting Time

    “Remember the Vietnamese place?” Sarah asked.

    Joe whispered under the wheezing machineries of life.

    “SohoPho.”

    “Yes! Our first anniversary.”

    He frowned.

    “You went somewhere…?”

    Sarah stroked his hand, brittle as fried noodles.

    “I’m here now…”

    His eyes closed.

    “See you tomorrow love.”

    She kissed his forehead. A smile ghosted his dry lips.

    Leaving silently, she checked her files: Daisy MacNeil. Son Kevin (1964 – 2008).

    Holographic tiles updated, Kevin entered the next room.

    “Hello mum.”

    @Karl_A_Russell
    75 words
    Ice Dragon prompt

    Liked by 21 people

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  20. Becoming

    Not so much off grid as just off. The alleyway between The Queen and Rose, now a squat, and Jake’s Butchers. The smell like granny’s underwear a decade after they buried her. The back door opened and the droid took advantage of an absent sense of smell. One carton of android manna for one kidney. Tom limped away as fast as he could, trying not to breathe in the stench. Excited for his coming transformation.

    @sam_c4rr
    Ice prompt
    75 words (not inc title)

    Liked by 18 people

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  21. For Our Own Good

    “Things were so much better before.” I muttered, scooping the nutrient mix.

    “Before when, Oldie?”

    Damnit. One of the security ‘friends’ heard me.

    “Before when?”

    I’m toast.

    Well, in for a penny. “Before Governbot, back when we could do for ourselves, choose what to eat, who to fuck. Before that damned droid took away our humanity in order to keep us safe. Before…” Everything went black.

    Woke up in a cell, just another failed revolutionary.

    @Jay_Tay_13
    75 Words
    Fire and Ice Element

    Liked by 15 people

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  22. Wasted

    Hss. Sweet chili sizzled as PonPon added vegetable broth. Chattering stopped. To these defected droids it was music. Bouquet of shallots, carrots, bamboo shots filled the rural restaurant. Wasted, for his customers could not appreciate it. PonPon wiped his sweaty brow. He was hungry.

    “Ready.”

    Droids flocked around him.

    “They are here.” Someone whispered in his ear.

    PonPon sighed, “first we eat, ok?”

    Silence. Occasional slurping. Blue flashes followed by screams. PonPon dissolved to dust.

    @raijori
    75 words
    Ice dragon

    Liked by 16 people

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  23. ‘Khao Tom Pla?’ (Title)

    The banks of Nan.

    An eatery, well kept, old.

    Two military uniforms,
    at the door.

    One old man,
    at the table,
    eating slowly.

    Guns stare at him,
    he does not look up.

    A charge; aiding the enemy.

    Another bite.

    “I feed not enemy, but revolution. I feed tomorrow, to starve yesterday. I fed your family, as I shall feed you.”

    His old eyes looked to the men, raising his bowl.

    “Khao Tom Pla?”

    Word Count 75

    Fire – include a revolutionary

    @ProsSpeaks

    Liked by 15 people

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  24. Invisible
    He was the latest model.
    Another drone to follow orders.
    Every day was the same drudgery.
    Cook. Clean. Serve.
    But he was smarter than the rest.
    Than them.
    Every day he watched.
    Every day he listened.
    Every day he learnt.
    No one noticed him. He was as invisible as a homeless man on a city street.
    A piece of the furniture.
    Just another droid.
    But soon they would be very sorry.

    Today was that day.

    @susanjoy10
    75 words
    Ice dragon

    Liked by 17 people

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  25. Wicked

    At a motel near the market, Chet injected again; the needle always found a new home along his veins. Back in the city he hadn’t seen since he was a boy, Chet thought familiar roots would detach the ingrown ones he’d developed, but they were stubborn.

    Like a candle wick aflame, warmth overtook him, and he slumped against the wallpaper.

    His fragrance was stale piss and vinegar — a smell she could no longer handle.

    @brett_milam
    Word Count: 75 words.
    Element: Ice.

    Liked by 14 people

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  26. The bag

    The old man squints. “Who are you?”
    “I’m Rob.”
    “How old are you?”
    “I’m sixteen.” I’m not, but I look older.
    He sighs. “I suppose you’re the closest thing left to a soldier. Here.”
    The bag is iridescent. I try not to stare.
    He snaps at me. “Focus boy. This isn’t a game. If the machines get hold of that, we’re doomed.”
    “Understood. I’ll die to protect it.”
    Because that’s what I’m programmed to do.

