In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, First light
I awoke
I remembered my dream
My oldest friend
And I
On holiday
On a strange island
We were going glassblowing
He dashed ahead
I lost him
I panicked
I know dreams don’t really mean anything – but this surely means my dreaming mind is more creative than my waking one.
Space. It stretched out before him – endless, dark, enticing. The stars were faint and blurry through the thick glass view port, moving in a slow arc across his vision.
He could feel the endless nothing all around, calling to his soul, a siren’s whisper.
Float with us. Float with us forever! Float and forget.
The dark song was as endless as dreams.
He shook his head, fighting off the draining sensation.
He needed to concentrate.
He turned away to look out the only other viewport.
This one was dominated by the dark shadow of the dead ship. It was only visible against the deeper blackness due to the fading embers of molten metal fragments of its destruction.
They too fade from sight to and die.
Like everyone inside.
He shivered.
Looking out that viewport was hurting his neck. He faced forward again. He was too cramped. He could only move his head left and right and his arms enough to use the control by his hands and the keyboards before him.
He was stuck.
Daydreams had led him here – he couldn’t let them end him here.
A beep from the computer brought his senses back to proper alertness.
It had started. The attacks were coming.
He had anticipated it, though not so quickly and not all at once.
Float….
Concentrate!
“Update”, he commanded.
The computer’s calm voice responded.
“Interceptors are on the way they will arrive in precisely 623 seconds.”
“They must be responding to the distress call from the prison,” he muttered.
“That would seem a high probability.”
Dammit! He hadn’t been able to cut that off in time.
The computer went on.
“We should send our own distress call, they will be equipped to rescue you.”
“Do not!” he commanded. “Keep radio silence!”
“Affirmative.”
They were not only equipped for rescue. They were heavily armed. Once they learned the truth – and very soon they would – weapons would their first response.
“And our firewall?” he queried.
“The outer defence has been breached but the systems have not yet been compromised.”
That wouldn’t last much longer. The authorities were suspicious already – the presence of such a strong firewall did not to allay those suspicions – so they were hitting the firewall with the best they had.
“And my program?”
“Approximately 800 seconds to completion.”
Not enough time!
He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. There was too much at stake here to fail.
He needed more time.
“Instigate firewall program 42!”
The computer complied and ran the program for him. That would keep the cyber attacks at bay for a little longer.
He shook his head. He had the nagging feeling that this was all just too fantastic!
Only a year ago the only thing he did on a computer was check social media and chat! Spaceships were a thing of science-fiction! Now here he was a master programmer and a fugitive from the authorities flying in space. It all seemed too unreal.
It was the stress of the situation he told himself and he could not afford to be distracted by it.
Besides he wasn’t actually flying a spaceship right now. He was drifting in what was little more than an escape pod.
But the ship he had escaped from was real. As were those bearing down on him. And these were not the only truths he had discovered lately.
He looked at the countdown on the program he was running.
“OK,” he told the computer, “prepare a distress call. But inject the virus I prepared.”
“That is against regulations,” the computer informed him. He barked an override code at it and it proceeded to prepare the distress call.
It was amazing what you could learn in prison. Hacking, override codes. The truth about the universe out there.
Putting him in prison had been their mistake.
Daydreams and curiosity had led him to that prison. he asked too many questions and that had got him into trouble at work and with the Government. That alone would probably not have condemned him but he had also an inventive streak. And a paranoid one.
When they hauled him for questioning he had snuck in a crude listening device.
It had not worked very well but he had caught snippets of conversation.
“He seems immune..”
“Is he any harm though?”
“ … control … inherited or just a ….. “
“He is a dreamer, not a revolutionary.”
“There we go then. We make him a believer…”
Unfortunately, the listening device was discovered – and that sealed his fate. He was shipped off to a deep space prison ship.
A deep space prison ship! One day he was in a world where the space shuttle was the most sophisticated space vehicle man had created and smartphones where the best man seemed to be able to achieve – the next he was in a world of spaceships – and space police!
It was a culture shock, to say the least.
He was dumped into prison and forgotten.
And that was the strangest thing of all. In prison, he flourished.
On earth – in his old life he had been Mr Average Joe to a T. Prison should have broken him. Yet he found that he had more freedom stuck on this ship than ever before.
He learned the truth for one thing.
There existed on earth (and space) a super élite far above anything anyone even suspected existed. They had science and wealth beyond the imagination of most people.
