As you may know, I have become enamored by the talent of Keith Channing. He has a weekly prompt named Kreative Kue, which runs on Mondays. Here are the instructions from Keith for the prompt. “Using this photo as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; and either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithkreates@channing.fr before 6pm on Sunday (if you aren’t sure what the time is where I live, this link will tell you). If you post it on your blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated.”
His advice. “Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries, with links to your blog or website, next Monday.” Here is the photo.
The Thing by John W. Howell © 2015
“Alright, I’m here now tell me what you did Ray.”
“Nothing. I just squeezed the trigger on this thing.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“Look at the street. There’s nobody around.”
“Whoa, you are right there’s no one here.”
“I just love it when you state the obvious.”
“So why did you call me?”
“To help me figure out how to get the people back.”
“What is that thing anyway?”
“I don’t know. I found it on the sidewalk over there.”
“Why did you pull the trigger?”
“I didn’t know it was a trigger. It looks more like a button to me. See?”
“Yeah, a red button. Don’t you know red buttons mean trouble.”
“Well, I do now for sure.”
“Any other dials or buttons on that thing?”
“Look there’s this green one.”
“There you go. The green one probably puts everything back. Go ahead push it.”
“Okay. I hope you’re right.”
“Man. Did you see that?”
“All the buildings are gone.”
“No kidding. I’m right here with you. Push the green again maybe it’s a cycle thing.”
“There.”
“Nice. The buildings are back.”
“I think I should push the red one again. It looks like red is for people and green for stuff. If I push the red again, I believe the people will come back.”
“Okay, but point that thing towards the buildings.”
“Here I go.”
“Nothing happened Ray. Where the hell are you? Oh, Ray if you can hear me don’t push the red again.”
Fiction Favorites 
LOL. Ummm… can I have one of those? Please?
😈 Loved this, John. Hugs!
LikeLike
Of course you can. I’ll bet you could put it to good use. LOL
LikeLike
Supervillains really have to stop losing their stuff.
LikeLike
I know right? This must have been dropped by a nasty one.
LikeLike
Probably. Thankfully the nastiness seems to be have been undone by a bad memory.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLike
Probably just about the way that would happen. Nice on John.
LikeLike
Thanks, Dan. When I try buttons on things it never goes well. A bomb squad membership would be short term employment for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
One and done ?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yup. Should have cut the yellow wire.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not the red button!!!!!!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know right?
LikeLike
Pushing buttons willy-nilly isn’t a good way to fix anything! That becomes obvious when trying to operate a new tech device…of any kind!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Call it a man thing. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I wish to have one of those devices as well but hope it comes with clear instructions. I especially wouldn’t want to erase m.e. 😀 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
That could be a problem. 🙂
LikeLike
Ha ha ha. A big one. 🙂
LikeLike
Comedy Sci-fi – a great write, John. I could picture this scene as a comedy sketch on TV.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Hugh. A nice compliment. I did want to try sci-fi and couldn’t get to bizzare so went to chuckles instead.
LikeLike
It worked, John. I’m still smiling after reading it for the fourth time. I wish I’d written it 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are too kind. (But thanks for saying)
LikeLike
A-ha! A Ray gun, no less. You hit that right on the button, John.
LikeLike
Haha! Twilight Zone a bit. Nice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A small time version.
LikeLike