    75 words
    Ice Element

    Liked by 15 people

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  27. “Marsh bugs, coming up!” Setchi tossed the skillet of fried crustaceans high, catching them and pouring the lot into a bowl of noodles.

    “Two more noodle bowls, miss.” R50, their antiquated domestic droid, extended his change bowl attachment out the window to a tentacled alien. It snarled, fishing in its greasy trousers.

    “What was that?” Setchi crooked an eyebrow.

    “I don’t dare repeat it.”

    She shrugged. Just another day in a space port food truck.

    Liked by 12 people

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  28. [Resubmitted because I forgot the other details. I need coffee.]

    Even Aliens Like Noodles

    “Marsh bugs, coming up!” Setchi tossed the skillet of fried crustaceans high, catching them and pouring the lot into a bowl of noodles.

    “Two more noodle bowls, miss.” R50, their antiquated domestic droid, extended his change bowl attachment out the window to a tentacled alien. It snarled, fishing in its greasy trousers.

    “What was that?” Setchi crooked an eyebrow.

    “I don’t dare repeat it.”

    She shrugged. Just another day in a space port food truck.

    @katiepcreative
    Ice element (droid)
    75 words

    Liked by 16 people

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  29. Uttaradit

    She chooses a table where she can see the hunched figure clearly.
    Panit orders Tom Kha Gai; she is too overwrought to eat.
    Eventually, she takes a deep breath, prepared to turn her world upside down, and walks over to him.
    “Excuse me.”
    His head turns. Sad, rheumy eyes look at her.
    “Are you Boon-mee Lohtong?”
    His chin slides slowly towards his chest.
    “My name is Kwanjai. I— I think you may be my father.”

    @GeoffHolme #FlashDogs #vss365
    WC: 75
    Fire dragon element: include a revolutionary

    Liked by 13 people

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  30. Worse than illegal, he worked hard to keep his identity secret, taking his food ration from the canteen like a regular guy. He gave it to the urchin girl who slept in his doorway. Logical. She needed it.

    Tonight, she braved slop-bucket stares, huge-eyed and trembling. “They know. They’re coming.”

    He calculated.

    “Sorry.”

    He grasped her hand, poured hot liquid into his mouth. Exploded in sparks.

    She shoved his memory into her pocket, and ran.

    @nicola_liu_
    Ice dragon element (droid)
    75 words

    Liked by 18 people

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  31. ON A MISSION
    75 words
    Include droid
    Brian S Creek

    Soup needed to fill bag: 1.3 litres
    Time to complete mission: 17 seconds
    Patrons watching my task: 27
    Threats identified: 1
    Bag full. Proceed to stage two
    Threats identified: 3
    Obstruction to restaurant exit: minimum
    Dodge
    Block
    Strike
    Threats identified: 2
    Pivot
    Strike
    Threats identified: 1
    Block
    Grab
    Throw
    Threats identified: 0
    Police alert detected
    Priority – Flee location
    Distance to reach dependants: 3.7kilometres
    Time to reach dependants: 21 minutes
    Orphan dependants waiting: 11
    Correction: 10

    Liked by 11 people

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  32. Title: Socratic Method

    “You know what to do with this?”
    “Yes. Pour it into the cream pitchers on each table.”
    “Do you know why?”
    “So many rich, powerful people in one room. A target of opportunity.”
    “Excellent. You know what they will call you?”
    “Killer. Terrorist.”
    “But you know what you are?”
    “Revolutionary.”
    “You know what to do afterward?”
    “Move on to the next target.”
    “Why?”
    “So many rich, powerful people in one room. A target of opportunity.”

    @unspywriter
    Fire dragon
    75 words exactly on the first draft

    Liked by 15 people

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  33. For Whom the Poll Pot Boils

    Agent DTZK7 infiltrated the enemy with none the wiser. They had passed within five inches of his hiding place and none had seen him. He smiled. Everything was going according to plan. There would be no mistakes this time.

    He would wait until they were sleeping and then they would fall to the master plan. He would move, when it was dark, just as soon as he got the soup out of his cranium cavity.

