Time Blur #FridayFictioneer

Ivan and his friends were repeatedly told not to go near the tumbled down red barn on the edge of Slim’s farm. From a distance, there seemed nothing wrong with the abandoned structure so the teenagers wondered why they had to stay away.

Bored one afternoon, they checked the barn out. Entering, it seemed to be a normal, empty wooden building. So, had some bad secret the villagers wanted to stay hidden happened here?

Messing about, they accidentally triggered something. There was a mighty whooping sound, the barn began to shake then vanished, casting the teenagers into time and space unknown.

 

(Inspired by; https://rochellewisoff.com/2020/02/19/21-february-2020/ with thanks).

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Learning to Knit

Waking in my hospital bed, I came around to the sound of nurses’ voices and the good morning mutterings of the other patients. A TV with the news report brought me further awake and I reflected upon how the world sounded like it hadn’t changed much since yesterday but things for me had.

The keyhole operation had been a success and I should have an easy recover. I was grateful for that because if the doctor had had to open things up, it would have taken an age to heal. He had said I would be out of hospital in a few days then I was on home bed rest for a week. I didn’t mind that, there was plenty of stuff I could do at home but hospital was different.

I don’t know what it was but time seemed to run differently, like it was four hours behind everywhere else here, though when you looked at a clock time tricked you into seeing the correct time so you wouldn’t think any different about it. This was an odd theory of mine but it had helped distracted me for the previous two days.

A nurse appeared to check on me. She asked a bunch of questions which my tried and not all together brain struggled to answer. She looked at my stitches and spoke about having a shower but not getting my lower stomach wet which seemed impossible to me.

I was glad of the shower and change into comfy PJ’s instead of the starched hospital gowned. Once back in bed, breakfast came around and I had porridge with strawberry jam and sugar.

It was only after that I notice that my next door neighbour on the right had been changed. At some point since going in for surgery and sleeping through the night, Lily Dixon, a young woman with blonde hair who’s appendix had been removed had gone and an old woman had taken her place.

I felt a little sad about that because Lily had been a chatter box and it had been nice to listen to her taking about all kinds of things. Now, this new woman had white hair, a pale wrinkled face and was wearing a blue flower nightie. She looked to be in her seventies or eighties and she was busy knitting something.

‘Hello,’ I said, ‘you weren’t here yesterday.’

‘I came in the evening,’ she replied, ‘moved from another ward. They needed the bed up there. I should have been discharged but things are still not right.’

‘I was probably asleep. I’m Lauren Rhodes.’

‘Mary Brian,’ the woman spoke.

‘What are you making there?’

‘Some baby stuff for the premature unit on the other side of the hospital,’ Mary answered.

‘Wish I could do something like that. It would help to pass the time, it always seems to go so slowly in here,’ I sighed.

‘I’ve some spare needles and lots of wool,’ Mary spoke, ‘I can teach you. I have taught my own children and grandchildren. It’s easy once you get the hang of it.’

‘Okay, why not?’ I said.

Mary finished what she was doing, set her knitting aside and pulled a bag up onto her lap. She took two wooden needles and a soft ball of sky blue wool. She got out of her and bed moved her chair closer towards my bed.

‘Are you okay? Shall I get a nurse?’ I asked, worriedly.

‘I’m fine. Do me some good. Now take the needles,’ Mary responded and give me the thin wooden points.

She found the end of the wool and passed me that too. I liked the feel of the wool, it was soft but not fluffy.

Slowly, Mary instructed me on what to do. It was difficult to get the loops and the needles through them at first. I would also drop or just miss one, sometimes I knitted together or and added in a stitch. My first square looked like a mess of knots.

‘Maybe, I’m not ready,’ I said frustratedly.

‘It takes practise. We shall keep going after lunch.’

I had gotten a little bit further by the end of the day. Learning to knit had tried me further and so I slept well enough. In the morning, I was determined to keep trying. The knitting was a good focus for me and it helped to pass the time.

