Friday Fictioneers – Backwards
Here is my story for Friday Fictioneers, the weekly flash fiction challenge hosted by Rochelle. The photo was provided by Jean L Hays. It’s apparently another rerun, but before my time!
If you look closely, everything outside the window is the wrong way round! I’m still trying to get my brain to work out the specifics of it all :-(.
To read the other stories, click on the blue froggy.
Copyright Jean L. Hays
“Open your eyes and take a look outside.”
“Everything’s… backwards! You weren’t kidding. The 708 Fulton really is a dimensional transport vehicle! Who’d’a thunk it?”
“Indeed! How old do you think I am?
“Um… thirty-five, thirty-six maybe?”
“Three hundred and five.”
“Wha…”
“Time travels backwards here. For every year I spend in our world, I spend a year here… getting younger! The net effect? I never age!”
“Woah… really?!”
“No, not really! Man, you’re so gullible! I positioned a mirror while your eyes were closed.”
“Whaaa… grrrrrr!”
“?eeffoc fo puC. eeh eeH”
“!ylevoL”
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draliman on life 
HA! I like it!
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Hee! I’m glad 🙂
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Wait… nobody died. What gives? Still a fun story though!
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I must be slipping 🙂
The WP end of year report should include fun stats like “number of people killed off”.
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Do one of those translate to asshat? 🙂
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Oh, I wish I’d snuck that in. I had some spare words too!
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Maybe next time. 🙂
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For sure 🙂
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LOL
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🙂
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Reading backwards is hard.
Also, I just got your Christmas card last night! Or at least, I finally noticed it peeking out from a stack of mail last night! I might have gotten it much earlier. Thanks, Drali. 🙂
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Writing backwards is also hard 🙂
You’re welcome for the card!
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I’m spacially challenged so I can’t figure out why the signs are backwards in the photo. Everything should be backwards if it was a photo of a mirror. Let me know if you figure it out.
Happy New Year Ali
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The ‘backward’ sign outside is an advertising banner, meant to be viewed from the far side, but sufficient ink comes through the thin fabric to see the reversed letters from this side. Have you never noticed things like ‘Welcome to Akron’s State Fair’ stretched across streets. When you look in your car mirror, they still read correctly because they’re backward backward.
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Thanks
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I was also confused but I see that Archon’s Den has the answer!
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I knew there was something wrong… But I had not had the time to figure it out. Or I just wasn’t on target enough? Enjoyed!
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The filename of the photo had “mirror” in it which helped 🙂
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Oh… I did not catch that.
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But I WANT it to be true 🙂 Don’t you? Really?
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Yus 🙂 But I had terrible trouble thinking of an ending to the story and had to go with this 😦
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I don’t understand what’s happening in that picture either. Let us all know when you figure it out. Good story, Ali. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Archon’s Den has posted a possible answer!
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Also, I want to add, Happy New Year to you, Ali. 🙂 — Suzanne
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And to you 🙂
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Sounds funny.
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Yep 🙂
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If the 708 Fulton closed down while you were on the mirror image side, I guess you’d just regress right back into the womb. At least you’d know how long you had left…
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Yeah. And don’t even think about going to the toilet…
(Watch “Backwards”, Red Dwarf series 3)
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Even though it’s the second time around for this picture, I hadn’t noticed that little detail. Well done!
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I stared and stared. And then zoomed in. The file name of the original image also has the word “mirror” in it 🙂
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I did punch him the shoulder.XD
I didn’t notice the details, good one.
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🙂
I had to zoom in to get a proper look. I knew something was off…
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Cool. 🙂
The cup and numbers clouded my vision once I looked at the picture.
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Dear Ali,
Revelc yrots. Deyojne I.
Reay wen yppah dna molahs
Ellehcor
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,ellehcoR raeD
!sknahT
ilA
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.siht no gnitcelfer deyojne I .boj taerG
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!ti deyojne uoy dalG .kniht elpoep ekam ot ekil I
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Happy New Year Draliman… Hoping to see more and more of auch delightful posts in the coming year:)
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Happy New Year to you too 🙂 My stories will continue…
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😀😀😀
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Fan….tastic! Just love it, the biggest smile of my day.