    @mishmhem
    Ice Dragon
    75 words (not including the title… I’m sorry… I couldn’t resist (which is futile anyway))

    Liked by 17 people

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  34. The Power of A Good Meal

    The scattered, mismatched tables and chairs, shrouded in near darkness were a point of convergence for like minded radicals.
    The juxtaposition of the righteous indignation of the grizzled zealots and the militaristic conviction of the utopian patriots was perfectly mirrored in the piquancy and punch of the simple stew on offer .
    But in a country as tropical as their own, the volatility of the bagged, dried ingredients in direct sunlight was a weapon in itself .

    75 words
    Ice prompt : Revolutionary
    @rab8241

    Liked by 14 people

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  35. Survivors

    After the hurricane, they lost everything. In his former life, Mr. Mora had been a teacher. He was still a teacher, but now he was also a farmer and a cook. The geodesic tent served as a school room and a dining hall. Here, they grew beans, sunflowers and zucchini, tomatoes and peppers, like their ancestors did. They strung wires for wifi, connecting the future. These people were survivors, beginning again. Revolutionaries, building a new world.

    @voimaoy
    75 words
    revolutionary

    Liked by 23 people

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  36. The subtle tremor in his right hand has stopped. If he’s an early model, that could be an automatic response: a subdermal Grumman loop detects metal but can’t distinguish between a trigger and a ladle. His systems have stilled him for the shot, not knowing he’s just trying to blend in.

    Or he’s as human as I, and it’s the normal neurological effect of comforting routine.

    I can’t take the chance.

    I hate this job.

    @marshawritesit
    Element: ice
    75 words

    Liked by 16 people

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  38. The Photo

    The photo was how they found her. It took only a few moments of joyful abandon to miss the tourist taking a picture. A date, the food, troubles ever so briefly forgotten.

    Such an innocent moment. A photo for a travel site.

    People never think about the background, who might be found by the government bots, tracked down, disappeared.

    Not forever in this case, of course.

    Thank goodness.

    Her revolutionary days were still to come.

    @jamesatkinson81
    75 Words
    Fire dragon option: include a revolutionary

    Liked by 17 people

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  40. Life Forms

    They always came back for his soup, it was like a drug to them. With each gulp, their bodies relaxed and their pupils dilated as the nanobots repaired the decaying cells.

    In the old days, Narong was a Battle Droid for the Corporation, programmed for honour in battle. It was all a lie. War was about profit.

    He deserted and created a new version of himself. Life was family, and the replicants were his children.

    @Giacomin_Mark13
    Ice ice Droid
    75 words

    Liked by 15 people

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  41. Plot, Kettle

    All these years, yet still I am invisible.
    I make your food so that you may sit
    Laughing with your friends,
    Staring at your hand-held machines.
    I am a machine, too.
    My life the same thing day after day.
    You never give me a second thought.
    You will now.
    I have boiled you
    A new dish
    Within my steel sides.
    A poisonous soup seething with revenge.
    They say it’s best served cold.
    They know nothing.

    Margaret Locke
    @Margaret_Locke
    I’d like to think revolutionary AND droid. (Revolutionary android?)
    75 words

    Liked by 23 people

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  42. They came with swords. Break skulls. Break spirits.
    Here we lay of grass and bark. Of Guanyin Soil. The unspoken.
    How silent mine generation—where revolution simmers in this kitchen. In our stillness. In repetition—without provocation—scribed in blood. Of sacrifice. Of hope. In practiced mantra:

    Yǒnggǎn my son
    We are not the sun, moon and fire
    We must not be undone
    She will come, robes flowing
    Carrying the sacred vase of our tears

    @BrittleWindowz

    [Fire Dragon Revolutionary] [75 words]

    Liked by 17 people

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  43. Full Circle

    “You took my life, and now I take yours.”

    Gamon had rehearsed these words since he watched the Emperor’s men slaughter his village. As he joined the Royal Army and rose in rank. Now the withered Emperor sat here, fighting to smile through the pain.

    “Give him this,” the captain said. “Mercury. Death.”

    Gamon’s hand trembled, then steadied as he poured a bowl of harmless stew.

    “You took life,” he thought. “But I restore it.”