By that evening, my square looked more like it should and I was really pleased.

‘Keeping going,’ said Mary and I nodded.

The next morning, Mary was discharged and I felt miserable.

‘Here,’ I said, passing the needles and wool back to her as she packed her things up.

‘Oh. Why don’t you keep them, dear?’ Mary replied.

‘What? I can’t!’ I cried.

‘It’s fine. I have plenty,’ Mary said waving me away, ‘here have some more balls of wool too. I get them from the charity shop I volunteer at, though I have plenty at home,’ she laughed.

‘Thanks,’ I replied with a smile.

‘Oh and here, take my number so you can let me know how it goes.’

‘Of course!’

Mary left and for awhile I sat feeling deflated then I picked up the needles and started trying to knit again. It took me a good few days to get the knitting right but I found it a nice hobby when I was at home on bed rest.

There was a calmness to the running of the wool through your fingers and the clicking of the needles. I could watch TV and my hands would be busy which helped me not fret over my progress or my mistakes.

A week or so later, I phoned Mary and she was delighted to hear from me. We meet for a cup of tea and became best friends joined by knitting.

Flag #FridayFictioneers

They put the flag up. It must be a special day but time doesn’t work for me anymore and so I wasn’t sure. Sometimes, there are hints for special days; presents, lights, seasonal changes, mostly I guess. Today, was drawing a blank, so I went back to just floating around.

There’s no time on this side, no judging of the passing of things, it’s all just one. We all cycle around, waiting to start counting the time again, the passage of what always seems so important but really it’s just a raised flag.

 

(Inspired by; https://rochellewisoff.com/2019/07/03/5-july-2019/ with thanks).

Rift #WritePhoto

I called a coffee break and began sitting up a place to sit. Nat and Kiara helped me to set up the folding stools and table. We dumped everything else but the stuff we needed whilst Damex set and started up the instant campfire.

Ode hadn’t stopped with us but carried on walking through the rocky clearing we had just entered. She seemed lost in her own world, the amazement of being on Earth not worn off for her yet.

Around us the forest was loud with sounds we weren’t use to. There was the calling of different wild birds and animals which roamed around without the need for programming. The wind was real in the trees and not from fans, the sun also real and pleasantly mild on our sensitive skin and the air wasn’t recycled or filtered but fresh and earthy.

It had all taken some getting use to and we still hadn’t adjusted fully even after the four months we had now been here for. Earth had been abandoned a few hundred years ago, humans had found other planets to spawn on and it had been decreed Earth needed time to regenerate and was to be left alone.

That was until the reason we had come here. A small time-space rift had been detective somewhere in this location and we were the team that went around fixing those holes.

‘Fire’s up, Ash,’ Damex announced.

I popped the folding coffee pot out, but in some water formula and coffee grains then set it on the stand above the fake flames.

Kiara appeared at my side and put some cheese toast pockets next to the pot. They only took a few minutes to cook and made good hot snacks.

‘I’ll get Ode,’ Nat spoke and walked over to her.

I sat down in one of the chairs and looked around. It was impossible to grow bored of the Earth’s sites but I found being in the places with buildings much more interested then the wilds.

Damex sat down on a rock and began rubbing his hands along the surface. The moss catching in his fingers and the dirt getting under his nails. It was always hard to tell with the android but he seemed to be enjoying the sensation.

Kiara looked as bored as I was feeling. She took the chair next to me and began messing around with the hand held computer. No doubt, emailing her husband and children then she would play some games and let her frustrations out on those instead of us. Kiara wasn’t one for these long, complicated trips.

I turned my attention to Nat and Ode, ‘the Lil’ scientific genius’. They were stood on the other side of the clearing, a few feet or so away, next to a mass of rocks. They were looking at a large rock piece that appeared to have a huge, gaping split down it, like a giant had tried to cut the rock in half but had given up before the job was done.

Ode, her white hair tossed in the breeze seemed excited about something and was holding a scanner around over the rock.

