Not Any More
Hello and welcome to this week’s Friday Fictioneers, hosted as always by Rochelle. This week’s 100 word photo prompt has been supplied by fellow Fictioneerer Janet Webb, and you can check out the other entries here. I’m getting later and later with this, as I have “things on my mind” which I may post about at a later date (except I’m trying not to think about it too much).
I must admit, I’ve trickled over into 102 words this week. However, I’m safe in the knowledge that I could swap my two uses of “any more” for the modernised form “anymore” (which is annoying the spell checker as it’s technically incorrect in UK English), which would cut it down to 100 🙂

Copyright Janet Webb
“Hey Dad, what’s up with Uncle Bert, all alone over there?”
“He’s sulking. He doesn’t like the wet stuff. He doesn’t like getting his wheels wet. He’s worried he’ll rust.”
“Where did all the flesh-things go? Did they rust?”
“Maybe. Or maybe they melted. They never looked very hardy to me.”
“Where did all the wet stuff come from?”
“Full of questions today, aren’t you? I heard it used to be solid. Then everything warmed up and now it’s all wet and it’s everywhere.”
“So why are we here, Dad? Do we have a purpose?”
“Not any more, son. Not any more.”
You have a real flair for creepy. Good!
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Thanks! I know given the picture it was a fairly obvious story, but I thought I’d anthropomorphise the trolleys to give it a different angle 🙂
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Dear Draliman,
“Do we have a purpose?” Sad commentary that tells a whole story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Sadly a question I’ve often asked myself.
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Hey that’s all a bit sad. Surely they can evolve into something with purpose. Good piece.
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Thanks!
Maybe they’ll find a new purpose. I’m sure they’ll have plenty of time to work on it now that there’s no “flesh-things” around pushing them all over the place.
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Dear Draliman,
Now their purpose is to watch as they return to their component molecules in the mix. Good story.
Aloha,
Doug
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And eventually the Earth will heal and the circle will start anew.
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Funny that we don’t look solid to them. Seems to me that there are too many really solid flesh-things around these days. 🙂
janet
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From the perspective of a rugged metal shopping trolley we must look quite fragile 🙂
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Oh, but you do have a purpose, little one! You were put on this lot to make pretty little scratches and dents in my car while it’s parked there!
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Strange how they seem to roll across the car park all on their own to ding against car after car.
Hey, maybe they are sentient and it’s all part of their master plan 🙂
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This is pretty deep stuff! Now I need to ask myself if I do have purpose….hmmm, tough call.
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I don’t like to think too hard about my purpose in the world – it makes me feel very small.
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I agree, we flesh-things are very fragile….
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Yes, too fragile sometimes.
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Geez, dad, come up with something to tell the kid. 😉
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Obviously he’s not a fan of sugar-coating his words 🙂
Hope his kid doesn’t get too depressed.
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Gee, I hope you read this far down on your list because I’m here to present you with The Imagine Award, which is one of the relatively new awards roaming around the blogging world looking for a home. I believe it’s found as good home with you. I really enjoy you blog. Like a lot. I actually look forward to it. So … drop my my place tomorrow after midnight (EDT) – SERENDIPITY’s the name and collecting your award is the game. The address, as if you didn’t know, is http://teepee12.com/. I’m finishing writing it now and it will go up as the Big Clocks strikes the Witching hour. Woo hoo.
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Thank you! I’ve read and commented on your nomination post and will be putting something together as soon as I can.
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hmmm I somehow envision this story turning into that Stephen King book where machines and cars start attacking people.. I’ve always wondered why those cart are so stubborn at times. hmmmm…
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They do seem to have a mind of their own, don’t they? I’ve yet to meet a shopping trolley which will go in a forwards direction without a lot of shoving and kicking!
We’ve been worried about Skynet (Terminator), maybe the danger is already among us…
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Personifying the buggies/carts/trolleys. I love it. Bit of a sad ending, but the kid seems to have a spunky personality. I imagine he wouldn’t let his dad’s words get him down, and he would find a new purpose. Strange to be saying that about a shopping cart…haha!
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He’s certainly very inquisitive. I expect he’ll go off exploring and maybe even find a new purpose for all the trolleys 🙂
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It’ll be a trolley revolution!
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And here we were worried about “Skynet” – Terminator eat your heart out 🙂
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Haha, boo-yah! 😀
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What a great imagination you have 🙂
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Thanks!
Hey, it could happen 🙂
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Yeah right. Have you seen the weather forecast for today, lol 🙂
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Oh yes – is that the forecast with the mega storm and 80mph gusts? Ulp 🙂
Just an hour or so ago I had to pause the TV because I couldn’t hear above the rain…
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Heck it’s started already, best stay indoors. I’m in Haifa at the moment, nice & dry here. I’ll be back in the UK in December & praying for good weather lol 🙂
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You’re well out of it, I think!
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