City of IF

[mystery_girl]

“HELLO? Is anybody out there? ”

I screamed and screamed at the top of my lungs.

Nobody answered. I tried again.

“Please, can anybody hear me?”

Silence.

I scuffed the ground with my dust-covered slippers, thinking to myself, what happened? This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Unexpectedly inventing a time machine wasn’t exactly the next thing on my to-do list.

Everything was going all right for a change. My boss wasn’t complaining (as he usually is), I was doing fine financially, and I had had that long waited conversation with the brunette from the coffee shop.

I was doing better than your average 30-something man in the middle of New York these days.

Everything was perfect, until this.

Who would have thought that I would invent a time machine? And most of all unintentionally!

“Brian! Are you even listening to me?” My boss (Mr Black) roared in my face for the millionth time that month. I had grown accustomed to it by then.

“Yes sir.” I replied, I looked back at the most boring graph again and tried to pay attention.

“I want you to come up with something new, something spectacular that the whole world wants to know about. Make my company well known. So we can achieve the ‘most useful invention’ award for 2007”

Mr Black stood in front of my eight bored stiff colleagues and I, trying to get the wheels turning, trying to make us come up with something amazing, which would change the world, or at least something worth actually building.

“Brian?” Mr Black asked.

“Yes sir? “ I replied

“Don’t do anything stupid this time.”

The meeting finished and we were set free.

I looked at the car clock, six thirty. Driving home I was thinking about what I could come up with for the next meeting with Mr Black. He expected something below standards from me as usual, but I wanted to show him what I could truly come up with. I felt if I failed to do this, I wouldn’t be short from a forced early retirement from this career.

I arrived home, kicked off my work shoes, ripped off my tie and put on my slippers. Work was still the only thing I could think about. Still I did bring this on myself. Wanting to be an inventor was my childhood dream. In fulfilling it I brought all the hard work with it as well.

I walked through the hall and went straight down the stairs into my converted basement, which was now my laboratory.

I sat for hours trying to come up with an idea. Just an idea, that’s all I needed. Finally, I got it. I was going to invent a portable hovercraft! Once I had thought of this “wonderful” idea I got straight to work. Being ahead of schedule, I felt phenomenally intelligent.

I had already attempted this before, but I was sure this time it was going to work. I fetched the blueprints from my filing cabinet and set them out on my oversized desk, to survey and study perfectly.

After what seemed like an eternity of calculations and second checks I had cracked it. I finally understood how my first hovercraft hadn’t gone quite as planned so as quick as a flash I set off to work.

It was nine o’clock. It was ready. “I’m a genius,” I thought to myself. My finger trembled in excitement with the slight element of fear as I turned the key to start the engine.

Nothing happened.

I tried again.

“BOOM!”

I felt my bones shake as I was threw thundering across my laboratory. I could hear the engine roar but I couldn’t move I felt like I had been crushed into a million pieces. Suddenly a blinding white light appeared. I used both hands to shield my eyes.

“I’m dead” was all that ran through my head.

I opened my eyes to a surprising sight. Was this heaven? Was I really dead? Who could help me? I didn’t know. Lying in a heap in the middle of what looked like New York central park, although there was nothing to be seen but ash and dust and the remains of delicate, antique buildings. The cruel sun glared into my eyes as I looked for any sign of life. What happened here? This was New York, as I had never seen it before.

Deserted.

Neglected.

I spotted a magazine stand with a solitary wilted newspaper lying on it. I picked it up with my shaken hand and I nervously checked the date.

It read 30th of May 3040.

I had invented a time machine.

I panicked. I was stuck.

“HELLO? Is anybody out there? ”

I screamed and screamed at the top of my lungs.

Nobody answered.

[Masterweaver]

Ah, yes. This kind of story is very entertaining.

[mystery_girl]

Lol i got it from a quote i once read ...

"i got to the end of the world and there was no one there."

[Masterweaver]

I'm actually doing a post-apocalypse SG myself.

[mystery_girl]

Tell me when it's done and i "might" read it ;)

[Masterweaver]

.... What done? Have you yet to understand the basic concept of the storygame? You read and comment on it NOW, while it is being made.

[mystery_girl]

well tell me where i can find it and i shall comment :)

[Masterweaver]

Go to new posts and click Decurro Ex Machina.

[mystery_girl]

I found it, it's really rather good.

[D-Lotus]

Interesting story, but I don't like the telegraphic sentences.

I don't like it. It makes the style boring. I am being lulled to sleep.

(You see, that was an example of telegraphic sentences).

Try varying your sentence lengths more often, it'll make the story more dynamic and entertaining. Anyway, it's a good start, keep going! :)

[Cyberworm]

Hey there. I agree with D-Lotus about the telegraph lines, but still, overall, I like it. And welcome to IF. I don't think we've met before.