Yeah, I wasn’t surprised when they came. The truth is out there, you know. No, no. Don’t stand directly underneath – they can beam you up that way.
What do you mean they’re lamps? Don’t you get it? That’s what they want us to think. Well, if you’re so smart tell me what the message means.
The message for crissakes, the one they’re projecting on the window. Look, one bar, then two, then three. Arithmetic, right? But look at the first one. That, my friend, is their encyclopaedia, their gift, if you know how to read it.
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
Neil MacDonald Author 
Now I can never look at lamps in public places in the same way again.
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Isn’t that the point of stories?
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Dear Neil,
They’re heeeeeere. Either that or someone has a very vivid imagination. Love the dialogue.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle
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VERY creative, Neil! To think about the message in the light being cast? I love it!
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Thanks, Jan. I kept wondering what it was, and when I couldn’t figure it out, that was the story
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I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought someone might get beamed up when they saw those lights. You built a whole universe out of it, and then managed to pack it in to 100 words!
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Thanks so much. There’s a whole universe inside every head
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Neil, are you in cahoots with Zing and Zang from Zekon?
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I’m not allowed to say
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Big grin 🙂
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Beam me up, Scotty.
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It’s life, Captain, but not as we know it
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He better be careful or the men in the white coats might come for him. Of course, we all know that the men in their white coats work for -them-…
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He certainly reads the world differently
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Conspiracies are everywhere if you look hard enough for them.
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Visions too
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There’s a wild-haired chap who always appears on TV programmes about the possibility of other-worldly influences – your dialogue fits his mouth exactly!
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My god! Somebody sneaked into my brain and made me channel them?
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I think the line “Well, if you’re so smart tell me what the message means,” beautifully encapsulates the sort of argument you get from conspiracy theorists. Well caught, Neil!
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Thanks, Penny
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This is fun. Did they come through a stargate? These light fictures do look somewhat like the ‘transport rings’ from stargate…
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Thanks. They might have come from much closer to earth. The narrator isn’t necessarily a reliable witness
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Ye shall know them by their foil hats! Love this. Insane people never think they’re insane…they think they are better-informed than everyone else.
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Umm. I consider myself quite well-informed. How worried should I be by the alien craft in my garden?
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Reminds me of that Canadian film about the aliens that looked like giant squid and communicated by a form of writing.
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Thanks. I think
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Remembered the title—Arrival.
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This was brilliant, Neil. I love where you went with this, using the reflections as well as the lights…
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Thanks, Dale. I know not to look into the light
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Right. “Stay away from the light!” – A Bug’s Life
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I was smiling, then, I have to admit, a little laugh, and at the end I was smirking and shaking my head. This voice felt natural, Neil. I am nodding now.
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Thanks, Kelvin
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You’re welcome, Neil
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Haha! I saw flying saucers! Nicely paranoid piece of writing there Neil – or is it? 🙂
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Seems pretty paranoid to me
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I love the creativity of this piece.
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thanks so much, Lisa
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the truth is always out there… the one that the looker wants to believe.
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Exactly so
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Oh! I saw the light bars on the windows and thought, “What could I do with that?” Evidently nothing, but you took them and ran.
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I’m a bricoleur. I like making things out of scraps
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These humans will never get it…till it is too late!
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Thank goodness for our far-sighted leaders, I always say
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Good one Neil. They must be good people though to give us an encyclopaedia, even if we can’t read it.
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Or perhaps teases?
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I never trust anyone who offers me a encyclopaedia, for it may be a distraction strategy. Ps. I enjoyed the story…
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I understand it’s a well known tactic of pickpockets in some university towns. Thanks, Mike
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An interesting spin to the tale…
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Thanks, Jelli
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A alien big brother scenario, perhaps it is feasibly , who knows?
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Or just a guy who’s had one too many?
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“Truth is out there”
“Arithmetic, right?”
Calculated moves by those beings of other place. He really needs to be careful, otherwise he is beamed.
Very interesting story Neil. 😊
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Thanks, Norma. The truth in this case may be difficult to establish
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Haha… I can totally see being beamed up “that way”.
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Thanks, Dawn
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So they are communicating with each other already. I wonder if message of war or messages of peace? Creative take on the prompt.
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Thanks. That will depend on whether he’s taken his mes
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A most ingenious and engaging story- it fits so well with the scene in the photo. I shall look at Malsl differently in future !
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Thanks, Look closely and you’ll find them.
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Definitely imaginative. I love the way you studied the photo and discerned more than I did. I just gave it a cursory look. I love the bit about the bars and mathematics because when you do study the photo it’s there. Well done! As always.
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Thanks, Sascha. Look at something closely enough and almost anything is there
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I do believe this! 🙂
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I have a feeling that his conversation partner can’t wait to get away from this lunatic (or drunk). It just occurred to me that I assumed it’s a ‘he’…must be the way he’s talking.
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In my mind it’s a he too
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I like the way you used elements in the image. It really does look like an alien message. We need a translator or language expert to decode their encyclopaedia.
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Thanks, Fatima
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So imaginative and creative!
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Thanks so much, Dahlia
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So an involved response to the prompt, taking in so many of the details, and seamless interwoven your story. Of course, I imagine your narrator and only a select few are able to read the encyclopaedia.
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And all of them are on meds
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