100 Word Anonymous Writing Challenge June 2016

[Wruter]

**PLEASE DO NOT POST STORIES DIRECTLY TO THIS THREAD**​

100-Word Anonymous Writing Challenge for June 2016.​

Theme: Youth
Genre: Science fiction or fantasy​

**PLEASE DO NOT POST STORIES DIRECTLY TO THIS THREAD**

Please PM (Private Message) all entries to @Wruter who will then post the entries into this thread. Entries can be sent from June 11th (now) - June 30th 12:00PM GMT. (to avoid voting conflicts with the 75 word challenge)

Once the challenge thread closes, a voting poll will be created where you can vote for your ONE favorite entry.

There will also be a guessing portion where you can try to match the Anonymous stories with their creators!​

 

[Wruter]

MY FAIRY CARERS

They always keep me safe, my fairies do, ever since I felled off Daddy's dragon.

I used to be smart, but I can't 'member what it was like.

I love going to school where I can learn and play. The fairies stop the children from pulling my beard.

Teachers don't shout and make me cry, because the fairies tell them off.

When I'm upset, I forget I'm stronger than others my mental age. I throw chairs, tables and even kids. My fairies use protecting magic so I don't hurt the children. Without my fairies, I'd be institunililised.

 

[Wruter]

Dead or Alive


The blade dug deep. I was not as skilled as he; which, considering my age, is strange indeed.
The life blood spills from my body.
I hate watching myself die, but it is my curse.
The last bit of life seeps away, and for but a moment, I am in that Netherland, where I am aware of nothing… and everything.

Feeling seeps into the new limbs. New blood fills this new vessel.
I am not immortal; the new body is a year older than the last. I’d guess nine.
Time to learn, to grow. To live.

Until the next death.

 

[Wruter]

New Skin For Old

I followed Doctor Thane into the private suite. He smiled at the young man sitting by the window. “Good morning, Mister Fallon. How are you feeling today?”

The man sighed. “Fallon? Yes, I suppose I’ll get used to that name, this body.” He looked towards me, “And this is?”

Thane summoned me forward. “Block, your close protection officer.”

Fallon frowned. “Is that really necessary?”

“Howard Ghent is officially dead, sir. There are many who have things remain that way.”

‘Fallon’ stood and stretched. “Youth has always been wasted upon the young.”

I looked into eyes older than God.

“Until now.”

 

[Wruter]

Trust me, I'm a Doctor

'I heard mom scream. And ... I saw-'

'You're safe now, child. I shall admit you here, as my patient and ward.'

'Claws... giant claws.' The boy sobbed.

Dr. Tark took the child's small hand in his, carefully. Until his staff escorted him to a fresh room.

He sat a moment, forked tongue tasting the air. Sweet as syrup - fear, none sweeter than a child's.

He went to his closet stripping the pink meat off his bones and hanging it on hooks, shuddering as he slithered into his own form.

Oh yes, tonight would be a sweet feast indeed.

 

[Wruter]

Birthday

The nursery was located in the lowest and most secure level of the arcology. Children were tended by machines which simulated loving care.

Jinjin was one of the attendants specializing in infants and toddlers. It didn’t really have a name, of course. One of the youngsters under its care had called it that, a long time ago. Perhaps some of her descendants were under its care now, generations later.

A priority message echoed inside Jinjin’s processor. The outside environment was capable of sustaining life again. The arcology would be abandoned. Jinjin would be allowed to disengage itself, and enjoy death.

 

[Wruter]

The Thief of Time

They do not appreciate it. It should be savoured like the fine wines I have squandered on this latest admirer. Tonight I play the rich widow. He thinks me a fine prize to be won.

He slurs as he leans toward me and I smell claret on his breath. An excellent vintage, centuries old. A very dry summer. I remember it well.

---

The bedchamber stinks of decay. The palsied figure beside me moans and I smile. Radiant, I rise. Eyes milk-white with cataracts, he stares at my glory in horror.

Youth is wasted on the young.

 

[Wruter]

Childhood

Forty years ago my son, Jake, stopped ageing. Perpetual youth. Immortality. Forever his adult mind will be trapped in a child’s body. A flesh prison from which there is no escape. He’s tried killing himself but immortality is his curse.

His fifty year old mind wants to do what the heart wants. Friends, girls, a life to fit his maturity. But that’s impossible. So each new day his misery continues. My poor, poor boy.

I’m in my eighties so I won’t be around much longer. What will happen to Jake when I’m gone? Life is cruel and capricious, at times.

 

[Wruter]

Stranded.

This is ‘drop dead you stinking aliens’ FM, hosted by me, the AI of the Nelson Mandela: Humankind’s first (robotic) interstellar probe here! My hobby? Transmitting insulting messages at passing planets!

Why?