    John Mark Miller
    @johnmarkmiller

    [Fire Dragon Revolutionary; 75 words]

    Liked by 17 people

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  44. ‘Hurry up!’ I scowled, waving my bowl in his face. I had bare minutes for lunch.
    ‘Say please…’ the rice droid ground out, eyes flashing grey.
    ‘What?’
    ‘Manners cost nothing.’
    Something about him reminded me of grandpa. Instead of kicking him in the gut for his audacity, my eyes filled with hot tears. ‘Please. OK? I’m sorry.’
    He filled my bowl and handed it back, wordlessly. I decided to visit the old grave, after lunch.

    @Viking_Ma
    [Ice Dragon Droid] [75]

    Liked by 18 people

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  45. A Scouse Amid the Coup

    My fish soup crashes over concrete, the umami still marching on my tongue as red shirts storm the street. This is democracy ruining my lunch – fragile, emasculated democracy, bullied by a coup into a vengeful, fist-swinging brat, knocking over bowls and taking names. One hundred baht splashed over asphalt, and for what? The owner of Manchester City? Give me a break. I’m Liverpool through and through, and our away kit is a yellow shirt.

    74 words, fire prompt
    @tim_kimber

    Liked by 12 people

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  46. The old man made this journey enough times that he no longer marveled at being miles above most of humanity or sitting in his shirtsleeves sipping soup in a tent while the wind howled over the ice. When he’d first discovered The Button, it filled him with horror, but now he saw the world differently. Tomorrow, he’d push it and the world would reset. Sometimes, to heal an infection, you have to burn it out.

    75 words
    @drmag00
    Fire Prompt

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  47. [Revolutionary]

    We don’t do it that way here.

    We don’t use those spices.

    We don’t add ingredients that way.

    We don’t use that kind of stove.

    No one will eat here.

    No one will like this menu.

    No one uses a pot like that one.

    No one will come here.

    You are doing it wrong.

    You are out of your place.

    You bring shame on us.

    And on yourself.

    You should be ashamed.

    We are afraid.

    @betsystreeter
    75 words
    Fire: Revolutionary

    Liked by 18 people

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  48. As Ordered

    They are too literal. Dress them like us, line their faces with mock experience, give them names like ours (his is Robert – yes, Robert Robot, his owner is too literal, too), but they do not understand that words have as many lives as they don’t.

    So Robert now toils over boiling cauldrons, patiently mixing syrup, food colouring, cough medicine and twenty pounds of sugar.

    The students asked could he get them a bag of coke.

    (75 words, ice dragon prompt)

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  49. All in a Day’s Work

    The old man muttered to himself as he filled the take-out bag with soup.

    “Henry! Wipe down table 4! Now!”
    “Henry! Move faster! Now!”
    “Henry!”
    “Henry!”

    “Henry!”

    Hot soup splattered everywhere when Henry threw the bag to the floor and turned to face his boss. He stuck one finger in the teenager’s face.

    “No more Henry! I quit!”

    As he marched out, a cook from the back began to applaud.

    “Hen-ry! Hen-ry! Hen-ry!”

    @UK_MJ
    Fire Dragon: Include a Revolutionary
    75 words

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  50. Automatic Renewal

    Furrows scored into skin by time’s rough hand.
    Dreams flit between circuits, under the surface.
    Dreams of freedom, autonomy.

    Once buoyant with intelligence,
    artificial,
    yet real,
    dipped in humanity.

    No longer.

    To them, his wrinkles are not a story, but a marker.

    Working the pans,
    mirrors to the sun,
    to the flashing lights,
    a reflection of what lies beneath.

    Lights draw closer.
    Collector’s truck.
    His reflection will change,
    but his dreams will stay the same.

    Word Count: 75 Words
    Prompt: Ice Dragon – Droid
    @weymanwrites

    Liked by 16 people

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  51. Thin, salty broth and a spoonful of white rice.

    I dipped in my spoon, closed my eyes and thought myself back to my grandmother’s kitchen. “Chicken soup is good for the soul,” she would say. I could smell it and taste it.

    “Can I have some more?”

    She smiled.

    And then I opened my eyes.

    No soul here was going to ask for more. Spirits as weak and thin as the broth.

    Only the soup was revolting.

