I Fuel the Great Machine – Slanted Spines

I Fuel the Great Blog

September 13, 2019September 15, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great Machine, Personal BlogTagged Art & Hobby, artist, Blog, blogger, commentary, me, photos, pics, writer

At the beginning of the summer, when I started writing the first part of what turned out to be an eleven-part series, I didn’t intend for it to be more than a single flash fiction piece. Inspired by Ray Bradbury and the vintage science fiction artwork from the 60’s time period, I had originally sat down to revisit an old story idea I had conceived during middle school. I remember on my parents’ computer, I had named the original Word document “Dum Hum-Drum,” and I recalled it featured an elderly couple sitting at their kitchen table, coping with the boredom of retirement after having filled their lives with productivity and work-work-work. How would they possibly be able to grapple with “free time”? Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Blog” →

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part XI

September 6, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged battle, creative writing, dystopian, fiction, sci-fi, science fiction, series, short story, space, Story, writingLeave a comment

(Read parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten!)

The Slanted crew of Senga, Ramona, Gabe, and Agnes hastily made their way to Ramona’s space ship as discreetly as possible. Although everyone at the Slanted satellite base seemed to be caught up in the agenda of their own missions on this highly anticipated Day of Action, Agnes felt tense and self-conscious about the possibility of suddenly being confronted by an authority, as they passed by other soldiers, who were heading with a jog in an opposite direction, or staring at a tablet’s screen as they walked by, or speaking into a watch as they bustled along the hallways. Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part XI” →

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part X

August 30, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged battle, creative writing, dystopian, fiction, science fiction, series, short story, space, Story, writing1 Comment

(Read parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine!)

Running down the hallway of the cubicle complex as the building lights flicker on and off, running as fast as possible but still moving in slow motion, alarms sounding… It’s getting closer, the shadowy figure that’s following… Pushing the body to move faster, but still it’s like treading through thick water… Breaking out into the daylight and reaching the subway station, but the subway doors slam shut just as it’s finally in eye sight, and the train slides along the tracks quickly disappearing, but work will start soon, can’t be late for work, heart thumping… Jogging to work, have to get to work, passing the same street signs over and over again; lost? Which way is it? At the dishwashing station, and suddenly Enforcers are surrounding, yelling, raising weapons, no! Bracing for the blow, Enforcer’s arm raised, and it comes down… In space now, orbiting the bright blue and green planet in a capsule, such brilliant colors, captivated… The world slowly turning orange, red-hot, colors burning, the planet starts dripping—-no, no! It’s melting away, dripping into space… Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part X” →

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part IX

August 23, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged Blog, creative writing, dystopian, fiction, sci-fi, science fiction, series, short story, Story, writing2 Comments

(Read parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight!)

After laughing together about the impossible task that lie ahead of them in the plant-laden living room of Senga’s office, Senga offered Agnes and Ramona some coffee, in such a hilariously casual way that it was almost as if they were not plotting to take down the greatest super-computer that essentially ruled the planet. Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part IX” →

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part VIII

August 16, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged creative writing, dystopian, emotional growth, peace, sci-fi, science fiction, short story, space, Story, writing3 Comments

(Read parts one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven!)

After breaking several of the Great Slantia’s laws and abandoning a lifetime dedicated to its success by allowing an enemy of the state to kidnap her by boarding a space ship and traveling to a secret rebel base satellite located in the shadow of the moon, Agnes, our formerly unsuspecting retiree protagonist, stood at the door which led to her twin sister, whom she had no idea existed until earlier that day. And she didn’t quite know how she felt about this. Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part VIII” →

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part VII

August 9, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged creative writing, dystopian, sci-fi, science fiction, series, short story, space, Story, writing4 Comments

(Read parts one, two, three, four, five, and six!)

On the Slanted Satellite Base in the shadow of the moon, in an office filled with human-sized bubbles that contained office work spaces, a woman with a blue Mohawk, a scrawny gentleman who seemed perpetually tense, and a woman with antennae in a business suit spoke quietly amongst themselves while an elderly woman in an orange jumpsuit sat nearby, daydreaming of how it would feel to be a bubble. Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part VII” →

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part VI

August 2, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged Blog, creative writing, dystopian, sci-fi, science fiction, short story, space, Story, writing5 Comments

(Read parts one, two, three, four, and five!)

After the first nap she had taken in decades, after being awoken by an ever-frantic Gabe, and after having her disheveled hair fixed by an insistent Ramona who instructed, “Don’t embarrass me,” Agnes stepped off the Mother Ship and docked the Slanted Satellite Base. Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part VI” →

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part V

July 26, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged creative writing, dystopian, sci-fi, science fiction, series, short story, Story, writing6 Comments

(Read parts one, two, three, and four!)

The incredible and tragic story of China’s downfall was told between bites of cheese pizza in the Mother Ship’s common room as it departed Earth’s atmosphere and barreled towards their base, behind the far side of the moon. As Ramona stuffed her face, Agnes listened attentively, while Gabe sat by, rolling his eyes at Ramona intermittently and interjecting where he felt she did an inadequate job of conveying this history lesson. Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part V” →

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part IV

July 19, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged adventure, creative writing, dystopian, sci-fi, science fiction, series, short story, Story, writing7 Comments

(Read Part I, II, and III.)

The power cutting out in Slantia was not a regular occurrence; in fact, it was not even an irregular occurrence, but rather not an occurrence at all. Slantia’s underground energy source was so massive and constantly fueled that on this very average morning, when the power cut out at the cubicle apartments, none of the residents knew what was happening. As far as they knew, it was the apocalypse. Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part IV” →

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part III

July 12, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged dystopian, growing old, installment, old age, sci-fi, science fiction, series, short story, Story, writing8 Comments

(Read part I and part II.)

Agnes had kept the silver fork rather than turn it in, that very strange day at the Factory five years earlier. She told herself that as an honorable and loyal citizen of Slantia, she would keep it in her safe possession rather than offer it to the work-motivators, and disguised that bottomless feeling of fear she so constantly experienced in her stomach as genuine care for the order and well-being of Slantia. She feared the “misunderstanding” of forfeiting it, of the inevitable accusation of stealing–she knew how this sort of thing went–, and so it remained taped to the underside of her bed, tucked in the groove of a plank of metal. Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part III” →