I figure in a show of good faith, and to keep any potential readers interested, I'd post one of my stories. This is from a story called "Restored." Like most of my work, it's set in the near future, where things are mostly the same, but just different enough to be worthy of reading about.
"Restored" is an earlier work, and it shows. But, seeing as most magazines do not like you posting submitted stories to blogs, this is the one I am posting. Periodically I hope to post other stories, but for now I give you "Restored"
“This
is amazing Richard! It’s ground breaking, revolutionary even! Think of the
prizes, the money! Richard, this could, no, this will get us a Nobel!”
Richard could only stare in awe as his partner danced
around the lab, his high laugh over powering even the noise of the machine. They
had been working for years on this project, written countless grants and proposals
and what they had to show for it was one perfectly ripe strawberry. Richard
hesitantly stepped towards the fruit, sitting there with it’s perfectly red
surface reflected on the silver plate beneath it. Staring at the strawberry
through the window, he noted its characteristics, jotting down all aspects of
it in his notebook, concluding that it was a wholly normal and average berry. It
was a miracle, not five minute prior it had been completely rotten.
“We’ve done it Richard,” panted Jason as he leaned over a
table, catching his breath. “We could end hunger with this machine. Just think,
with one of these in every home, there would be no need for expiration dates!
Nothing would ever go bad again!”
“We have to do a lot more research before we reach that
point!” Richard said, but it was struggle to keep from dancing as Jason had. Ever
since his high school senior trip to the Dominican Republic, Richard Blake had
dreamed of finding a way end hunger in the world. It had consumed him. It was
his driving force through years of medical school and beyond, but now, now,
that dream was nearly reality. “Come on Jason, let’s go and see our little
berry in there.”
Jason picked himself off the table and hurried over to
the control console, ending the program and unlocking the door to the chamber
where the strawberry sat. The door swung inward automatically while Richard
walked towards it. As he neared the pedestal, his pace quickened, it was a
struggle to keep from running to the berry. It looked normal, but there were
many tests that needed to be done to prove that point. Only one test that matters though he thought, picking up the
strawberry and biting into it.
“Richard! What did you do? Our experiment, our
strawberry! It’s, it’s…”
“Delicious. We’ve done it Jason, we’ve done it! We have
taken a disgusting, rotten fruit and returned it to a pristine state. You have
just witnessed the death of world hunger.” Richard could not contain himself
anymore, as laughter escaped his lips. His dream had been realized. “Anyway,”
he continued once he could speak again, “we will need to run so many of these
experiments to prove what we have done, what’s one more trial? We have cartons
of rotten food to go through. Here I’ll grab another piece so we can run it
again.”
It took only a few minutes for the second test subject,
this time an apple, to be set up. Once it was in place, the two scientists retreated
to the console room and began the automated sequence that would restore the
apple.
“Hello? Dr. Blake? Dr. Argenon? The rats from the cancer
trials are all, ah, dead. Do we have anymore?”
The two doctors looked as Ben Tabit, one of Jason’s
Undergrad Assistances in the neighboring lab, walked into the room, carrying
several cages of what Richard could only assume were dead rats. “I swear to
God, that kid is an idiot. The clumsiest and laziest assistant I have ever had”
Jason muttered before he turned on the microphone. “Just put the rats back Ben,
I’ll talk with you in a moment.”
“Well, if there is nothing to do, I could just leave. I
kind of have this thing later with…”
Richard never heard who it was that Ben had a thing with
later for as he was speaking, several things happened at once. The automated
start sequence had begun, and warning lights flashed signaling ALL PERSONAL STAND
BACK. The noise and lights caused Ben to stumble, only just managing to catch
himself, but sending the cages of dead rats sliding into the experiment room as
the automatic doors closed and locked.