The rests of the population were kept in drug-induced ignorance. Cattle whose sole purpose was to provide this élite with their lifestyle.
Knowledge seemed to flow freely in prison and he absorbed it all. He learnt to program and how to hack computers.
He had vowed to expose the truth and free the world.
So he had concocted his escape. It had cost him the lives of everyone on that ship – and probably his own life too but he didn’t care.
He was filled with fury. He wanted to free the enslaved population of the human race for sure. What he wanted more though was to see the smug bastards who ruled them get their just deserts.
“Distress call is ready to send.”
He nodded, he was about to tell the computer to send it when it preempted him.
“New contacts.”
“What?”
“There are two more ships, coming in from the direction of Saturn.”
“More interceptors?”
“No. They bear all the signs of space pirates?”
Space pirates? Pirates? How could pirates exist? That would imply ….
He shook his head. There were too many questions threatening to distract him. He had to concentrate.
“Program completion has been suspended.” the computer announced.
What!?
He flung his fingers at the keyboard and dove into code. They had not yet got full control but they managed to stop his program.
Which implied they knew or guessed what he was doing.
He glanced at the other screen. The pirates would get here quicker than the interceptors! And they would shoot first!
He didn’t hesitate now. He called up his virus and made a few changes, then he told the computer to prepare it again and send it.
Then he dove back in and started a counterattack against the hackers. He managed to regain control and get his program running again. He then spent the next few minutes both fighting the hackers off and keeping his exit channels open.
While he did this he also watched as his virus took hold of the interceptors and turned them towards the pirates. They would be forced to fight each other for a bit.
The program was also done. The hackers came on in full force. He struggled to hold them back.
A fireball briefly bloomed in space. All the pirate ships and interceptors signals went dead. They had destroyed each other.
Almost there.
Now the hackers could see the program running even if they couldn’t stop it yet.
A signal flickered back to life on the screen
One interceptor had survived.
It was closing in, weapons charged.
Almost.
“Program completed!” the computer announced.
“Run it!” he shouted.
He watched the screen as the truth – all the truth – was sent out to every single person on earth.
The lies were exposed.
Come now, float with us…
No!
The interceptor would be in range soon.
He breathed easier.
He had done as much as he could for the world. Now he had to look to his own survival.
He was stranded in space, with limited resources and little time. Air and supplies running out and no hope of rescue.
After the years and years of confinement, he welcomed the challenge – relished it.
“Now this,” he said, with an almost feral grin, “is living!”
Today’s prompt is. First light
Remember yesterday, when you wrote down the first thought you had this morning? Great. Now write a post about it.
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Comedy of Errors
It’s 2022
It’s true
But still
There’s a madman
With his finger on the button
Our zenith has passed
We missed the chance
To progress beyond
Our nature
OK – nothing to do with the prompt really – apart from that’s all that came to mind when I read it.
Keep them on the verge
Of being panicked
Keep them unsure
And afraid
Whip them into a frenzy
Then collect the coin they make
Prod them where you need them to go
Today’s prompt is. Comedy of errors
Murphy’s Law says, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” Write about a time everything did — fiction encouraged here, too!
Bonus assignment: do you keep a notebook next to your bed? Good. Tomorrow morning, jot down the first thought you have upon waking, whether or not it’s coherent.
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Happy ever after
Happy ever after? We all know This is consigned to fairy tales Why In this century Are we still driven by greed To war?
None can understand me
Our inner teen cries
And so the world hurls
And churns
On and on and on
Today’s prompt is. Happily ever after
“And they lived happily ever after.” Think about this line for a few minutes. Are you living happily ever after? If not, what will it take for you to get there?
Today’s prompt is. Cliché
Clichés become clichés for a reason. Tell us about the last time a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush for you.
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Buffalo Nickel
I found a coin
From 2007
I was newly married
Brown was a new PM
Helicopters and coaches crashed
Here and there
I started a new job
We were still in Europe
We didn’t know the joys
And the horrors to come
In the next 15 years
By the end of the next 15
I should be retired
What will happen between now
And then
What were you doing in 2007?
Speaker throbs with bass
Notes leap higher and higher
Feedback thrills the crowd
Today’s prompt is. Buffalo nickel
Dig through your couch cushions, your purse, or the floor of your car and look at the year printed on the first coin you find. What were you doing that year?
