Ficlets

8/6/45

August 6, 1945
Tokyo, Japan

The control operator suddenly leaned forward in his chair, adjusting switches and controls. His headphones were giving off…nothing. Only on one station, though.

He thought it curious and switched to another telephone line to re-establish the connection, but it didn’t come. He fiddled with the controls for several more minutes, and finally decided that nothing was working from this station.

Suddenly, a telegraph came through. “MAIN RAILROAD LINE TELEGRAPH N OF HIRO DOWN STOP .” The operator gave a frown and read it again.

He decided to send these reports off to Japanese General Staff.

One three hours later, a JGS plane was flying over the area of the rumored communications failure. The two pilots inside were silent.

“Wait…what is that?” one said suddenly. “About 160 km out…there.”

“Smoke?”

The plane dropped lower, closer to the city of Hiroshima. The General Staff came in on the radio.

“What do you see?”

The first pilot muttered a prayer to himself.

Comments

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8/6/45
Never Explain
Posted 4 days ago

This is about the bombing of Hiroshima….
8/6/45
BARomero
Posted 4 days ago

Great POV on here. The confused reactions to the first A-Bomb dropped are haunting. And the fact that you titled this piece with the date of the bombing evokes 9/11 for me.
8/6/45
THX 0477
Posted 3 days ago

It was certainly a singular event in human history, still debated today.
8/6/45
Amaster
Posted 3 days ago

Wow, I think it is great how you make the first one to notice a problem be a control operator, but I am confused about what the control operator’s job is.
8/6/45
Kermitgorf
Posted 3 days ago

A day that wil live in infamy.
Very well told in military jargon that makes me fell i’m reading a real transcript.
8/6/45
Stovohobo
Posted 2 days ago

Amaster – That’s not me makin’ it up. That’s good old, cold hard history.
_{At least from what I’ve been taught.}
8/6/45
One Time, One Chance
Posted 2 days ago

i love the last line. really good job on this one, too.. i hadn’t known about this happening, and now i’m interested in it. that’s madd skilllzz (for u to peak my interest like that) right there=]
8/6/45
Saint Chuck
Posted about 3 hours ago

I agree with OT,OC. This really peaked my interest. I’ve always known the basics of this, but now I feel intrigued to learn a bit more.