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.

Bizarre idea, kind of gives the feel of slowing zooming in on this unassuming factory before revealing its true purpose.

@THX0477: Hooray! That was exactly what I intended. Awesome!

Prequel/sequel or not, I enjoy the idea of this factory. I might just become a patron.

a hand and a gun.. such an ordinary factory/setting, yet a queilty ominous story. well done Wil.

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.

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!

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.

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)

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.

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.

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 :)

That was brilliant. I love that as a prequel it adds intrigue to the original tale. The reveal at the end was priceless.

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..?

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.

Another new member thanking you for the intro to ficlets :) Great writing, btw Will :)

There’s a great sort of evil (maybe not evil, but puckish, anyway) fun to this ficlet that works really well for me.

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.

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.

GEEZ !

Where did all these readers come from?

Great prequel, by the way!

I laughed when I read that last paragraph!

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.

Whoa. Amazing prequel!! I love it. Especially the last paragraph. Great addition.
LoA

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.

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

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

nice story. 5 stars. time to go off and read the prequels and sequels