Rosey Pinkerton’s blog
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I’m glad you enjoyed it! It was fun to write 🙂
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Well, since others already thought of writing backwards, I shall refrain. This was a fun story, Ali! Happy New Year!
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Writing backwards is a lot harder than reading backwards – I didn’t realise how much I rely on a mental picture of a word to tell me if my spelling is correct 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed it, and Happy New Year to you too!
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Hilarious 🙂 Happy New Year!
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I’m glad you liked it! Happy New Year 🙂
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Thank you! 🙂
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Ha ha, so sneaky! Although if someone pulled a trick like that on me, I’d be a bit grumpy — I’d get my hopes up too much that time travel was real, how exciting!
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I think I’d be a bit disappointed too! He was really believing all that stuff 🙂
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Very funny story. I love you sense of humor. Happy New Year. 🙂
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I’m glad you liked it! Happy New Year to you too 🙂
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Now that’s a post to start our New Year’s Day with…namilarD elims a 😀 Extra Furresh Pawkisses for a Happy and Healthy New Year 🙂 ❤
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I’m glad you liked it, ykniB elttiL 🙂
Happy New Year to you and Granny and Grandpaw!
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I don’t think Archon’s den is right. Not sure, but think the Fulton sign is reversed in reality if you are inside the coffee shop (to be viewed from outside) and the sign across the street looks correct – but it’s all reversed in a mirror for this photo.
At one of my local stations, with one central standing area for two platforms, they made a sign to Wimbledon on the left platform and Sutton on the right but forgot to reverse the directions for the other side of the sign – so that had to be altered with arrows made out of tape!
And here’s another puzzle for you, if a mirror is in a lighted room with nobody in it does a reflection of the room exist?
Happy New Year! Step on no pets! (Not symmetrical but it is palindromic!)
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I wasn’t sure either. It didn’t look like a banner to me. I’m not looking at it any more, it’s making my head hurt, though your explanation makes sense. Of course, a sign on a shop door would be written to be the right way round from the outside, not the inside! I didn’t think of that.
That sign fiasco sounds like a very British Rail thing to do (or is it Network Rail in charge of stations, I get confused!).
As to your puzzle, I would say classically yes, quantum mechanically no 🙂
Happy New Year!
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Wow! Interesting answer, ie I don’t understand it (yet!). I’m sure there’s an OU course I could take…
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Classically, something either is or isn’t, so there must be a reflection. We know there is without looking. In quantum mechanics, something can exist in both states at once – a reflection and also no reflection, until it is observed. Observing it collapses the quantum probabilities to just one. For a better explanation, look up the thought experiment “Schrodinger’s cat” 🙂
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Ha! I didn’t even notice that. Very mind-bending story. 😉 Happy New Year!
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Tongue-twisting as well 🙂 Happy New Year to you too!
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as clint eastwood would say in one of his old movies, “lovely.” enjoyed reading it. 🙂
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Glad you liked it. And Clint also, I hope 🙂
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That was VERY funny and also revelc. 😉
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Thanks, sehctitseltneG 🙂
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HeeHee. 😀
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LOL’s 🙂
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🙂
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Never reflect too much on the backward ways of the world.
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Very true.
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What a great discussion and I love your story idea. I wanted to do a time manipulation thing this week but couldn’t think of how. So I really enjoyed yours. This is my take on the photo: The glass doors are mirrors. The photograph is taken from outside. Therefore the Real Estate sign, and the bus stop sign just visible at the bottom left of the frame, are all reflections in the mirrored doors.
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Thanks! I’m usually pretty good at spacial stuff but I just couldn’t get my head around this 🙂
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Nice catch. I noticed the backwards text but hadn’t put much thought into it! Nice spin on the prompt.
P.S. Happy New Year! It’s good to be back to Fictioneering.
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Thanks, I’m glad you liked it!
Happy New Year!
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Fun story, and I very much enjoy the discussion, especially Schrödinger’s mirror.
I’d go with the mirror door theory, too. First I thought the sunshine was a mirror in a mirror… but that would be too much construction.
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It’s all a bit confusing. Trick photography with mirrors and quantum mechanics are like that 🙂
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