Richard and Jason rushed out of the control room as the
machines in the room started up, sending loud whirring and whining noises
throughout the lab, drowning out Ben’s perfuse apologies. After an eternity
that lasted precisely three minutes and twenty-seven seconds, the lights
flashed on again signaling the all clear. Richard stood anxiously, hardly
breathing as the doors slowly opened. Almost as one, the three men rushed into
the room to see what had happened, and as one all stopped, and stared at the
collection of mice scurrying about the room.
#
The light rain from earlier in the evening had started to
pick up by the time the movie ended. Large wet droplets hit the Blakes as they
left the theater, making their way towards their waiting car. “So what did you
think of it Richard? I know those types of movies are not your cup of tea, but
the scene with the shoe? That was hilarious!”
His wife Margret’s voice broke Richard out of his
reverie. “Oh sure honey, it was great.” To tell the truth, Richard had not been
able to focus on the movie, the events from earlier in the day still playing on
a continuous loop in his mind.
“You’re just saying that Dad! Knowing you, you were
probably sleeping for the whole show.” A smile grew on Richard’s face at his
daughters words. She had always had that effect on him. Ever since the first
time he held her, Richard had to fight to keep from smiling when he was around
Elizabeth, and it was always a battle he gladly lost.
“I was watching the whole time, thank you very much. I’m
surprised you even had time to look at me, what with all the staring you were
doing at, uh, that one actor’s name: the tall blonde guy.”
“Kyle Evens?” Elizabeth and Margret sighed in unison.
“That guy has the body of a Greek god,” Margret continued. “If I had him alone
why I would… bake him a cake.” She finished, noticing the look Richard was
giving her.
“He is so gorgeous dad, you just wouldn’t understand.
When Carly went to Hollywood last summer she said that…” A buzzing sound
interrupted Elizabeth. She whipped out her phone, and letting out a squeal, began
to feverishly click away at the keyboard as she continued speaking. “Hey Mom;
Carly, Jake and Trevor just got out of watching another movie and they want to
know if I can hang out afterword.”
“I don’t know Liz, it’s getting pretty late and the rain his
picking up some more.” Richard could not argue with his wife on that one, the
rain had been steadily increasing since they started walking through the
parking lot. Now it seemed like they were in the monsoon season instead of mid-May.
“Honey, what do you think?”
“Well, I don’t know. Your mother’s right; it’s pretty
late and wet out and you guys have only had licenses for a couple of months.”
“Trevor’s had his for a year! Please Dad, I haven’t seen
Carly in forever. I’ll be back before you have time to miss me, I promise!”
Richard stared into the big brown eyes of his daughter.
He knew it was not a good idea having those kids drive around so late together,
but how could he resist those eyes? “Alright, you can go.”
“Oh thank you Dad, thankyouthankyouthankyou!” She said as
she ran off into the parking lot.
“Just as long as you’re back before I miss you!” Richard
called out to the receding shape of his daughter. “Now, you’ve seen the body of
a Greek god,” he said to his wife as his daughter faded from sight, “how about
an American one?”
“Oh Richard, you’re horrible.” His wife laughed as they
got into the waiting car.
While he was starting the car, a car horn caused him to
look up as a green SUV drove past with Elizabeth waving from the passenger
seat. Richard watched as the SUV sped out of the parking lot, it’s large frame barely
slowing as it came to the intersection. He watched as the SUV spun, it’s tires
unable to find purchase on the soaking pavement. He watched as a second car
came barreling into the SUV. He watched as the SUV containing his daughter went
spinning, rolling down the road.
How he got there, he could never remember. One instant he
was watching the SUV turn and flip, the next Richard was running past the
onlookers, blind to everything but the fate of his daughter. He found her,
lying on the street; she had been thrown out of the windshield during one of
the rolls. As he neared her, his legs lost all their muscles and he crumpled to
the ground next to her. With trembling hands, Richard cradled up her head,
seemingly lying on a red pillow, as her eyes, so beautiful and large, starred
into the raining night.
