Quarter Past Whatever

OK, the deadline has passed, so I’m allowed to publish my entry for the 100-word microfiction challenge I wrote about earlier.

I didn’t make it to the second round, but it was still fun. The assignment was to write an original 100-word story in an assigned genre, include the assigned action, incorporate the assigned word, and do it all within 24 hours:

GROUP: 1
GENRE: Sci-Fi
ACTION: Bumping
WORD: brilliant

Without further ado:

The holographic screen flickered above everyone’s heads. It was quarter past whatever time was in space. People bumped into each other, eagerly waiting for the town hall to start—even though there was no town, no hall, no Earth. No blue skies, no red sunsets, no leafy smells, or sea sounds. None of that. Perished.

Quite the contrast with the metal and sweat surrounding them right now. The design of the generation ship was brilliant, actually. But it was not home.

The screen flickered once more, and they heard:

“As you may already know, my name is Noah.”