The Angled Forest
Scott leaned his gun against a nearby tree and gazed at
the light bulb dangling freely in the forest, wondering to
himself, what the hell is that doing here?
It wasn’t only the light that caught his attention, it was the
glow the light emitted. Everything it illuminated seemed to radiate light back,
making everything vibrant and captivating. The effect was intoxicating.
Scott cautiously extended a finger toward the light. The bulb was
softer than he expected and indented slightly where his finger made contact. He
pulled his hand back slowly and was surprised to discover that the light moved
with it. Scott turned his hand to see why the bulb was stuck to his finger,
causing it to brush his knuckles where it stuck to the skin it contacted.
Scott glanced around questioningly and shook his hand slightly to
dislodge the bulb, but that merely served to stick more of his hand to it.
Fully alarmed, Scott seized the bulb with his other hand to try to rip it
loose, but now found himself ensnared by both hands.
A sudden yank from above lifted him about three feet off the
ground and roughly dropped him back to the forest floor. Terrified, Scott began
running back toward the campsite, but within a couple of steps he was
jerked off his feet and catapulted towards the forest canopy at a horrific
speed. Scott gasped, his eyes wide with fear.
Above the foliage, in the silent dark mass that hovered unseen
from below, a satisfied grunt escaped the larger of the two beings seated
within. With a slight grin it addressed the smaller and warbled in an alien
tongue, “See, now it’s like I said, it’s all about knowing where to cast your
line, and having the right bait.”
Written by Kevin Hiatt for the Flash Fiction Blog Hop, hosted by Angela Goff, Lillie
McFerrin, Angie
Richmond, and Daniel Swensen.
Dude! I'm impressed. You said you wrote this up quickly, but it reads pretty dang polished. First line had me laughing. Someone did the fishing thing in their entry earlier, but I enjoyed your take on it. Certainly didn't see that coming! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks David.. I've got a feeling the fishing and the Angler Fish itself, might get some play in some others as well. Reading over some of the others, it's amazing at how varied the ideas are already. Some great stuff, yours very much included.
DeleteFun read...second one I've read with a similar theme. Liked it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Donna, I loved yours as well, the concept blew my mind. I'd have commented on it on your blog.. if I could've figured out how to post a reply. lol
DeleteThat last line made me laugh. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThanks JA. I really liked yours as well, it was one of the first I read after submitting mine. Very good sense of fear in yours.
DeleteI liked the last line too but JB Lacaden beat you to it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the concept will probably be a popular one, but that's what you run into in these contests. Besides, if you google 'aliens fishing humans, we're both rather badly beaten. ;) However I think there's enough room for both of us. As they say, there are no new ideas, only new ways of making old ideas felt. Thanks for the comment.
DeleteI just like the idea of light bulbs being bait for humans. Very Edison. Nice work ;)
ReplyDeleteJust about fell off my chair laughing.
ReplyDeleteGood post and ending. I did not see it coming.
Light is the perfect bait to catch me too, I always have to go check it out. Great work!
ReplyDeleteThat ending tooootally made me laugh :) That was such a great twist!
ReplyDelete