Nat laughed, tried to calm her down and pointed back to us. Ode shook her head, determined to stay and it took a few minutes for Nat to convince her to leave whatever it was and come back to the group.

The coffee pot whistled, I took it off and poured it into the four mugs lined up on the table. I set the pot off to one side and grabbed the snacks which Kiara had forgotten about and opened one to let it cool slightly before I ate it.

‘Ash! Ash!’ Ode shout as she ran over.

‘Yeah, Ode, I’m not going to eat all the cheese toast,’ I answered.

‘No….I mean, it’s not that,’ she said coming to a skidding halt, ‘I think I’ve found the rift!’

‘That rock over there?’

Ode nodded, a huge smile on her flushed faced, ‘sensors indicate it could be! Can I please close it? You know it’s the first one I’ve ever found! Expect for the training and exam ones, but those don’t really count. Please, Ash can I do it?’

‘Calm down,’ I responded with a shake of my head but I couldn’t help smiling. Ode was infectious when she got like this, ‘have something to eat and drink first. You’ll need the energy.’

‘But-‘

‘No, buts,’ Nat said playfully, ‘Ash is right, you need to be at your top if you are going to close it. Sit down, here’s a mug.’

With a loud groan, Ode did as she was told and began sipping the coffee.

Nat took the other chair next to her and began nibbling on the cheese toast.

Damex looked up, coming back from wherever his android mind had been and announced, ‘I shall go and complete the scans and confirm it whilst you rest.’

‘But I want to do everything!’ Ode cried like a over-excited child on her birthday.

‘And you shall,’ I cut in, ‘but a second opinion and results is always needed.’ I turned to Damex, ‘please go and do that. We’ll join you soon.’

Damex nodded, collected what he needed and walked over to the huge rock piles. We watched him began the scanning and data collecting. Androids were so useful for those kinds of tasks.

Ode, impatient had downed her coffee, swallowed the cheese toast in a few bites and hurried back to the possible rift. Nat and I took our time, drinking and eating the snacks in silence.

After, as I thought about putting another coffee pot on, Kiara finally stopped being distracted and spoke to us in the first time in about two hours, ‘can I tell my family we might be on our way back then?’ she asked.

‘Better leave it till tomorrow,’ I said, ‘we need to see what Damex and Ode find, then confirm it’s the right rift and then that there are no more around.’

‘Right,’ Kiara snarled.

She shoved the computer into her bag then sat with her arms crossed looking super enraged.

‘I’m sorry. I know we all want to go home. Let’s try and speed things up. You and Nat pack up here. I’ll go and see what those two have found.’

I stood up, leaving them to sort things out and made my way over. I would be sad to leave Earth but this was just another job to be done.

 

(Inspired by; https://scvincent.com/2019/03/21/thursday-photo-prompt-rift-writephoto/ with thanks).

Maintenance #TaleWeaver

The up keep had become too much on the old place. The roof was holey, letting the wind and rain inside to play. The wood groaned with bugs, causing the house to shift around. Windows cracked, doors left hinges, floors humped, walls bulged, ceilings dripped and inhabitable called.

People moved out, but nothing could be done with the place. Nobody would buy the house, not even for the land because there were documents and protections on things. So everything was left to to sit. Time and nature were allowed to do their own things to the place, no cares given.

 

(Inspired by; https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2019/01/10/tale-weaver-205-maintenance-10th-january-9-2019/ with thanks).

Ferry #FFfAW

They changed the timetable of the ferry for the summer and forgot to update everything. Cars were queuing for miles, people double checking their watches then staring around confused. The complaints were flooding in like storm waves, so the ferry company had no choice but to put the timetable back again.

(Inspired by; https://flashfictionforaspiringwriters.wordpress.com/2018/08/13/fffaw-challenge-178th/ with thanks).

