The motor coughs and stutters. The engineers, with wrenches and oil cans, crowd round in agitation. Stern sentinels patrol the city walls and, beyond, a dark beast bays in the night.
“All will be as it was,” the engineers promise. “in the eternal city.”
“Build back better,” the citizens beseech.
“We are of nature,” says the seer. Crowds gather round. “But not everything we choose to do is natural.”
“What must we do?” asks a woman.
“Go back,” some scream. Others yell, “Go forward.” A chant begins, “String up the engineers.”
Down the plaza, a crack dances like lightning and widens.
Me, I wonder what might be coming for us. And whether we will recognise it as kin.
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 
Atmospheric stuff, forboding
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Thanks so much
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It’s a gloomy situation isn’t it. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. And with social media as the playground… Nicely done.
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Uncertainty has its own charms. Thanks so much, Sandra.
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I read and reread this, interesting
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Thanks so much, Michael. I hope it didn’t pall with the re-reading
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That’s life! A great portrayal, Neil. ‘Down the plaza, a crack dances like lightning and widens.’ I wonder if that’s where sanity can get back in?
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Thanks so much, Jenne. You think that to become sane, we must first go mad?
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I was thinking of Mr Cohen, Neil:
‘There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in’
And sometimes maybe what we call ‘sanity’ is actually madness – like the life portrayed in what reads to me like a metaphor for the UK today in your story. I’d love some light to get in.
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It was definitely intended as a metaphor for life today. Thanks, Jenne
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Not everything we choose is natural. So true, Neil. Atmospheric and a bit ominous.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks so much, Rochelle
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An ominous tale. Well done.
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Thanks so much, Mason
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What is coming, indeed. Only as we move forward will we know. Maybe. I could feel the tension in this.
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I’m glad you sensed that. Thanks so much, Dale
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You brought us there beautifully.
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What a beautiful piece, Neil, full of mystery and foreboding. Felt like the start (or end) of a much bigger story too
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We’re still writing the ending
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Everyone pulling in different directions. An interesting take on the times in which we exist. Excellent Neil.
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Thanks so much, Keith
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Neil, you writing just keeps getting better. Riveting story that called me to go back and read it again. Everyone is an expert, no one knows what to do.
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What a lovely compliment. Thanks so much, Linda
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Despite the mystery, your character and dialogue are totally believable.
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Thanks so much, Lizy
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I loved the crack dancing – beautiful writing, Neil.
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Thanks so much, Jilly
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Ominous atmosphere here, Neil!
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Perhaps. Or perhaps just uncertainty
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Really makes me wonder what’s going on. Would love to see your story expanded, Neil. Good writing. I read it through multiple times to enjoy your nuances.
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Thanks so much Jade
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You’re very welcome, Neil.
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People can never seem to agree. Perhaps they will go no where.
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Except round in circles
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They need to make up their minds quickly. Very ominous.
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Thanks so much
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Getting a dystopian, steampunky feel on this one. I like it. Very evocative.
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From dystopias, perhaps, we can pass to utopias
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what a foreboding tale. too scary to react.
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I read that first as too scary to read. Glad you read it
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What a fabulous start… this could go in so many directions… your readers are hooked and waiting
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Thanks so much, Sheena
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I like the way you create a doomful mood obliquely, hinting at fear and desperation. Skilfully done Neil.
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Thanks so much
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I’m another one who’s read your story repeatedly. It’s an interesting allegory with some ominous truths. How long will it be before we hear ‘String up the engineers’, I wonder? It reminds of Italy a few decades ago when they gaoled some academic seismologists because they hadn’t forecast an earthquake that killed people.
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Thanks so much, Penny. More likely, they’ll “learn to live with it”
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Read it twice, too, and was glad to see your response to Jenne’s comment since that was how I understood it as well. Great metaphor, and so true for our times.
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Thanks so much. I did have our times in mind
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Great story. Full of foreboding and wonder.
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Thanks so much, Will
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Has anyone mentioned this is ominous or foreboding? That sums up any potential change or lurking danger. Everybody wants to do something different and knows there is no way but their way.
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The rugged individualists are getting harder and harder to tell apart
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Oooooo I sense dark times ahead, another dark age on the horizon? Well done, very creepy.
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Or maybe they’re emerging from one
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I sure hope so!
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Back in the day a sign on my desk read, “Communicating with engineers is only slightly more difficult than communicating with the dead.” Well put.
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Thanks so much, Bill
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