DURATION
Liquid Time
A to Z Blogging Challenge 2021
“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.” ~ Douglas Adam
FLOAT POD co
The Lab
Z is keening.
The sound is crisply clear. The recessed wall mics in the FP are attuned to the lab speakers.
The keening spits out of the quadrasonic subwoofers.
“Whoa. What the hell? It’s never been this lo…”
“Quiet.”
“Hey, I know. I know. But…that sound. From that thing.”
“That “thing” inside the FP is a person. That “sound” is being recorded.”
Pause.
“As are we.”
Pause.
Pause
“I know. I know. I kinda meant the FP.”
“Kind of.”
“Shit. Really? Kind of?”
Pause
” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~”
“What are you mumbling about now?”
Sigh.
“Never mind. Forget I asked.”
Glares.
“I said, Ms. Grammar Patrol…no. Fuck it.”
Turns.
“When are we being relieved? We’re overdue.”
Pause.
“Really overdue.”
A hand slams the console.
“You know the when. Again and again. You’re worse than a child’s ad nauseam ‘Are we there yet?’ Enough.”
“I want out.”
Stone silence.
“I mean it this time. I do. This is as stressful as it is boring. My yawns bore the other yawns.”
Counts to three.
“Look, we don’t know when that freak will go nuke, but we know it will happen. Aren’t you tired of this?”
Z’s keening elevates to 142 dB from a steady 50 dB.
“Shit shit shit!.”
Tries to mute the system. Fingers are grabbed; bent backwards.
“Fuckkkkkkkkkkkkk.”
Tears wiped away. Damaged hand nursed in the opposite axilla.
“Fuck. Why did you do that?”
The wail crossfades to 0 dB. No increase.
The control panels spark.
Pause.
“Hey. Your ear. You’re dripping blood. No. The other ear.”
Dead silence.
TRANSITION
“You get what anybody gets. You get a lifetime.” ~ Neil Gaiman
Tomorrow
Epoch: Liquid Time
Comments are always welcome.
Tale Spinning 
Hello Stuart! Beautiful, cryptic scene, and the dialogue really helps. I also love both of the quotes you chose for this one. Both of them have been with me for quite a long time. I even put the Douglas Adams quote on my yearbook page my senior year of high school.
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Hi Melanie
I’m glad you enjoyed this one. I know I am most likely confusing others, but…there is a quasi-sorta-maybe reason for where I’m heading.
I compiled a substantial list of quotes for this series. Those two go hand in hand.
Looking forward to finding more horror movies I have never heard of before!
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I first read the “D” post and was a bit confused and then I went back to the theme reveal and read through the ones from A to C and then kind of seamlessly glided from one to another. To be honest I am not familiar with all your references though I have read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy … your posts do remind me of his style of writing…. it seems like philosophical science fiction
Visiting from atoz …thanks for visiting my blog earlier
https://pagesfromjayashree.blogspot.com/2021/04/e-for-express.html
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OMG Stu! You’re the only person I “do” horror for and that was… aaahhhhh. Quick, I’m rushing to the next one, but knowing you, there’ll be no respite š
A-Zing from Fiction Can Be Fun
Normally found at Debs Despatches
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One never knows what will be next.
Thanks, Debs.
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