Friday Fictioneers – 2024 YR4

~ Neil MacDonald
PHOTO PROMPT © David Stewart

So, I was being a Chicken Little, huh? “The sky is falling, the sky is falling,” you mocked me. Well, who’s laughing now? Sure, asteroid 2024 YR4 won’t hit the Earth. But that won’t keep you safe, smartasses. It’ll smash into the moon in the biggest strike for 5,000 years.

And do you know what’ll happen then? A shower of impact debris, that’s what. Oh, it will burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere, you think? Yes, likely it will. But not before taking out a lot of satellites. Bye-bye, GPS. Bye-bye civilisation.

I’m stockpiling food. And I’ve bought a rifle.

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Asteroid 2024 YR4 is real. It has a 4% chance of hitting the moon in 2032. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_YR4)

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

41 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers – 2024 YR4”

  6. That guy sure is a pessimist. Everything I’ve read about the impact, should it happen, indicates that there would be very little to no effect on earth. I’m far more concerned about the space debris, all that satellite and rocket garbage we’ve created ourselves.

    Good thought-provoking story.

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  18. I read about this but with so many threats, missiles and bombs flying there is fear exhaustion, at least for me. And i would be more than happy to leave here, right now, the next world could hardly be worse! An engaging read, Neil.

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  20. So, crunching the numbers… There’s a 96% chance it doesn’t hit the moon. I like those odds. There will always be doomsday prophesiers. Someday, they’ll be right. I just hope it’s not in my lifetime.

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