Sturek's Stories

Remnants of days past [Digital Age Challenge]

2008-02-02T10:02:00Z

“Professor! We found something!” By the time the professor reached the excavation site he was out of breath and had lost his hat.
“Looks like a stack of storage devices.” Billy kneeled down in front of a black case.
“One is still intact professor!” he shouted.
“Hand it over, will you?” the professor tried to sound calm as Billy handed him a small silver rectangle. “Let’s see what Rajesh can make of this.” the professor mumbled and slowly walked over to a large tent.
Rajesh was already outside, eagerly waiting for this remnant of days past. He took the dirty device from the professor’s hands and put it in a small, white crate. As soon as he closed the crate’s lid it started to hum and a screen lit up. As the team gathered to watch, small words began to appear at the bottom of the screen:

Finally got that last piece of work done. about 15 hours ago from web

New post on my blog: http://tinyurl.com/yoo53z 12:46 PM January 31, 2008 from twitterfeed

@WFS is a dick as usual. about 17 hours ago from web

Little bombs bursting

2008-02-01T22:57:11Z

He kicked the pedal three times, sending the engine howling to the moon. Still the car slowed down. She turned around and saw two large bits of plastic lying on the road behind them. “Fuck!” was all he managed to scream as he furiously punched the steering wheel. Slowly the car came to a stop. She got out, stepping into a cold cloud of night and stared at the lights in the distance.

“And now?” he shouted shaking his head.
“Calm down for Christ’s sake. You’re really starting to piss me off! It’s not the end of the world.” she sounded angry this time. To her surprise he stopped punching the car and even breathed slower. He got out and put his jacket around her naked shoulders, holding her tight in his arms. “I hope you’re right.” he said.

Suddenly all hell broke lose. All around them hundreds of explosions went off and lit the land as if it were day. Red and orange light bursted out all around them. No matter where they turned, the sky was burning.

“Happy new year.” she whispered, still in his arms.

Adding gunpowder to the fire

2008-01-31T22:02:16Z

“Listen, you don’t have to do this.” she started.
“Yes I do!” he shouted in a sudden outburst.
“I know there’s a catastrophe heading our way, but what the hell! It’s not worth it!” she shouted back.
The car made another jump and the bumper dragged across the asphalt. He wasn’t prepared this time, nearly losing grip of the wheel and barely keeping two wheels on the road.

“It’s your fault.” he mumbled. “I told you, I warned you, I urged you, I…” He gradually shouted louder and louder, but the scream of an eagle right in front of them left his mouth open, but speechless. Once again the car sped along without them saying a word. She watched the eagle as it soared upwards and melted into a dark cloud between the stars. This time the car didn’t hum quietly though. A loud scraping noise came from the front. The front bumper had not let go of the asphalt after the last kiss. She looked at him, saying nothing, pleading with her eyes. He still stared straight ahead. A few seconds later the car slowed down.

A waste of gunpowder

2008-01-31T21:50:42Z

“Come on, stop it.” she said. He stared straight ahead, clutching the wheel with one and the gearshift with the other hand.
“Are you trying to kill me ?” she screamed with genuine fear in her voice and face. The car hit another hole disguised by muddy water and the front bumper hit the asphalt with a sharp scratching noise. Trying to act as if nothing had happened, he still stared ahead into the dark. She had hit her head on the window, not too hard, no blood, but still.

“We’re gonna make it.” he finally said and even managed to sound somewhat relaxed. She just looked at him with a blank stare and promptly stopped shouting. For a second the car quietly paced along the wide open fields. A small group of trees lined the narrow street, past it a group of giant metal windmills slowly moved in the steady breeze. She knew they were white, but right now they looked even blacker than the sky behind them. She shuddered. Far away in the distance, she could see the lights of civilization shining peacefully.