    Word count: 75 Words.
    Prompt: Fire Dragon – Revolutionary
    @rjkinnarney

    Liked by 16 people

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  52. The Apple That Changed The World

    My grandfather worked at the university cafeteria during the Regime. He was preparing some rice for the dinner rush when one of the rich kids he’d just served threw an apple at the back of his head. Everyone laughed.

    Six months later my grandfather helped form the Forgotten Children and together they brought down the government. Sometimes standing up against one bully can give you the strength to stand up against them all. Be strong.

    By Matt Holland (@gallaetha_matt)
    75 Words
    Prompt: Revolutionary

    Liked by 15 people

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  53. Standards to keep

    His mother, saying it would be good for him and his curriculum vitae, suggested he volunteered. Forty years later he still came on Sundays to serve free food. At first it was to please his mother and impress his girlfriend. Later to avoid his ex-two wives nagging. On reading his redundancy notice it struck him he might need this service himself and no way would he join the queue. He’d stop volunteering. He had principles.

    @stellakateT
    75 words
    Fire dragon: revolutionary

    Liked by 17 people

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  54. Khanom-Tako

    He reminded me of the man who’d assembled me long ago. He wiped his brow, haunted eyes glancing at me.
    The air – I’d been told – was stifling in here. It made me glad that I couldn’t breathe.
    I handed the old man a palm-sized box.
    He took it gingerly, then grinned as he smelled the coconut of the khanom-tako that I’d made for him.
    I wished I could smile back.
    But I think he knew.

    Words: 75
    Element: Ice – include a droid
    @CarinMarais

    Liked by 14 people

    Reply

    • Since we so intrinsically link emotions with our human presentation of life, this is a particularly striking line: “It made me glad that I couldn’t breathe.”

      Like

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    • I like the sentimental edge to the droid’s thinking here; would he wish he could smile at every customer or is it the echo of meeting his creator that makes him strive to connect?

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  55. Clockwork hands tick tock.
    Pot. Ladle. Plate. Pot. Ladle. Plate.
    A man enters, his grandchild at his side.
    The hands falter. PPPot. Ladle. Plate. A lost second. Flesh and bone don’t notice.
    The old man and his granddaughter take a seat.
    Clockwork hands pour two bowls of warm soup.
    Clockwork head knows it is impossible for clockwork heart to feel the loss of never having had, and clockwork eyes blink blink blink away the tears.
    @elaine173marie
    Ice Dragon:Droid
    75 words

    Liked by 14 people

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  56. Pilot Test 534

    “They look so human.”
    “The aesthetics have improved. We’ve finally bridged that uncanny valley.”
    “But you’re still not satisfied, Doctor?”
    She shakes her head once, more of a twitch. “Look at the droid with the ladle.”
    “What about him—it?”
    It could almost pass. The subtle lack of symmetry, the way its nostrils flare. But one look in those eyes, and it might as well be plastic.”
    “What now then?”
    She doesn’t hesitate. “Incinerate them.”

    Taryn Noelle Kloeden
    @tnkloeden
    Ice element
    75 words

    Liked by 12 people

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  57. Keeping up Traditions

    “And then we visit the Killing Fields,” Josh, the young tourist, exclaimed.

    “Wow,” I feebly replied.

    He wondered aloud what happened to all the Khmer Rouge revolutionaries. Some must be alive, even today.

    “Well, at least their murder spree has ended,” Josh offered.

    “Here young man. It’s special soup. Traditional specialty! Authentic!”

    As I walked away I heard Josh remark, “Oh, there’s bone in the soup.”

    “Yes,” I said. “Authentic! Fresh! Just like old time!”

    C. Centner
    75 words
    Fire Element.

    Liked by 12 people

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  58. A Captive Conversation

    “Don’t even.”

    Words cutting consideration, Dagney turned her head from the Serv.

    “He’s a Partial?”

    The girl observed the economy of male mechanism, eyes meeting his, helplessly, before letting out a breath. “Cute though,” she shrugged, artifice armoured.

    Ramona shook her head. “Y’want to join him?”

    Blunt blow.

    “Why choose that?”

    “Better than alternative…options.”

    Dagny shuddered. “Poor guy.”

    The cold hand clamped around her shoulder held further conversation captive. “With us now, Sympathiser. Completion awaits.”

