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Close Call

It’s time for Mondays Finish the Story, a weekly challenge hosted by Barbara Beacham in which we get both a photograph and an opening sentence.

The goal is to finish the story in 100-150 words not including the opening sentence, which is fortunate as the opening sentence is quite long this week!

Click on the little blue guy to see the other stories for this week. The supplied opening sentence is in bold in my story.

 

2015-01-12-bw-beacham

Racing down into the atmosphere, the unidentified object crashed, leaving behind one heck of a huge crater and a plume of smoke that could be seen from miles around.

Jake and Betty stared in astonishment – at the sky, having been blown off their feet by the blast. Jake reached for his phone.

The police arrived, then the onlookers and finally General Herbert, accompanied by a single tank, his entire arsenal.

A small grey-green figure emerged from the crater, waving all six of his arms enthusiastically. He held up a satchel of some sort.

“Invasion!” yelled Herbert. “Open fire!”

The little figure exploded in a shower of alien guts, sheaves of paper flying from his satchel. Herbert retrieved one.

InterGalactic Pizza™ now operating on your planet. Call today!

“No!” yelled Herbert. “What have I done? A pizza delivery alien. Harmless, innocent, nooooo!”

On the ground was a small device. A radio? He pushed the button.

“Hello? Is anyone there? I’m so sorry…”

“Yes?” said a voice.

“Oh, thank God. We’ll have five quattro formaggi and a side of coleslaw.”

 

  1. NotAPunkRocker
    January 13, 2015 at 8:43 pm

    Wow, I feel sad about the poor pizza delivery alien.

    Now I want pizza.

    Like

    • January 13, 2015 at 8:45 pm

      Poor guy 😦
      Now I want pizza too. Mmm, InterGalactic pizza. I hear it’s the best in the cosmos!

      Like

      • NotAPunkRocker
        January 13, 2015 at 8:48 pm

        Right? Too bad someone had to up and kill the sole franchise on this planet. :/

        Like

  2. January 13, 2015 at 8:51 pm

    How do we contact them? Right now I am craving a pepperoni, sausage, mushroom and extra cheese! Loved the story! Thanks for participating and stay tuned for next week’s challenge! Be well! ^..^

    Like

    • January 13, 2015 at 8:55 pm

      They’re in the book, apparently! But if they ask, claim to have no knowledge of the unfortunate “Herbert Incident” 🙂

      Like

  3. January 13, 2015 at 9:32 pm

    Just your kind of opening sentence 🙂 That last sentence is hilarious…
    Ellespeth

    Like

    • January 13, 2015 at 9:38 pm

      Glad you liked the last sentence, it made me smile too 🙂

      Like

  4. January 13, 2015 at 9:54 pm

    I loved your take on this! It’s hilaroius – the last line especially so. I’ll never look at a pizza again without thinking of showers of alien guts! A very enjoyable read.

    Like

    • January 13, 2015 at 9:56 pm

      Thanks, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
      I had to strip some words out elsewhere to get the alien guts in there :-). I hope I haven’t put you off pizza for life.

      Like

  5. January 13, 2015 at 11:12 pm

    And thank heavens they all speak ENGLISH, the intergalactic language of choice! How else could we all order pizza?

    Like

    • January 14, 2015 at 8:08 am

      Pizza ordering is not only an international but an intergalactic language.

      Like

  6. January 14, 2015 at 2:42 am

    “shower of alien guts” Yuck! Up comes the pizza.

    DJ

    Like

    • January 14, 2015 at 8:09 am

      It doesn’t seem to be bothering General Herbert! He’s made of strong stuff.

      Like

  7. January 14, 2015 at 6:07 am

    Ah, the dangers of intergalactic expansion…:-D

    Like

    • January 14, 2015 at 8:10 am

      It’s a risky business. That’s why the so-called “pizza pioneers” are so well paid 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  8. January 14, 2015 at 8:55 am

    So sad.. but that’s how humans act — shoot first and then pizza.

    Like

    • January 14, 2015 at 10:11 am

      I was wondering if anyone would comment on the fact that Herbert was more worried about missing pizza than he was about blowing the poor alien to bits.

      Like

  9. January 14, 2015 at 9:20 am

    I loved this great take on the image….gave me a good giggle.

    Like

  10. gentlestitches
    January 14, 2015 at 10:16 am

    HaHaHaHa! Great take-out. 😀

    Like

    • January 14, 2015 at 10:17 am

      Apparently they deliver for free within a 5 light year radius 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  11. January 14, 2015 at 10:47 am

    Ali, Hilarious. 😀 You just know this is going to happen one day in the future. It’s a given. Well done as only you can. 🙂 — Suzanne

    Like

    • January 14, 2015 at 11:58 am

      Yeah, eventually some alien fast food chain’s going to arrive and get blown away 🙂

      Like

  12. January 14, 2015 at 6:20 pm

    Great story! I’m not sure I’ll want to eat pizza again any time soon after that shower of alien guts. 🙂 I love the last line. All is well as long as they can still place their order…

    Like

    • January 14, 2015 at 7:55 pm

      Blowing away the delivery alien was a shame, but missing out on the pizza would have been a tragedy.
      I’m glad you enjoyed my story, and I hope you will one day be able to eat pizza again 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Aileen
    January 15, 2015 at 9:49 am

    Dodgy job pizza delivery…mind you pizzas are dodgy too!

    Like

    • January 15, 2015 at 11:50 am

      Pizzas aren’t dodgy, every type of pizza is a joy 🙂

      Like

      • Aileen
        January 15, 2015 at 12:38 pm

        Shall we agree to disagree on that one! 🙂

        Like

  14. January 15, 2015 at 1:10 pm

    That was an inspired take. Loved this.

    Like

    • January 15, 2015 at 1:13 pm

      Thanks, yarnspinnerr. Glad you liked it!

      Like

  15. January 15, 2015 at 7:38 pm

    hilarious 😀

    Like

  16. January 16, 2015 at 6:01 am

    Excellent imaginative write ~ I wonder what sort to meat goes into a tandoori Martian express ~ A really funny piece~Thanks for raising a smile Ali 🙂

    Like

    • January 16, 2015 at 8:08 am

      I find it’s always best not to wonder exactly what goes into fast food, even when it comes from Earth 🙂
      Glad you liked it!

      Liked by 1 person

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