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, B+
B+
Be true
Be you
But be more
The purr of the projector
Warm popcorn scent
Dust motes dancing in the light
Deep, dusty heavy red drapes
Mumbles and fumbles in the shadows
Hand brushing hand by chance
Close, sweet breath and perfume
The excitement of the old silver screen
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Today’s prompt is. B+
Write about what you did last weekend as though you’re a music critic reviewing a new album.
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Seconds
Where is our time
The hours saved in the kitchen
The days saved by the robots
The weeks shaved by the ones and zeros
It was all supposed to save us time
Instead
We have seconds
Left to think
Before consumption
Calls again
Worn out, knackered, done
A brimful of boxy fun
In old Legoland
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Today’s prompt is. Seconds
Describe the most satisfying meal you’ve ever eaten, in glorious detail.
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Undo
We all have those memories
That make us cringe
Those times
We wish we could undo
But if we did
We would not have those memories
To make us cringe
And warn us
Not to do it again
So
We would do worse
Today’s prompt is. Undo
If you could un-invent something, what would it be? Discuss why, potential repercussions, or a possible alternative.
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Plot of Earth
Selective isolation
That would be my goal
Off the grid
Powered by the sun and wind and tide
Food from the earth
Room for friends to visit
And children to play
Security
Not much to ask
Why is it so distant
For so many
Today’s prompt is. A plot of earth
You’re given a plot of land and have the financial resources to do what you please. What’s the plan?
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Nightmares
I dreamt
I was living in poverty
My home was gone
My family replaced
My life controlled
A nightmare
Or a plan
By darker forces
Masquerading as leaders
The latecomer arrives
The straggler
Moving slowly and surely
Youth spent
Only to find
Everyone else departed
Leaving him
With only their mistakes
Today’s prompt is. Nightmares
Describe the last nightmare you remember having. What do you think it meant?
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Far From Normal.
Far from normal
Our family is
Like many others
Far from normal
But then
That is normal
The drive for conformity
From the media that surrounds us
Is abnormal
There is no normal
Behold the great eye
Watching through the trees, maybe
Just a butterfly
Today’s prompt is. Far from normal
Many of us think of our lives as boringly normal, while others live the high life. Take a step back, and take a look at your life as an outsider might. Now, tell us at least six unique, exciting, or just plain odd things about yourself.
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Mentors
The Swan glided by
Remembering
Its days as a cygnet
Mesmerised by its mentors
Now it knew
Their lessons were empty
Now he chose
His mentors more wisely
If ever you are looking for a good and somewhat different biography to read them try Burton: A Biography of Sir Richard Francis Burton by Byron Farwell.
I am not one for biographies myself – I only read this one due to the fact that he was featured in one of my favourite old time Science Fiction series – the Riverworld books by Philip Jose Farmer. A series where every single person who ever lived is resurrected on one world all at once – just a fantastic premise in itself.
Farmer uses Burton as the main character of the first book (and others later on.) He writes him with such passion and paints him in such an interesting way that you can’t help but find out more about him.
So I delved into this biography. Farmer had only painted a small part of his life!
Sir Richard Francis Burton, in reality, was – complicated.
He was a man of extremes. In many ways, he was extremely admirable. On other extremely reprehensible! Unforgivably so.
He achieved more in his lifetime than many of us could on six, seven, eight lifetimes! But is beliefs were bigoted and selfish, to say the least.
For example:
He was an avid supporter of slavery! He believed women’s places were in the home or the bed! He was vehemently anti-semitic and wrote several books that still cause controversy today!
You could argue he was a product of his time but he was an intelligent man and there were plenty of contemporaries who were seeing past the constraints of their society and challenging the established views.
He was a womaniser – had affairs, frequented brothels. He was a brawler – fought at the drop of a hat earning him the nickname Ruffian Dick. He disregarded authority of all kinds and went his own way, expelled from University and often AWOL from his army career.
However:
On the flip side.
He was one of the foremost fencers of the time inventing some new moves.
He was a masterful linguist – he was fluent in 24 languages – and in many of the different dialects of them. So much so he could pass himself off as a local in many places. He learnt much of it from prostitutes!
He was a master of disguise – not just in the fact he could dress up, makeup and talk like the locals. But that he understood them, he took the time to know their customs and etiquette, the foibles without which he would have been betrayed as an outsider. He immersed himself in their culture.
He made seven pilgrimages in his life. Studying and being accepted into various religions – understanding their teachings while not believing any of them.
He was the epitome of an explorer, making dangerous journey in strange lands, suffering illness and injury, going back for more and pressing on.