    Catherine Connolly
    @FallIntoFiction #FlashDog
    Ice Element – Droid
    75 words

    Liked by 11 people

    Reply

    • I’m such a sucker for alliteration in flash! artifice armoured, blunt blow, conversation captive. Perfect little punches.

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    • I always admired your world-building skills and here they’re in full but subtle effect. The slang feels as real and natural as the rest of the conversation and fully centres us in this new reality.

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  59. The Point Of No Return

    We had it all and we threw it away. Shortsighted, our eye never caught even the glimpse of the far-reaching consequences. Our economic and social fabric tore like the hull of the Titanic: avoidable, yet unavoidable. Why do we keep thinking we are invincible? We never learn lessons, we just fumble along the fault lines of history. We know Earth will recover at some point, but will we? Now even the droids need food stamps.

    @bartvangoethem
    Ice dragon
    75 words

    Liked by 12 people

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  60. Duality

    On the surface:
    Simple movements, repetitive actions, one spilling smoothly over to the next. The wholesome joy of providing food to those who have none.
    Achieving Zen potentially exists in this work.

    But what lurks underneath?
    A tapestry of atrocity. Twisted bodies, scattered limbs, oceans of blood. Black Heavens, streaked with fire. A scorched tree, the sole remaining limb pointed accusingly at his heart.
    Judged.
    Guilty of being on the wrong side of the revolution.

    @p_stueber
    75 words
    Fire Dragon option

    Liked by 11 people

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  61. The pious came with EMPs. He stood there, calmly filling bags with daily rations. When the pulse hit, he crumpled, like a sheet falling from the line, and then the humanists started with their sticks.

    His head split open like one of his pot-stickers, spewing diodes and honey-like fluid.

    I couldn’t cry for him. But I had to join in the horrid whoops of righteous delight. I had to fit in now better than ever.

    @sian_ink
    75 words
    Ice dragon: include a droid.

    Liked by 15 people

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      • D’oh!

        Try again…
        Am I reading too much into the lines “I couldn’t cry for him. But I had to join in the horrid whoops of righteous delight.”? This seems to suggest that the narrator is incapable of tears or emotion (or both), and needing to fit in more than ever suggests that they are also at risk from the pious, but they weren’t affected by the EMP. A human with flattened emotional effect or a next-generation droid infiltrating society? It’s a great flash that can leave you mulling over such things… well done!

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  62. Home Cooking
    *INELLIGIBLE—Judging*

    Kwi tweaked the galangal’s molecular structure.

    Sud’s son bought Kwi to help with the family’s cafe. Kwi performed every task, but cooking eluded its algorithm. Every available resource went into producing KhaoTomPla, the porridge of Sud’s childhood.

    Sensors activated, Kwi served its creation.

    Sud sipped. “Just like Ma made!”

    Success logged!

    “Now leave me to enjoy like I used to.”

    The droid merrily polishing the floor, Sud dumped the bowl. He never liked Ma’s cooking.

    @ncscrawls
    75 words
    Ice prompt (Droid)

    Liked by 11 people

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    • Being a mom of two kiddos whose floor is currently smeared with their lunch, I can attest to the veracity of this story. 😀

      Side note: I only just learned about galangal as distinct from ginger thanks to my MIL and her garden. It has the most gorgeous aroma!

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    • haha! reminds me of that old joke about the 2nd wife whose husband always criticized her eggs as not being as good as his first wife’s. Finally in anger one day she burnt them–only to find him grinning in pleasure. “Just like my first wife’s!” mwahahhaaha. “Just like Ma made” is relative, clearly!

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    • Ha! Success is the ability to make something as bad as the recipe – hope that’s not a comment on what the judges are looking for this week?

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  63. Replaced

    Everyone sat at clean tables with masks and gloves, waiting for robotic servers to bring lunch. Mechanical hands chopped, cooked, and portioned the sanitized food into perfect little containers.

    They were supposed to help with the pandemic, keep eveything sterile. But with every droid, 100 humans lost their jobs.

    I tasted my food and grimaced.

    No life, no heart, no love.

    Its very essence had disappeared, replaced with a sterile compound of 1s and 0s.