 

 

Dear Diary #46

Dear Diary,

It’s been really sunny and warm these last four days and today it looks depressing. The sky is all grey and rainy, it still feels warm but more of a lurk bath water feel then the fresh hot water yesterday felt like. It’s hard to tell if it’s raining or not right now because the window is water marked and it’s more like fine drizzle when it does fall.

I did think about going out and doing some stuff, though I don’t have anything actual to do. So, I tided the house and missed the kids. I hope the weather in Skegness is better then it is here. School holidays really throw me off! I should have gone with them, taking up my parents offer and had a week enjoying myself.

But I wanted the space and time away from them all. I wanted to go on a few dates, hang out with some old friends, do ‘me’ time and just think back to being younger and not having any worries. Somehow though, I’ve done it all in four days and though it’s been nice, it’s not made me think any differently about my life. Expect, for the fact I never thought I was going to be a twenty-five year old, widowed mum with twins boys.

There’s still time isn’t there? It’s still not to late to drive to Skegness, it’s only an hour and a half away. And then I can have a few days away, perhaps the sea air will do me some good. It’ll be a nice surprise for the twins.

I’m going to get packing!

Dark #writephoto

The first snowflake fell onto my book’s open page before I could turn it. I paused, tutted and watched the flake melt into a water dot over a word. Turning my head up, I saw the sky had grown dark with heavy unfriendly grey clouds. It was time to go home.

Gathering my things, I knew everyone thought I was strange. Why would a young woman go out to the lake to sit and read in the snow? I liked the peace and the distance from people. I didn’t feel the cold at all, in fact, I didn’t feel anything and hadn’t since the incident.

With everything neatly placed in my army hiking bag, I began walking back. The snow was deep but my footprints from hours ago were still clearer. I traced over them but the opposite way this time. The wind picked up as more snowflakes began to fall. I powered on, enjoying the feeling and sight of raw nature.

I almost slipped into the lane but was able to hold on. There were a few four by four car tire tracks marking their way through the snow. A few meters up, off to the side lay an abandoned blue car, half buried in the snow. I had checked as I’d arrived and no one was inside, thankfully. They’d have frozen out here.

A few minutes later and I’d arrived at the edge of the village. The tops of houses stuck out of the snow like early spring flowers. Nobody was walking the streets or driving down the roads. They were all inside, sat by fires, keeping warm and safe. I should have been so too, but there was only so much of being inside I could handle.

I needed to be out, feeling all kinds of weather against my skin. Doing something physical and being my past self. I wasn’t very good at being a ‘normal person,’ it had been sort of trained out of me. I had liked that life, it give me my place in the world but now on almost permanent leave due to injury and mental health problems, everything had been turned around.

Reaching the front door of my parents’ cottage, I didn’t want to go in. The urge to stay outside lingered. However, the wind was really howling and blowing now heavy snowflakes into me. So unless I wanted to get lost in a blizzard and or possibly die, it was time to go in and find another way to spend my time.

 

(Inspired by; https://scvincent.com/2018/03/01/thursday-photo-prompt-dark-writephoto/ with thanks).

The Town That Was Lost To Time

The small mining town had been built by hard working men for themselves and their families. Prosperity filled the buildings, laughter filled the streets and everything was just like any other town for many years. Then the coal and money began to run out, forcing people to find work else where and leave their homes.

With time, all the buildings become empty. For years, they sat alone until explorers came to see them. The new people found things pretty much as they had been left, as if the owners had just gone on holiday. Though, it was clear those people were never coming back.

The explorers’ photos and word of mouth spread and more people came to view the abandoned town. Things long untouched gotten taken, people left their different marks and the buildings deteriorated further. That though just made interested parties visit more often but they too added to the destruction.

At last, the ghost town crumbled and nature reclaimed the land. Visitors stopped coming and what little reminded of the buildings was left alone. And where once a happy, working town had stood there become nothing but the passage of time.

A Lost Day

I didn’t get around to today. It was like time wasn’t there. Things had stopped and just didn’t existed anymore.