He explored and brought to light the many sexual practices from around the world. He brought much middle eastern and eastern culture to our consciousness. He brought us translations of the Thousand and One Nights, the Karma Sutra and the Perfumed Garden.
So as I said, complicated.
It brings up a problem we often have with heroes. We want them to be perfect. We want all those good qualities without the bad. But life is not like that – people are not like that.
We kind of know that – we try and accommodate it. Modern day fictional heroes have their flaws, they are dark and brooding and have emotional baggage. But nothing we can’t handle – nothing really reprehensible.
So it got me thinking. I have a real problem with Sir Richard Francis Burton. I admire what he achieved. I dislike what he was as a person. I certainly would not like not have known him personally.
And I see a reflection of modern men in this dilemma. I have written here about how men (and everyone in fact) are demonised in modern media. On the other side, we are brought up with a set of ideals about what a man should be what we should strive to be.
We end up with conflicting views – an ideal – heroic man to strive for, and the wretch the world tells us we are.
The conflict I feel when thinking about Richard Francis Burton is the conflict we feel about modern men – he is a kind of reflection of us.
We should, I think – start to accept our flaws more, try to improve and eliminate them, yes, but give ourselves a break. They are a part of us, a part of our nature. Nobody is perfect – natures abhors perfection as much as a vacuum. Perfection does not exist so let’s stop trying to achieve it.
Anyway, ramble over.
Today’s prompt is. Mentor
Have you ever had a mentor? What was the greatest lesson you learned from him or her?
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, The Clock
I heard the car door slam and immediately looked at the clock. It had stopped
6.20am 18th February, I awoke to the truth. It was cold. The war was ongoing – would never stop.
But I did not care.
Best I can manage today – I am feeling so ill.
The tiger curses
Beautiful, perfect pelt
The hunter’s desire
Today’s prompt is. The clock
Write about anything you’d like. Somewhere in your post, include the sentence, “I heard the car door slam, and immediately looked at the clock.”
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Proud
I have been proud Recently My colleagues, friends, loved ones Told me Well done I swelled Ah I am easily led To that fall
Today’s prompt is. Proud
When was the last time someone told you they were proud of you?
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Cupid’s Arrow
Through glass doors, I saw your eyes They struck me that very first time And as you waited, I felt surprise And bells began to chime I had been resigned until that day To accept a single life Now it seemed I must find a way To make this girl my wife I opened up those doors that day And let you in my life You sashayed by in your silky skirt More than my heart arose I wondered if would just be hurt If this road I chose History did not promise much My track record did not shine But your perfection I longed to touch Could it be that you’d be mine? To the smallest hope, I would clutch And revelled in your shine Your beauty, your smile they stole my heart I longed to hold you near To be your friend was a shaky start Al least I could be near Until that day we made took the leap We became more than friends Then my heart was forever deep With a love that never ends And though age and time forever creep This love still never ends Your ever happy shining heart Lights my life through every waking hour You are a living work of art A beauty like a flower You stir my lust, you stir my love You want to make me grow You are sunshine from above A perfect warming glow You are my hope bringing dove May your light forever flow
Starlings swooping down
As they spy the big city
Wonders await them
Today’s prompt is. Cupid’s arrow
It’s Valentine’s Day, so write an ode to someone or something you love. Bonus points for poetry!
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Shoulda, coulda, woulda
Shoulda done more
Coulda done more
Would have done more
But
There was this
And there was that
We did our best
Under the circumstances
We did
Better than them
Better than we thought
So
We apologise
For the Earth we left you
We enjoyed it while we could
So now you can’t
We
are blind
to the truth
Everyday
Suffering goes on
And we deny it all
Unable to find a way
Through the maze of our modern lives
To a place where we can be ourselves
And hold out that hand that helps our neighbour
Instead we clench our hand in a tight fist
Holding tight onto what we have gained
Not seeing what we are losing
What slips away from our grasp
Diminishing our souls
Focused on our goals
With such passion
That we are
simply
Blind
Today’s prompt is. Shoulda, woulda, coulda
Tell us about something you know you should do . . . but don’t.
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, All about you
I can’t contain my dreams So I write I can’t speak with eloquence So I write I cannot fly So I write I cannot stand and fight So I write I cannot remember So I write I cannot still my fears So I write There is so much to dream for So many arguments to win So much to fly from So much to fight against So many memories to cherish So much to fear So I write
Today’s prompt is. All about you
Explain why you chose your blog’s title and what it means to you.