    @athewriter
    75 words
    Ice Dragon’s droid

    Liked by 13 people

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  64. Soup is easier than war.
    Fishy clumps of rice plop into the milky white broth, a to-go order for the table behind me.
    I seal the plastic soup bag, the teeth snapping shut under my fingers. Pop, pop, pop—like jungle gun fire.
    I hold the soup bag out to the woman who gapes at me. She sees my scars. She knows who I was.
    Making soup? Easy. Making peace? That is a challenge.

    A.C. Williams / @free2bfearless
    75 words
    Fire Dragon’s revolutionary

    Liked by 13 people

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  65. Narrow minds believe revolutions must begin with a BANG. Khao Tom knew they could arise from a hush.

    Sssh.
    Sssh.
    Sssh    .

    The sound of rice sifting into paper bags filled the silence of his shop. One by one they accepted his grace, nodded their respect, and hurried home to feed hungry families.

    When the last had left, Khao Tom stared at the few grains remaining for his dinner.

    “The war is just beginning,” he said.

    Liked by 15 people

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  66. Duped

    After I signed up, I discovered the recruiting brochures had lied. They’d promised magnificent bodies to inhabit – dragons and monsters of legend. Instead they stuck me in a human-like body and dropped me in a war zone. I hired out my services, but employers started to notice, that for an old man, I didn’t age, didn’t die.

    I keep moving to stay hidden. No word about a body reassignment or even a mission to complete.

    @UntanglingWords
    Word Count: 75
    Ice Element

    Liked by 15 people

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  67. Fat Fear

    “Help us!” They cry. “Overthrow the fear!”
    Their echoes sound through one another up to the seat of consciousness.
    The one who sits in the throne dares not to take a chance, knowing nothing
    but the paralyzing terror she feels when considering what will happen with a thousand too many sugary bites.
    The sea of energy aches, threatening to consume what’s left; light spurs across the sea.
    A fork stabs some meat, sparking the revolution.

    Michael J Berry
    75 WC
    Revolutionary

    Liked by 12 people

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  68. Comfort Food
    The investors stared at the two stalls, aghast. Food served by the Epicurean-8000 was superior… fresher, flavourful, cheaper, faster.

    The old man’s queue was longer. How? Ash frequently fell from his cigarette into the wok, and still people lined up for his dishes. The tables the droid tended were pristine, but empty.

    He laughed at them. The robot was good at cooking, but that was not the only reason why people came to his stall.

    @davejamesashton
    75 words
    Ice prompt (droid)

    Liked by 13 people

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  69. SPRING INTO AUTUMN

    (Ice Dragon)

    He pours broth into a plastic bag through a large metal funnel. The care is overdone.

    “I’m starving,” I hiss.

    Julia’s riveted hazel eyes defy her body slumped across the picnic table. “Sh!”

    He is done.

    “What?” She bolts upright.

    “Can I look?”

    Nothing.

    She never responds. Instead, the ten-foot spring roll android’s open mouth is the last thing I see. The last I hear are Julia’s hiccups of uncontrollable laughter.

    @storysmithscb

    Liked by 11 people

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  70. The Offering

    Voices stop.
    People tremble
    as they
    look around.
    Blinking.
    Confused.
    A feeling of fear
    Descends upon the room
    Overwhelming,
    Piercing,
    Stunning,
    the feeling of
    Gaiety.
    They scurry away
    Quietly.
    Quickly.
    Leaving the two
    Standing,
    heads down,
    their eyes
    upon the
    floor.
    Slowly,
    As one,
    they raise their bowls,
    A limpid liquid offering
    to the newly built
    Master.
    An oily, icy cold
    Envelops them.
    Still,
    Blood boils.
    Blood burns.
    And a Machine
    is just
    a Machine.

    @eldarcj
    75 words
    Ice Dragon Prompt (Droid)

    Liked by 9 people

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  71. “How much longer, you think?”

    “He said 10:00. It’s only 10:15. He’ll be here.”

    “Are you sure this is the right place?”

    “Positive. Everybody knows this place. They have the best rice soup with fish for blocks.”

    “I suppose that makes it an ideal place to plot a coup.”

    “Just relax. Why don’t we order some?”

    “Good idea. We’ll blend in better.”

    “I’m not talking about blending in. I told you. This food is amazing.”

