Friday 6 July 2012

Friday Flash Fiction - week 8!


The Time Travel Agency


“So, where would you like to go?” I asked for the twentieth time that morning. 
“Hong Kong, 1963, please,” the woman said, sitting on the very edge of her seat. 
“Ok,” I barely managed to stifle a yawn, “let’s see what’s available.” 
“Right. Hong Kong.” I scrolled through the computer spread sheet in front of me. “I’ve got 1964 or 1965, but 1963 is sold out for the next fourteen months.” 
“Oh,” the woman said. 
“Is there a specific reason you’d like to go back there?” I asked her. 
“My mum was born there in that year, so I’d really like to see what it’s like.” 
“But babe?” the guy sitting next to her piped up. “I thought we’d talked about going to the future.”
    Oh Christ, here we go.  
“Yes, she said in a clipped voice, “we did talk about it and then decided we’d go to the past.”
    I’ve seen this argument a thousand times before.  
“I don’t think so,” he said. “You decided we’d go to the past.” 
She crossed her arms and stuck out her bottom lip. 
    I don’t think I’ve seen anyone genuinely pout before. 
“Babe,” he started, but she shrugged him off. 
“Why don’t I let you two sort this one out on your own? I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I got up and walked into the staff kitchen. I was filling the kettle when Rupert walked in. 
“Put some water in there for me too, will you?”
“Sure.” I flicked the switch and reached for two mugs from the cupboard in front of me. “Tea of coffee?”
“Coffee please, mate. What you doing in here?” Rupert asked. 
“Oh, the usual,” I measured two heaped spoonfuls of instant coffee into the two mugs. “Male-female-future-past scenario.”  
Rupert rolled his eyes. “Cripes,” he said. “Like we haven’t seen that one before.” 
“You?” I asked.  
“I’ve lost two people in 2140. They weren’t at the coach at departure time. I’m trying to lay low and locate them before the boss finds out.” 
“Shit!” I felt the giggle start in my belly and couldn’t stop it erupting. Rupert soon joined in. 
Mr Harris strode into the kitchen. “What in heaven’s name is going on in here?”
“Nothing, Mr Harris,” and we both shot out of the kitchen back to our desks. 



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I'd like to thank the community at Friday Flash dot org for making me feel so welcome. I even got my own special welcome! Click here to check it out. 
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Flash Fiction is short enough to read whilst you're waiting for the kettle to boil. It's fairly quick to write too, but with it being so short, every word has to count. 


On 4th May 2012 I decided to embark on a project: to write a piece of Flash Fiction every day. I'm hoping this will keep the creative juices flowing and ultimately help me hone my craft. Every Friday I'll be posting 'the best of the week' onto my blog for you to read. If you have anything to say (good or 'constructive'!), I'm open to comments.  


Thanks, as always, for reading. 

27 comments:

  1. me too, I want to read more!

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  2. time travel agency. nice.

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  3. Can you imagine if this was possible? That would be so cool. This makes me want to hear more! :)

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    1. I know - it would be super cool! That's kind of what made me come up with the idea.

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  4. Ooh I like it, I want one!! And the general boredom of operators who work for places that to everyone else is super exciting is brilliant - reminds me of the workers at Disneyland :)

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  5. Haha!! New travel possibilities, same old arguments, and there's always someone who misses the coach home, isn't there? :)

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    1. Precisely!! Thanks for reading and leaving a comment - always much appreciated!

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  6. I enjoyed this one...so many aspects to think about :)

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    1. That's what I was aiming for - thanks so much!

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  7. So, what you're saying is that there will never be a time when couples don't argue about where to spend the holidays. ;-)

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  8. Laura, I like this story and now want there to be a movie about it. Those are kind of hard to write. #FridayFlash for life, great to know you!
    Cheers, Drew (@drewisawriter)

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  9. Movie - Yeah! Where do I sign up?!

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  10. Fun piece and certainly one you could expand on - I enjoyed it. ^_^

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    1. Thanks Helen. Yes, that's something that a couple of people have said and I've been thinking more and more about it. Maybe one for the future (no pun intended!)

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  11. Great story, I very much enjoyed this!

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  12. Hi,

    I've just nominated you for the Versatile Blog Award! Head over to http://laceandlavenderhints.blogspot.ca to check it out!

    -Sarah

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    1. Hi Sarah,
      Thanks so much, that's very kind of you!! I'm on hols at the moment, but once I'm back behind my desk, I'll get it up onto my blog.
      - Laura

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  13. This was great! A clever idea and a lighthearted read. I kind of want to work there.

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    1. Thanks very much! It would be interesting to work there, wouldn't it?!

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  14. And I guess the "coach" above is a real one, with horses pulling a cart, in a post-nuclear war world of 2040?

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    1. Fab comment! Your description of the 'coach' is brilliant!! :)

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