Sabotage!
Friday Fictioneers is a weekly photo prompt-inspired flash fiction challenge hosted by the talented Rochelle. This week’s photo was supplied by Marie Gail Stratford, and close to 100 of us write somewhere around 100 words on a weekly basis!
To read the other stories for this week, click on the blue froggie fellow below. Why not give it a go yourself?
My first thought when I saw this week’s photo was “nuclear rods in a reactor”.
Copyright Marie Gail Stratford
Jed trembled as he approached the reactor, the words of the resistance leader echoing in his mind.
“Pull the pink rods. The reactor will reset and drop the security grid. We don’t have a radiation suit for you. I’m sorry.”
He carefully slid the rods from the reactor core. The nuclear glare, brighter than the sun, melted his eyeballs. His insides liquefied as the radiation bombarded his body, the remains of his organs dribbling through every orifice, his brain trickling…
“Jed, where’s that bloody wine, we’re gasping!”
His imaginings interrupted, Jed returned to the dinner party, a bottle of Pinot Grigio Rosé in each hand.
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draliman on life 
Can’t blame him. I’m not much for dinner party chit-chat, I would rather have faced the first scenario 🙂
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Dinner party, nuclear meltdown. Dinner party, nuclear meltdown.
Nuclear meltdown, please!
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Ali, I think Jed has as big an imagination as you do. 😀 I was very relieved that Jed didn’t actually melt. If he drinks enough he may feel as though he has however. Funny and well written. 🙂 —Susan
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Thanks!
He’ll certainly need to watch the wine if he doesn’t want a meltdown going on in his head tomorrow 🙂
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Thank you. I’m glad no one died horribly today. I appreciate it. I hope the wine didn’t go bad!
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You’re welcome! Jed seemed liked a nice enough fellow, I didn’t have the heart to liquefy his 🙂
I’m sure the wine was delicious.
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LOL I had to laugh, because this would be me! I would rather write a story in my head, then have a dinner party. 🙂
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I think many of us would 🙂
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I agree that it looks like a nuclear reactor… I wonder if this was not the 10th bottle Jed fetched though.. 🙂
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It does sound like he’s starting to “drift”, doesn’t it? I wonder if it’s “one bottle for Jed, one for the party”!
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Delightful end. Although you had me worried for Jed. Sounds like he, too, has a wonderful imagination.
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It did look a bit rough for a second there. I expect the more he drinks, the more outrageous his stories will become 🙂
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Very enjoyable Ali, you completely threw me with your opening comment, so I really wasn’t expecting the daydreaming. Clever use of the prompt. 🙂
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Thanks! The photo reminded me a bit of that reactor in one of the James Bond films, it was in a submarine I think.
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HAHAHA! If I had to go to a dinner party I’d want to go with Jed. 😀
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Forget charades, he’ll keep us occupied with fun tales 🙂
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LOL I think you must have had a Pinot Grigio Rosé in each hand when you thought this one up. Well done, your imagination really went into meltdown with this one 😀
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I’m glad you enjoyed it! Jed and I are peas in a pod 🙂
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Whether wine-fueled or not, he had quite an imagination and so do you. This was lots of fun.
janet
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I’m glad you liked it! I hope he can keep his mind on the dinner party while he’s actually up there. I expect they’re all wondering why he keeps volunteering to get the wine 🙂
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Grief! That was some imaginary scenario. Time to give up the booze, I’d think.
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Judging by the fact that he’s started killing himself off, I think he’s definitely had a couple of glasses too many!
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Tee hee. A great twist.
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Thanks! I thought actually melting him horribly away was a little bit too much 🙂
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i think he already had too much to drink. 🙂
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I think he’s consuming most of the wine before he even gets it back upstairs 🙂
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Great story, sort of. Two story’s in a row that I don’t agree with comments. First saving spiders and now dinner parties. I love a great dinner party. Mine are probably a bit rustic but I have a blast. Great stories, good food and big laughs. Someone always drinks to much and acts stupid, always a wife/husband getting upset and lusty jokes. Love them.
