Welcome to Friday Fictioneers, when writers from around the world post 100-word stories based on a photo prompt provided on Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ blog. This week’s photo is by Adam Ickes. Thank you, Adam!
Before
by Jan Brown
A fully automated docent led us through the first time portal. “Remember! Travelers must remain on the boardwalk at all times.”
We walked through time in a geographic setting known only as “North American Continent.” Each time slice was preceded by a portal, labeled in relation to the others:
♦ Before Europeans landed on the continent.
♦ Before the native genocide.
♦ Before human trafficking.
♦ Before the Forty Wars.
♦ Before Taurons landed on the planet.
♦ Before the cyber revolution.
♦ Before the Cleansing.
♦ Before the Final Peace.
A single pair of “shoes,” the footwear required by the extinct, flesh-and-bone humans, stood at the exit.
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To read more Friday Fictioneers’ stories, click the link below:
mezzojan 
Dear Jan,
That’s quite a progression. You set a tone with this piece that’s going to stay with me for a while. Well done.
shalom,
Rochelle
Thank you, Rochelle! I’m glad it was effective.
For some reason this left me feeling quite sad, and also wondering about the kind of life being led now. Great writing Jan, well done
Dee
Thank you, Dee. I’m glad it got you wondering. I wonder about our way of life, too: what are we headed for, and can we change for the better….
Very powerful piece Jan, extremely effective and beautifully done.
Thank you, Sandra. I always appreciate your insights, and your kind comments are music to my ears!
Wow-what a fab piece of writing Jan-loved that evocative ending-so much in just a pair of shoes!
Thank you very much!
🙂
Loved the time periods. So much said in so few words. Wonderful!
Thank you, Adam. As always, it took some editing and cutting to get it down to 100 words and still say what I intended. I’m glad it worked.
Editing down to 100 words is always the hardest part.
P.S. Thank you for a great photo!
Jan, we just saw “Ender’s Game” last night and this fit right in with that. Very well done (but what else do we expect?)
janet
Thank you for the lovely comment, Janet!
That’s what I call time travel. Excellent!
Thank you, Honie!
Fantastic piece of writing! Love it! This reminds me of the Twilight Zone episode, “People are Alike All Over.” The astronaut lands on another planet and the martians seem exactly like humans except, in the end, they put him in an exhibit like an animal in the zoo. The cage plaque reads “Earth Creature in his native habitat.” Creepy!
I don’t remember that Twilight Zone episode…will have to look it up online! I do remember a Star Trek episode that started out that way, but in the end they wanted only the best looking humans for mating purposes. Yikes.
wow great imaginative story. and i really like the style you used in presenting the story. very effective 🙂
Thanks, kz! I wanted to try something different this week–glad it worked!
Very well done, original in both style and content. Well done.
Thank you, Managua!
Oh I found it brilliant to use the list as way of getting progression in a story.. and then that twist at the end.. very nice
Thank you, Bjorn! I hoped the list format would move the story forward quickly without “explaining” the events. Of course, there’s very little room to explain the centuries in 100 words….
Jan, such a clever way to tell us the story, and save words. The list is descriptive and well done, and moves us along… to a chilling conclusion. Nice job.
Thank you, Dawn! Hope your computer problems are coming to a conclusion as well 🙂
Great story! Love that the Final Peace comes right before we learn that humans are extinct, although I’m left wondering: If flesh-and-blood humans are the ones extinct, does that mean there are plastic-and-polymer humans still around? Inquiring minds want to know 😉
Thank you! Yes, the “Final Peace” is not exactly what we humans would have imagined as peace.
Here’s hoping you and I are Taurons! I can’t fit into those boots anyway. I loved the progression of history to our extinction. Great sci-fi!
Thank you, Perry!!!
I love the timeline and that the museum of the future appears to have progressed somewhat – I like the idea of “time slices”!
I don’t want to evolve into a Cyberman, though 😦
Thank you, Alistair!
I don’t think we FF’ers would be good cybermen/women anyway–too touchy/feely 🙂
Yeah, it would be rubbish if every comment said, in robotic fashion:
BEGIN.That…was…an…adequate…story.END.
This is uniquely done, Jan.
Thank you, Celestine!
What a strong story, and a clever way of integrating the sequence of time through the portals (I do love a good time/space portal lol). Very well done.
Thank you, Joanna, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Wow. What a tale.
Thank you very much!
A wonderful story Jan. So cleverly put together.
Thank you, Mike!
A movie in the making. But first…the novel.
LOL–but thanks!
Hi Jan,
I admire the way you structured this, and your timeline moves smoothly from the past, into the present, and then to the future. I look forward to a Final Peace! Ron
I look forward to a Final Peace, too–just not the “peace” the Taurons have in mind….
Thank you for visiting and commenting, Ron. Have a great weekend!
Wow, time goes by fast doesn’t it? Nothing left but a pair of shoes to prove we even existed. I liked the flow of this.
Thank you , Russell. I’m glad you liked it!
I like the choices of your time pieces. They really depict the tone, especially the Cyber Wars and The Cleansing. Imaginative take, Jan!
Thanks, Amy!
Apocalypse stories always make me shudder!
Thank you, Liz. I’m glad it had an impact!
Before the cleansing…yikes!
This may only be 100 words long, but you gave me so much to think about. My imagination went wild with those bullet points, and you blew my mind with the idea that flesh and bone humans were extinct! Clever use of the photo prompt!
Thank you, KerrieAnn, and welcome to Friday Fictioneers!
Thanks 🙂 Can’t believe I’ve been missing out for so long 😛
That’s quite an interesting view of the future and quite an interesting concept. It reminds me of the book Last and First Men, by Olaf Stapledon, which deals with humans millions of years in the future.
Thank you, David! I haven’t read Stapledon , but I’m glad my story evoked the memory of such a classic piece. Cheers!
That’s clever. But is it fiction?
History of the world in 100 words.
Brilliant.
Thank you, dear Elephant!
You covered a long period of time in 100 words, and did it very well!.
Thank you, Patti!
Appalachia Service Project. We leave our dirty work boots outside and wear our socks inside. Happier ending!