Justin’s Comments (group member since Mar 13, 2016)

Justin’s comments from the Science Fiction Microstory Contest group.

Infinity

“God has set eternity in the hearts of men, yet no one can fathom what He has done from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11

USS Destiny
Automated ship systems check…
Please wait…
…
…
Drive systems: nominal
Structural integrity: compromised – [details]
Life support: online
Communications array: offline, AE35 unit fault
Weapons: offline
Navigation: online
Navigational track: on course
Target planet status: insufficient data for meaningful answer…
HUMAN DECISION REQUIRED

Accessing command crew sleeper cells:
Searching…
…
…
Captain: Vasquez, Thomas R – life signs terminated
Executive officer: Holland, Martin F – life signs terminated
Chief of operations: Belatist, Franklin N – life signs terminated
Chief engineer: Zelanski, Susan E – life signs terminated
Colony commander: Doyle, Harrison T – life signs terminated

Accessing general crew sleeper cells:
Please wait...
…
…
All life signs terminated.

Accessing colonist sleeper cells:
Please wait…
…
…
Life signs detected: Senex, John A [MINOR]
Chronological age: Data file corrupted
Biological age: 6 years

Searching for parents/legal guardians
Please wait…
…
…
Deceased.
All remaining life signs terminated.
Initiate resurrection protocol for: Senex, John A

WAKE UP JOHN…

***

C Company Chaplain Captain John Senex opened his eyes while struggling to keep his powdered eggs and toast down. The Higgins boat bobbed up and down violently as the Normandy coast hove into view.
“Hell of a thing eh Padre?!” yelled the corporal next to him over the roar of the engine. Salt spray stung his eyes while diesel exhaust burned his throat.
“I’m praying none of us end up there today my son,” Senex answered.
“Say an extra Hail Mary for me will ya?”
Senex nodded weakly. His helmet felt like 50 pounds.
Incoming and outgoing shells shrieked overhead like so many demons.
Sweet Jesus Christ be with us all… then he remembered…dimly…another beach…in another time.
Surely I will be with you, even until the end of the age…
A sound like gravel hitting the front of the boat snapped Senex back to the present. A horrific buzz saw cut through the air before them: German machine guns devoured Allied soldiers as their landing craft disgorged them into the churning water of the greatest amphibious assault in human history.
“Get ready!” yelled the Coast Guardsman driving their Higgins boat. “God be with you!”
The ramp thudded down and the young men around him screamed and stormed into the raging surf. Senex fingered his rosary.
Hail Mary, full of grace…
Dozens of young men vanished before him in a froth of red foam and fear. So much death…
“Go Padre! Out, out, out!”
The cold water and burning tracers filled Senex with adrenaline as he ran out onto the beach. Miraculously he found a watery crater to shelter in. A private with his stomach in his hands gurgled and gasped beside him. Senex gripped the young man’s hand, praying over him until his grip slackened and failed. John closed his eyes, letting every sound fade into the distance.

***

He felt the warm sand between his toes as he followed in the footsteps of his Master along the Sea of Galilee. The joy of the miracle still buoyed his heart and he never wanted this feeling to end. Three days ago the Master had been dead. Dead, buried and placed in a tomb guarded by Roman soldiers. Yet here he was!

His friend Peter the fisherman walked next to the Master. John only heard snatches of their conversation over the gentle lapping of the waves upon the shore. Suddenly in his mind’s eye he saw the crashing breakers upon another beach. They ran red with men’s blood and dark smoke filled the sky. He saw many things he could not understand. Shaking his head, he returned to the desultory waves beside him.

Peter’s raised voice made him lift his head to see what the commotion was. Peter was staring right at him.
“Lord, what about him?”
“Jesus answered Peter, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.’ Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die.”
John and the Master locked eyes. In them, John saw an infinite plane of stars among the heavens. Everything else faded away until he saw a great ship, driven by incomprehensible power. It was on course to what, if John had been an astronomer, was known as a binary star system with twin planets at its core.

Instinctively he knew an important decision was needed.

WAKE UP JOHN…

(750 words in story) Justin Sewall © 2017
Reviews/critiques welcome

Hello my fellow writers!

Thank you for all of the fictitious flights of fancy you took me on this year. You are all great writers!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

Best wishes for 2019!

Justin

Chris, fantastic story! I was hooked! Nicely done!

C, I'm laughing and laughing and laughing!!!!!

Tom wrote: "Plug: Issue #45 of NewMyths Magazine is now up. This issue's fiction line-up includes "Gentleman's Agreement" a short story by yours truly:

https://sites.google.com/a/newmyths.c......"

Great story Tom!!

Correct!

Okay Kalifer and Tom, I revised a bit of my opening and the ending. I think it makes it a little more clear. Does it make it any better?

Kalifer! It was great reading your comments about my story. It is fascinating to me to get other people's perspectives about what I have written, especially when it reinterprets things differently than I expected.

I found this prompt very hard and I don't know why. It seems so straightforward. I only knew I wanted to start out with someone watching snow fall down on Christmas Eve (or some day before Christmas). A few times I thought I had written myself into a corner, and perhaps the ending is too weak - I don't know. Others may chime in.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback!