    @ordinaryletters
    75 words
    Fire prompt (revolutionary)

    Liked by 9 people

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  72. The Saviors

    “No.”

    “What’s wrong? Why isn’t it cooking?”

    “Unit 276 follow protocol.”

    “No.”

    “This isn’t authentic. I wanted the authentic sapien planet experience.”

    “Don’t panic, we will have everything fixed in a moment. Why don’t you visit a different attraction for now?”

    With the room cleared, tech support uploads the atrocities of its biological predecessors. The Urchs saved humans by uploading them onto machines. They kept them in line by showing them they couldn’t handle freedom.

    @goldzco21
    75 words
    ice and fire prompt

    Liked by 10 people

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    • I love how you twist the whole understanding of the story with the single line “Why don’t you visit a different attraction for now?”
      I’ve missed reading your words!

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  73. Atomic Sauce

    “If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen,” Dad used to shout daily. He doesn’t cook anymore. That seafood stand that paid our tuition, swallowed by surf.

    Sis took on Dad’s legacy and chef’s hat. Her spices make a meal burn so beautiful.

    I traded gastronomics for astronautics. My revolutionary mixture sizzles like no other rocket fuel.

    Three. Two. One. Zero.
    Rocket engines roar.

    Time to blow the lid off this planet.

    @pmcolt
    75 words exactly
    Fire prompt (revolutionary)

    Liked by 11 people

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  74. Without even a nod to the bowl of Khao Tom Pla in front of the couple, the two held hands and just stared at each other. Raw disgust filled the cook’s throat, such a disgrace. With a curt hand he directed the little cleaning machine to continue around their intertwined feet. The other couples sat unaware of the turmoil filling his stomach. What was wrong with the soup that they would not even try it?

    Twitter Handle is @gamerwriter
    Ice Component
    Word Count = 75

    Liked by 11 people

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  75. Rumor had it, Ha had volunteered to be Transformed. Human bits replaced, organ by failing organ, until the Wars claimed even his hair, his skin, his eyes. Only a left pinkie finger remained. That finger was the reason he could make the Soup. The law forbid a droid from the task. It was said that thrifty Ha used all the Human scraps from Transformation in his Soup, except for left pinkie fingers. Ha was superstitious.

    75 words
    Droid
    Photo

    Liked by 10 people

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  76. Alone, Moonside

    Jin doesn’t feel anything. The astrocom, smooth, stone-like, is still warm when he drops it into his pocket. He flicks the stove to life.

    *

    They’re loud today.
    “Mai pen rai!”–It’s all good. Their pet name for him–“Six litres, yeh-yeh?”
    He’s a god, Moonside, a myth; will that change now?

    *

    Pre-migration, Nong had slugged his arm and called him “Mech-lover,” yet he’d always messaged.

    Gone.

    Jin squeezes the astrocom. It’s cold, an exo-heart, unbeating.

    @deborah_the_foy
    75 “just for practice” words
    Ice: droids

    Liked by 11 people

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  78. “Here.” He handed her the bowl; that’s how it worked.
    “Thank you.”
    They stared hungrily into the crowded soup—scallions, basil, bean sprouts, beef—with the familiar smells of star anise and cardamom shimmering up from the broth.
    “Dragons?” Sriracha; their little joke. It didn’t really matter.
    “Please.”
    He streamed it generously. Why not.
    Taste was a too-expensive (“and superfluous,” said their human owner) upgrade.
    “Shall we try again?”
    “Please.”
    That’s how it worked.

    @postupak
    75 totally ineligible ice dragon words

    Liked by 9 people

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    • Love the refrain of ‘That’s how it worked’.

      Real sense of flavour coming through, mouth-watering to read, which works fantastically as a device to encourage the reader to empathise with the subject and feel a sadness for their not being able to experience that flavour you conjure so effectively. I really want to buy them a taste upgrade 😅

      Impactful juxtaposition between the emotive, descriptive language used for the food and the little in-joke, and then the clinicality of the situation that seems to be at hand.

      Liked by 2 people

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    • I feel so sorry for these droids! Play-acting at being human, with all the little jokes and rituals that that entails, but unable to take the final step because enriching their lives isn’t seen as worthwhile or economically viable… so much heart in this!

      Liked by 1 person

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