Ficlets | An Unremarkable Factory

An Unremarkable Factory

There is a factory in Chongqing. It is unremarkable; there is nothing to distinguish it from the other factories nearby. Workers stream in every morning and out every evening. Smoke belches from its stacks, while trucks and trains trade raw materials for finished goods once a week. There is no reason for the ever-watchful eye of the Chinese government to give it more than a cursory glance.

But this unremarkable factory, which makes unremarkable plates and unremarkable cups, is the most remarkable factory in all of China. In fact, it is the most remarkable factory in all of the world.

Though the building was constructed in 1951, the people inside have been creating magical goods for thousands of years, serving a global clientèle.

For instance, if you needed a completely untraceable weapon, because you wanted to kill your worthless husband, but didn’t have the stomach to pull the trigger yourself, this factory could create for you, at great expense, of course, a hand and a gun for precisely this purpose.

Comments

Average Reader Rating:

An Unremarkable Factory
Will Hindmarch
Posted 15 days ago

Mind: Blown. Exactly why I dig the prequel/sequel thing here: This gels great with mine and is absolutely something I would never have thought of myself. Love it.
An Unremarkable Factory
THX 0477
Posted 15 days ago

Bizarre idea, kind of gives the feel of slowing zooming in on this unassuming factory before revealing its true purpose.
An Unremarkable Factory
Wil Wheaton
Posted 15 days ago

@THX0477: Hooray! That was exactly what I intended. Awesome!
An Unremarkable Factory
ZorkFox
Posted 15 days ago

Prequel/sequel or not, I enjoy the idea of this factory. I might just become a patron.
An Unremarkable Factory
Kermitgorf
Posted 15 days ago

a hand and a gun.. such an ordinary factory/setting, yet a queilty ominous story. well done Wil.
An Unremarkable Factory
Michael Falkner
Posted 15 days ago

Your prose feels like something in the style of Douglas Adams. Very Hitchhiker-esque to me. Very well done, Wil. I look forward to seeing more.
An Unremarkable Factory
pantagruel
Posted 15 days ago

I like the slow pace with the sudden twist at the end that makes you see everything in the previous paragraphs in a new light. It’s a great device; a nice nod to both Gaiman and Adams’ styles.

But what really makes this work is that it’s a prequel which does something really cool: overhauling the emotional tone of what went before, instead of just giving more plot. Nice one!
An Unremarkable Factory
Melia
Posted 15 days ago

I thought you maintained Will Hindmarch’s tone and writing style perfectly. That can be hard to do, but I think he created an inspired jumping off point.
An Unremarkable Factory
simplerich
Posted 15 days ago

I liked the tone of the piece. It had a feel, an atmosphere of building expectation. It was reminiscent of OTR ’s Dimension X x x x x x (That was an echo, not indicative of adult content lol)
An Unremarkable Factory
roblef
Posted 14 days ago

The ending of this prequel may or may not have something to do with the reason that gun is sent to the mailbox in the sequel.

Was the ending of this one meant to foreshadow the reason the gun is in the mailbox?

It lends new potential to the wife’s words at the end of the sequel: “Finally.”

Love this stuff. Thanks to both of you. I’m background processing the next bit in my head.
An Unremarkable Factory
Stovohobo
Posted 14 days ago

Very cool setup, with a great progression towards the reveal of the factory’s real purpose. And, of course, the certain hand and gun illustrated in the end.
An Unremarkable Factory
Maleghast
Posted 14 days ago

First of all, let me say thanks for opening my eyes to this cool site / community – your blog is definitely a common thread for me finding cool stuff, so thanks :) Secondly I love the way you paint an apparently unconnected picture so evocatively and then tie to “A Loaded Gun in the Mailbox” convincingly and in a way that makes me want to go and write a sequel to that Ficlet that springs from what you have done here and how that affects Will Hindmarch’s story – thanks :)
An Unremarkable Factory
thebetweenspace
Posted 14 days ago

That was brilliant. I love that as a prequel it adds intrigue to the original tale. The reveal at the end was priceless.
An Unremarkable Factory
Maleghast
Posted 14 days ago

OK, I don’t know why half of my last comment is scored out – I know I didn’t do it…

Anyway, just wanted to say that I did add a sequel to “A Loaded Gun in the Mailbox” that takes this prequel to it into account. Hopefully that’s not a bad thing..?
An Unremarkable Factory
User 9071
Posted 14 days ago

First: Thanks for pointing out this site on your blog.
Second: Wow. This is so perfect for the Loaded Gun in the Mailbox story, but it could also be it’s own piece.
An Unremarkable Factory
Lee Braiden
Posted 14 days ago

Another new member thanking you for the intro to ficlets :) Great writing, btw Will :)
An Unremarkable Factory
blanx73
Posted 14 days ago

There’s a great sort of evil (maybe not evil, but puckish, anyway) fun to this ficlet that works really well for me.
An Unremarkable Factory
Tad Winslow
Posted 13 days ago

I’d also like to thank you for dropping the ficlet.com hint to me close to nine months ago, I’ve been writing here ever since. Did Gilbert Arenas’s blogging victory over you last year resonate at all? If it helps, and I know its ancient history by now, but if the best blog was rated by talent and not by people who don’t know what real writing even looks like—you would have smoked the competition.
An Unremarkable Factory
Rusty Tanton
Posted 13 days ago

Now that I’ve read it, this seems like the most logical explanation for Will’s story. Yet it never would have occurred to me. Great work.
An Unremarkable Factory
OrangeOreos
Posted 13 days ago

GEEZ !

Where did all these readers come from?

Great prequel, by the way!

I laughed when I read that last paragraph!
An Unremarkable Factory
KevMullins
Posted 12 days ago

Amazing addition to the original story. Oh and Damn you Wil for getting me hooked on this site! ;)

Now you have me writing Fictlets of my own. Just what I needed an OTHER hobby to fight for me time.
An Unremarkable Factory
emma jo_234
Posted 11 days ago

Whoa. Amazing prequel!! I love it. Especially the last paragraph. Great addition.
LoA
An Unremarkable Factory
arie
Posted 4 days ago

Somebody’s already said this, probably, but: what I seriously love about your contribution in particular is that it makes it so EVERY single sequel that’s written can make sense. So. Awesome.
An Unremarkable Factory
J.B. Williams
Posted about 2 hours ago

This unremarkable factory must be very popular amongst the desperate housewives. A hand and a gun? How much do they hate those men?
An Unremarkable Factory
J.B. Williams
Posted about 2 hours ago

This unremarkable factory must be very popular amongst the desperate housewives. A hand and a gun? How much do they hate those men?