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I’m with them, I’m afraid. Probably. I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever been to an actual dinner party.
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Dinner parties are the best if you are the sober one. Drunks can be so entertaining, I don’t drink much if at all.
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There is that. I don’t drink at all and it can be fun watching other people’s drunken antics.
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I think that guy’s been reading too many of your short stories! What an imagination he has! 😉
BTW, my first thought when I saw that picture was that it looked like a Lite Brite set. I don’t know if you had them in the UK or not, but look them up on Google and you’ll see where that visual came from!
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I looked it up – it could be one of those! I also thought they could be flashing on and off, like that light show they tried to use to communicate with the aliens in “Independence Day”.
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What kind of a party would push one to dream about the nuclear meltdown? Nicely put together.
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Thanks! Possibly the conversation is a bit boring, though it must be very bad to dream about liquefying 🙂
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I attended a party with 26 attendees, and 27 wine bottles gave their all. Where’s a good reactor when you really need one?
Well presented – but it’s all fiction – right? 😆
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Of course it’s all fiction 😉
Glad you enjoyed it!
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Dear Ali
Surely you’re familiar with The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. If not, you should be. Great imagination this guy has as does the writer of this story. You made me laugh.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle,
Thanks!
I’ve heard of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty but haven’t seen it – maybe I should!
I’m glad you enjoyed my story 🙂
Ali
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Dear Draliman,
Had me going right from the start. Good switch at the end.
Aloha,
Doug
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Dear Doug,
Thank you! I like little switches and surprise endings.
Ali
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Great story. Have you used some of it before? It rings a bell.
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Thanks! Obviously many of my characters have received hideous deaths 🙂 I did do a story a while ago which implied that the action was actually happening but it turned out to be on the TV – that may be what you are remembering.
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perhaps Jed is a writer 🙂 gross descriptions! (and by that, i mean well done) 🙂
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If he is a writer I hope he’s not too drunk to remember his great ideas the next day!
I thought you’d appreciate the gross descriptions 🙂
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Don’t you just hate interruptions when your in the middle of an enticing daydream?
Loved it! Your descriptions are so real, almost like one can reach out and feeeeelll the creepiness!
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It really interrupted his chain of thought there!
I tried to make it as creepily real as possible, I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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Yes, I’m with Rochelle – Walter Mitty rides again. I’m so glad Jed was rescued before he really got sucked into a horrible death. There’s something to be said for the pull of reality, in this case a table full of thirsty guests. Good story.
Marg
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Quite why he was imagining his own horrible demise I don’t know but as you say, saved by reality!
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Wow, he has quite an imagination. I’m glad he could return to a comforting glass of wine. Well written. You certainly had me believing it. 🙂
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I bet he’s glad too, considering what was happening to him 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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“We don’t have a radiation suit for you. I’m sorry.”…Now that was funny, doc! That’s some wild imagination going on there:)
Ellespeth
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If it had been me I definitely would have imagined a radiation suit for myself 🙂
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Dear Draliman, Please donate your brain to science – you have an unbelievable imagination and it’s awesome! I started laughing when I realized it was a “time-out” day dream. You really did a bang up job on this one! Excellent!!! Nan 🙂
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Maybe I’ll donate my brain, but only once I’ve finished with it 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for such a lovely comment!
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This. WAS AWESOME! My favorite story I’ve read so far this week. I know a guy quite like him…maybe next time his friends won’t send him after the wine. Well done!
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Thanks very much!
When you need wine, you need wine, and this guy seems to get distracted all too easily 🙂
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You’re welcome!
Indeed. Or maybe this guy had just had a little too much wine already…
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Dear Draliman,
This was so fun and clever!
LHN
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Dear LHN,
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Ali
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Even your daydreams are gross, 😉 great job 🙂
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We aim to please 🙂
Thanks!
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