Monday, August 19, 2013

It Only Takes One

The nanos had healed his fractured skull and ribs but had left the searing brand on his back untouched. The burn was the last thing they did to him before he lost consciousness. He was wide awake during his brutal beating. The guards took turns trying to one up each other. They knew the rehab-stick would not allow them to kill him, but they swung it like they were trying. Somehow their poison laughter was louder than his agony. “Gotta teach you citizens a lesson” they jeered, “It only takes one bad apple to spoil the lot.” they taunted.


He lay on his face feeling his cheek pressed against the fibermat floor. It was a singular blessing that he was not laying on his back and the raw blistered slave mark. His head pounded in synchrony with the throb in his new status symbol. Dehydration left his mouth full of thick paste. He tried to swallow out of reflex, but his throat was too raspy and dry.

The arrest had been civil enough, the wristlinks quietly snapped on and the polite walk to the car, but once he was inside The Center he had seen neither food nor water for a pain hazed eternity, only brutality to drink. They had pulled him from the front of the protest line. Citizens were rallying against the UniCorp's enslavement and forced labor of citizens all across the nine worlds, and now they were going to make an example out of him. They would broadcast him shuffling into the mines in shackles, his scar visible on his naked, emaciated torso. He'd seen it before, everyone had.

The smile spread across his flaked and chapped lips opening a cut with a snap of pain. It was almost over. It would not be much longer. They had spent decades trying, but finally, they had done it. Finally, the resistance had the right man on the inside. And like the guard said, “It only takes one.”




8 comments:

  1. Love! I like the details, but my favorite is the promise at the end.

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    1. Thanks Jennifer! That was my favorite part too.

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  2. I like the turn that took at the end. Great job.

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  3. Ah, the power turns in the least likely way - I like it! This was also really cleverly told, and the unique futuristic touches (like the rehab stick. ouch) really made it distinct. Nicely done!

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    1. Thanks Brian, I really appreciate your feedback on my first trifecta try.

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  4. This is an excellent piece of writing!

    I love this line for its descriptiveness of his situation:

    "Somehow their poison laughter was louder than his agony."

    Your ending was perfect too, and I'd love to see this developed further!

    Great job, Ben!

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    1. Thank you Valerie. I really had to reel in the scope for the challenge. I've had a lot of ideas for a short out of this. I am encouraged by your comments!

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