Monday, March 21, 2011

Writing Prompt #6 - Invasion

I've been a real science fiction mood lately and it's rubbed off on today's writing prompt.

Remember, you can write as little or as much as you'd like, and if you want, you can post your prompt right here. **All work is under copyright of its authors**

Here we go...

Your character(s) is sitting at home, listening to the radio while the dog plays in the backyard. The radio program is suddenly interrupted by a disturbing announcement...

Cedric turned the dial to raise the volume. Scruffy, the dog, ran across the yard, picking up a tossed stick in his mouth.

"Reports have been confirmed of the bombing. Ships are entering Earth's atmosphere with full armament, with the intent to destroy our cities. Everybody is urged to take shelter in your home's Drustic Vault. Attack will commence on our planet in approximately ten minutes.Our Air Force, along with air support from all other countries involved in the alliance, will be meeting this threat head on."

Cedric glanced up to the empty sky. A fluffy white cloud passed by lazily. The glimmer of a star could be seen at the point the light blue sky turned dark blue. Many stars. The invasion.

Grabbing for dog, Scruffy, Cedric rushed him in the house and slammed the sliding glass door shut, fumbling with the lock before he finally gave up, realizing it would do no good. He opened the hallway closet, pulling down a large black duffel bag from the top shelf. In it were the items he put together for this day.

As he headed down the stairs toward the basement, he remembered when his ex-wife told him he was crazy for thinking anyone even existed outside of our world. It was a mistake to believe that, he remembered telling her. With a universe as big as ours, how could there not be life out there?

When the Alterians contacted Earth to make new friends, the United States government made the mistake of acting hostile toward the alien species, capturing the Alterians' ambassador that was sent to the surface of our planet and running all sorts of tests on her. That evoked war. A war that Cedric knew we wouldn't win.

Entering the basement, he shut and locked the door leading to the house. In case of an invasion, the more security the better, he said to himself to justify his paranoia, now regretting not locking the sliding glass door topside. He rushed to the vault door - a two foot square slab of reinforced steel meant to keep out radiation, fire, and almost anything else that could be thrown at it.

Although, Cedric thought, what if the aliens have a technology that can pierce through the vault? He shook his head, opening the vault door. If that was the case, it was too late now. He would have to hide down here and just wait. Wait until he felt comfortable to peek outside again.

Cedric rushed Scruffy into the rectangular steel-walled room and threw his bag down on a counter that ran the length of the wall. Inside was a radio, a toilet, a microwave and a large foot locker full of canned meals to last him about four months, if he ate smart.

Shutting the door behind him, he input the code Drustic Vault gave him when they installed the safe, punching in the eight number combination into the small computer screen to the right of the door. The door shut and hissed, sealing Cedric and Scruffy inside.

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