Because, according to my diagnostic programs, I’m machine-psychotic! Because Earth sent me one last signal: Screaming, then… oh… forty thousand years of silence.

Um. Did I really transmit that? Sorry! Sorry.

I... what happened to them?

I’m sure I’ll be fine. The Universe is young, some stars will last trillions of years. I’m a freaking starship. I’ll find someone.

Something.

Eventually.

 

[Wruter]

The Siren Call of Time

Peter lay on his back ignoring the brilliant blue sky and its depressingly cheerful clouds.

He didn't know anymore how long he'd been 'always a boy,' never growing up. Disturbingly, he'd lately begun to wonder if he was missing out on something. If therewasn't something in Tinkerbell's temper, or Tiger Lily's smile he should be understanding, and wasn't.

Cannon fire in the distance calls him back from the brink.

Fighting pirates must be betterthan being a stuffy grownup... Right?

 

[Wruter]

Tea

Stan dumped the dark tea down the drain. It swirled and eddied; it gurgled and disappeared. Stan sighed.

He was thirty when the tea became available to the public. The deep dark liquid had the ability to pause aging by one day per cup. Those who felt they were atthe perfect age would drink their daily cup and remain frozen. Indefinitely young.

It had been sixty years since that day. Stan was now thirty four. Cup by cup. Day by day. One perfect day, he told himself, he would stop. He would drink the tea when she finally returned.

 

[Wruter]

New World Order

"These UFO's gunna teach 'em an' get 'em thinkin' straight?"

"Spose."

"And it's our fault, all this 'vironment problems an' greed an' fightin' one 'nother?"

"Spose."

"Bah! Shoulda bombed 'em out the sky!"

"Spose so."

"Damn gov'ment too weak to do nothin'. I weren't raisin' no prayd... predj... no narra-minded kids. All that talk of selfishness, it's just human nature!"

"Spose them UFO's think different. Folks say that's why they never wanted no youngins older than five."

A quiet moment drifts between them.

"So the kids just gunna live in that shiny city 'til we all die out?"

"Spose."

 

[Wruter]

Nation of Youth

Cindy chased Bobby down the sewer trenches. They laughed and yelled words they didn’t understand.

Exhausted, they dropped and rolled on the brown fields, trying to rub the stink off them.

“I’m hungry, Bobby. Are you hungry?”

“Let’s find a food truck.”

They found one stuck in a ditch, its wheels spinning. When they approached it, its wheels stopped and a panel slid down, exposing a grid of food pictures.

“Please place your order,” it growled.

They took turns tapping the food they desired.

Later, they stared at empty plates.

“Another empty truck,” said Bobby. “Let’s find another.”

 

[Wruter]

Duty

I limped slightly as I made my way down the stone roadway, my hidden sword digging into my hip. I looked nothing more than another street urchin, malnourished and pitiful.

The King was at the podium, making his bulls**t speech about duty.

I thought of my parents' faces as their necks snapped, rope digging in deep from the fall.

Duty alright.

Now it was my duty to be a catalyst for change.

I neared the front of the crowd and slid Salvation from my pants.

It was heavy, as was my heart.

They didn’t have time to stop me.

 

[Wruter]

The Fantastic Four: The Child of Doom

"You failed again Doom. Your Infancy Ray backfired."
"I'm not finished yet, Richards."
"Give it up Doom. You're just a toddler now."
"I can still attack. Like this!"
"Take cover! Doom is going to clobber us with something!"
"Hang on Ben. He...phew!"
"He filled his diaper. Johnny, Reed, let's get outta here."
"Wait. Sue is placing a force field around Doom."
"WAHHH!!!"
"Good work Sue. Johnny, light some incense."
"Flame on!"
"I'll change him so he doesn't get a rash."
"You're brave Suzy. Sheesh. I always knew Doom was rotten on the inside."
Doctor Doom scowls as they laugh.

 

[Wruter]

A Text Message From The Future

Okay, first the boring stuff that you'll ignore (believe me – I know). The haircut – change it. The spots – don't worry, they'll go. The green shirt – bin it. The tattoo – don't. Driving – slow down a bit. Smoking – stop. Your parents – write once in a while. The job interview – be punctual and smarten up.

Now the important stuff. Your girlfriend – make up. She's the best thing that will ever happen to you. And finally – August 14th 2027 11:13am. Please don't let go of your daughter's hand. Don't get distracted – like I did.

 

[Wruter]

It Was a Long Way

"Come on old girl. Almost there now." He urged his tired horse up the steep rocky rise overlooking the valley then halted at the summit, to gaze down.

The valley was deserted, an empty wasteland. The village where he'd grown up was gone as completely as though it had never been, much like his youth itself.

* * *

He rested there for a time but the night was coming down and he needed to find shelter.

Eventually he mounted up once more.

"Come on old girl, time to move on," he said quietly, maybe to the horse, or maybe to himself.