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Whoa
Ballons in a duvet
An attack on the Martian Embassy
Women in bras jogging
In the moonlight
A car overturned
Sneaking through
The grounds on MI5
Wouldn’t you like to know….
Dancing with my wife,
last week the telegraph came:
Coughs ring round the trench.
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Three hundred and sixty-five poems in all shapes and sizes, sprung from dreams and emotion. Published day after day for a year. There are haiku, sonnets, katauta, lanturnes and many other forms – including free form. The moods are as varied as the forms and often reflect my mood on the day. There is sadness and grief, joy and love.
If nothing else – these can provide a small moment in everyone’s stressful lives to stop and contemplate the world in a different way.
Today’s prompt is. Whoa
What’s the most surreal experience you’ve ever had?
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Teachable moment
I am not in the mood to write poetry tonight – or fiction. So this is just a ramble.
I have talked about this before in a previous prompt about teacher’s at school who made a difference. I think there is a method of teaching that works best (at least for me – but I think generally) but is rarely used.
At school we are taught that A + B equals C. We are taught that this happened. We are taught the rules to follow and that so and so did this then.
We are taught to remember these facts. Remember them long enough to pass a test. And then, for most of it, we never use that knowledge again and it is forgotten.
Pointless.
What I experienced very rarely was the teacher who taught us why. What this equals that. Why this has that effect. Why this word works better than that. And then you could extrapolate. They would teach you why and then ask you to work out the next step – which you could do now armed with the understanding of why.
In other words, they did not teach you to remember, they taught you to think! To work things out. Once you can do that, you can think for yourself and you never stop learning.
But while on the subject, I am growing more and more convinced that the whole school system is so out of date. This has been reinforced a few years ago now when we were looking for secondary schools for my eldest son.
We saw some horrors. For example, one school that lined up the kids and did uniform inspections, putting pupils that failed into immediate solitary!
When was the last time you had a job that required a uniform? When, in the few cases left where one is required, was the last time you saw someone disciplined for not having one?
This might seem a trivial point, talking about uniforms instead of curriculums etc, but I think it demonstrates the underlying problem.
We have a school system set that was set up in Victorian times. Its purpose was to churn out obedient employees to work as clerks in rigid office environments. And it still does that! It is trying to turn kids into adults fit for a world of work and a society that does now exist anymore.
And it’s worse than just that. They are largely teaching remembering, not thinking. Back in the Victorian days, maybe even up until relatively recently, that was enough. You just had to remember what you had been taught to do your job. And it worked.
But no longer. Now every job is ever-changing. Everyone’s career, in fact, everyone’s life has become lifelong learning! Skills are ever-shifting and you have to adapt.
Except, the kids are coming out of school not equipped to learn but to remember. I know – I was one of them. It took me years to work out, and then only because of the seeds from the one or two good teachers, that I could learn still. That I could think for myself and work things out. That I could do that without being taught by someone. I could find the knowledge myself.
And there is one last thing that really hammered it home to me.
Because of the pandemic, we have of course been doing a lot of homeschooling. This, in my eldest sons case, meant he was given the materials and framework of a lesson told what he was supposed to achieve – but of course did not have a teacher to ask or to watch over him.
If you think about how schools are set up, the very rules they run on, this surely should have failed.
My son coped well. He did not have to be told to work, he did it. But a strange thing happened.
Sometimes, he struggled with a problem or subject. Now at school, he would have to have persevered until the end of the lesson. He could have asked for help but if he had got that help (in large classes that’s not guaranteed), he would not really have remembered it as well, having not worked it out himself.
At home though, he took a different approach. One nobody taught him to do, but that he worked out for himself. One that I often use myself to great success.
He walked away from the problem. Nort for good – he is not Homer Simpson. What he did was switch to another lesson. Being unconfined by a timetable and having to be in a certain class at a certain time he could do this. And then, when he came back to the original lesson and came back to the problem he could handle it and it suddenly seemed simpler and he could solve it.
I have done exactly that many times. It has been proven to work. The theory being that you distract your conscious mind with something else and let the subconscious work it out – which it does much better.
Plus, you get that buzz from working it out yourself that ensures you remember it better than any number of repetitions.
This kind of learning approach is simply denied them at school by the structures in place there.
Surely, it is time for a complete rethink of the whole education system?
Scott Andrew Bailey - Author 