The rain from above mixed with Richard’s tears as he
knelt next to the body of Elizabeth. Emotions and thoughts flooded him,
overwhelmed him. How could this have happened? He should have been firmer with
her! If he had said no to her, Elizabeth would still be alive right now. His
daughter was dead, and he was the one to say “yes.” What had he done to deserve
this fate? The day had begun so well. His experiment was a success; even the
rats could be restored. Now Elizabeth, his baby girl was, was… Just like that,
the pieces fell together, and with a clarity born of desperation Richard Blake
knew what he had to do.
“Nobel, ha!” he said, watching the rats as they squirmed
about in the cages. “They will have to invent a new prize to give me once they
see what this machine can do. You my pretties will change the world, and it’ll
be my name that will be remembered as the man who stopped death.”
He continued to stare at the rats, his gateway to
immortality in more ways than one, when he heard the doors to the lab crash
open. “Ben, I thought I told you to go home,” he yelled, swiveling to face the
entrant. “I have half a mind too… Richard? What are you doing here?” It was not
Ben that had entered, but Jason’s colleague, soaking wet and carrying something
wrapped in a blanket. “Richard, what’s going on? What is that?”
Richard did not seem to have heard him, or if he had, he
paid Jason no mind as he strode through the lab, carrying his strange burden as
he made for the door to the test chamber.
“What are you doing Richard? Answer me dammit! What is
going… oh sweet Lord what happened?” When Richard reached the center of the
testing room, he placed the cloaked object down before throwing off the cover.
It was all Jason could do to keep from collapsing on the ground as the broken
and bloodied body of Elizabeth Blake was revealed to him. Seeing the girl like
that was a shock Jason had never expected to experience. It was a long moment
before he realized that Richard had joined him in the control room. Jason
stared as his colleague began to press buttons on the consoles, causing a
slight humming sound to begin. “Richard what are you doing?” His voice came out
as a quite whisper.
For the first time since entering the lab, Richard turned
and stared at Jason. There was a look of such anguish and pain on his friend’s face
Jason had never seen before. There was something else there as well;
determination.
“My
daughter,” Richard stopped for a moment, seemingly gathering his composure
before starting again. “My daughter, is dead. We, we have a way to fix that
now. I can save my Elizabeth.”
As
he listened, Jason stared into the face of his friend, a face that he had never
seen before. A feverish light seemed to shine from Richard’s eyes that Jason
did not like. “Richard, I’m sorry for your loss, Liz was like a daughter to me
too, but she’s gone Richard. You can’t bring her back.”
“We
brought back the mice, why not my girl?”
“We
can’t test on a human! We don’t know anything about the long term effects of
this. Richard please, stop this madness.”
“Is
it really madness to want your daughter to live?” whispered Richard. With eyes
locked on the body of Elizabeth, Richard pressed the button that initiated the
machine. The warning lights flashed but neither man moved a muscle. Two sets of
eyes were riveted to the body of the girl lying in the test chamber. The
humming grew into a buzzing as the machine began to work. The test chamber was
flooded with light, causing even Richard to avert his gaze for the three
minutes and twenty-seven seconds it took for the machine to run its processes.
Eventually,
after the longest three minutes of Jason’s life, the light began to abate. Jason
stood staring into the test chamber as Richard ran over to the opening door.
The light had faded enough for Jason to see into the room clearly now and when
he saw what was in there he nearly fainted. Elizabeth was still there, but
where before she had been broken and bloody, now she lay there, body mended,
life restored. Jason’s vision blurred as he watched the girl’s chest slowly
rise and fall with the deep, easy breaths of sleep.
Oh man that was exciting wasn't it? What will happen next? Will the pair of scientists win the Nobel Prize? What of Elizabeth, how will she cope with this ordeal? Will Margret bake Kyle Evens a cake? Will I massacre the English language even more???? Tune in, next time, for the stunning conclusion of "Restored"
-Me
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