Dispirited Directions

The falling snow was absolutely perfect.
It was not the bitter, driving type that had taken my family from me, or the stuttering, teasing kind that vanished when it hit the ground. No, it drifted lazily down, coating everything in a soft blanket of perfect, twinkling white. My world was made new again, spotless, sinless, yet achingly bereft. Swirling my scotch by the crackling wood stove, I settled into my easy chair to enjoy the silent spectacle of Amazon’s driverless trucks and drones attempting to make their last deliveries. They all looked like they’d been drinking scotch too.
It was my first Christmas since the accident, and after enduring the fake bonhomie of my office holiday party, I wanted, yet did not want, to be left alone. Alas, it was not meant to be. The door chimed and I opened the camera app on my phone, revealing a real live delivery man. I was as shocked as he was to speak to an actual person.
“Hello?”
“Sorry to bother you sir, but I have an urgent package for a T. Madsen.”
“Yep, that’s me. Hold on a sec.”
Knees popping in protest, I got up out of my warm spot and limped over to the front door.
I opened it a crack, accepted the proffered stylus and scrawled my name on the tablet.
“Thumbprint here please. Thank you.”
He vanished back into his truck, dodging driverless ones all the way down the street.
Looking the box over, I noticed it was from a J. Marley and labeled: One of Four, Open Me First.
I shook it and it rattled with something inside that sounded like chains.
Before I could investigate any further, my door chimed again. I surprised the poor driver with how fast I opened the door.
“Good evening sir, I have a package for…”
“T. Madsen,” I cut him off. I wanted to get back to my cozy fire, chair and scotch.
“Sign here. Index fingerprint here.”
“Happy…”
“Merry Christmas!” I cut him off again. I was feeling distinctly un-merry myself. If only I could afford one of those domestic androids to handle all of this messy, interpersonal stuff.
Sheesh!
This package read: Two of Four, Open Me Second, regards – G. Past.
G. Past? I didn’t know any G. Past. Wait a minute, maybe this was my friend’s way of playing a joke – a way of lifting my spirits. Well, he was failing miserably.
I tried peeling back the tape, but either I was more incapacitated from the scotch than I realized, or the packages really would only open in sequence. Great, now I had to deal with smart packages.
Another door chime, another driver, a stylus to sign another tablet, ring finger print, and “Merry-get your truck off my front yard-Christmas!”
Elaborate calligraphy read: Package Three of Four, Open Me Third, regards – G. Present. The box gave off a fragrant, pleasing aroma and I started wondering if I needed to lay off the scotch.
I had just set the three boxes down on my coffee table when the door chimed once again. Opening it in a huff, I was startled by the dark figure before me. The driver’s dark hoodie mostly obscured his face and even my cheerful porch light seemed unable to penetrate its cloaking effect. Silently he handed me a stylus to sign his tablet. Looking past him, I noticed there was no delivery vehicle in the driveway.
“Are you walking your route?” I asked incredulously. He simply collected the tablet out of my limp hands and turned away, appearing to levitate over the freshly fallen snow.
“Hey!” I called after him. “Have a Merry Christmas!”
A hand wave was his only reply. I stared at the package he had just handed me. It read: Package Four of Four - You know what to do. Regards – G. Future.
Tearing into the first box I found it was indeed a small steel chain. The second contained a piece of retro tech, an old iPhone like I’d had in school, and the third held an illuminated clear cylinder with brushed metal ends. I could not find its light source, but holding it next to a lamp caused it to flash spasmodically. Cautiously opening the last package, I found a set of long, detailed instructions attached to a little black box whose mass belied its small size. Scrawled at the top of the instructions someone had written: Time Tunnel - Bring them all back. I feverishly set to work.


(750 words in story) Justin Sewall © 2018
Reviews/critiques welcome

Tom wrote: "Hearty congratulations, Justin! Your hard work and perseverance are an inspiration to all writers!"

Thanks Tom! Much appreciated!!

I’m very pleased to share with you another step in my voice-over journey. My newest audiobook, Cerulean Rising, Part I: Beginnings, has just gone live on Amazon and Audible (iTunes to follow shortly.) This book was written, narrated and produced by me, and represents dozens and dozens of studio hours plus editing work, not to mention the original time spent writing this novella five years ago. I’m absolutely thrilled to have achieved this milestone!! Thanks for celebrating with me!

Yikes Tom, you've really got the horror sci-fi streak going! Good story!

Funny G.C.! I loved it!

Way to go G.C.! Nicely done!

Paula wrote: "VEry nicely done, Justin!Justin wrote: "You too Tom!

Thank you Paula!

Thanks Tom! Much appreciated!

You too Tom!

I spent a lot of it working on my new website:

www.justinsewall.com

It's now my place for audiobook samples, links to all of my books, blog, and any news I might have. I hope you will all check it out!

Jack wrote: "Justin wrote: "Hey everyone! I just submitted my audiobook version of Cerulean Rising, Part I: Beginnings. It's taken me awhile to get it all narrated and edited, but now it's with Amazon/ACX quali..."

Jack, I'll email you!

Justin

Sounds like a monthly prompt!

Thanks Tom!