Photo Prompt: (C) Kent Bonham
“But how do we build it?”
Zack scratched his tousled head and smiled his goofy grin, spreading the vellum over the rock table.
“That’s not the question, Zack,” said Sparky. “The question is what will it do?”
Etched on the ancient parchment were arches and wheels, columns and sprockets.
Zack passed the plan under the scanner –a battered dustbin lid suspended on the bare ribs of an old umbrella – but the readout remained blank.
“I dunno,” Zack said, “is this a building or a machine?”
“Maybe both,” said Sparky. “Don’t matter. It’s the making that counts.”
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find It here.
That’s great. Mars, here we come! Or maybe 1885. You don’t know if it’s a time machine or an interdimensional spaceship until you test it, right?
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Or the design for a new electric toothbrush?
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Or perhaps even the key to a boy’s imagination
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Dear Neil,
With names like Zack and Sparky I have to wonder where these plans will take them. 😉 Intriguing piece that fires the imagination.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I loved this! Zack and Sparky sound like a couple of young boys I knew growing up. They designed rockets. One did as a career.
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If the rocket flies, does it still count?
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of course it does!
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Now this reads like it’s going to be fun. And it is. I’d actually like to read more about these two.
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With the right photoprompt they may be back
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Cool.
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This is so much like Bill and Ted’s bogus adventure with the exception of not knowing what the thingamob is or does 🙂 good one.
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*thingamabob lol
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Ah, yes, it’s the making that counts, indeed!
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I’m glad you got it, Paula
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Intriguing.
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The making is often the most fun, especially with someone you enjoy spending time with.
Great story.
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Thanka Carol
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Fun stuff… who knows what it will be… imagination the only thing stopping them…
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The inside of a child’s head is a wonderful thing
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Sparky’s got a good head on his shoulders. Focus on the process rather than the product. Writing’s a bit like that. Lively dialogue and satisfying ending.
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Yup, I had writing in mind when I wrote that
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Cool, childhood fun! The end result is only limited by their imagination.
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Ah! a bit like the journey, isn’t it? I liked this alternate universe of your characters a lot. And the description of the scanner is marvelous.
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Travelling hopefully
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I love this, and especially the scanner. The tao of Sparky.
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A little imagination is all you need to create anything! Good story Neil.
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And a shedload of money of course
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That helps!
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Gee! Think I’ll try and make one myself! 🙂
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The wonderful thing is the contraption you make will be almost totally unlike the one anyone else makes, even though you both follow the same plan
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That’s true. A good reason to definitely give it a try!
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This is a fun read Neil. I wonder at the design myself… Invokes such curiosity.
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Thanks
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I love that Zack wants to know how to build it, and Sparky wants to know what it will do. A perfect combination for young inventors dealing with esoteric designs. Loved the story!
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Thanks
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My pleasure! 🙂
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A great thought-provoking story! I’m still thinking about the plans and what that may make with them. 😄
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Interesting take on the prompt… a bit of steampunking perhaps.
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Oh god, I do hope not
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Great story!
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Thanks
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Oh gosh! The purpose always matters! What if they are building a robot of doom?
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I guess then it must have been written so
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It was a great story. It left me asking “What next?”.
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🙂
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I love that last line – “Don’t matter, it’s the making that counts.” Writing can be like that.
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Thanks, Liz
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What is it? What will it do? I don’t know — it’s the makin’ that counts.
Smiling I am at this idea as it fits well with Friday Fictioneers, right? What do you see? I don’t know, what do you see? Not sure. Well, it’s the makin’ that counts! 🙂
Recently back from two months in Bermuda — just getting back to Friday Fictioneers.
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Right indeed
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And when you’ve made it, it will turn out to be whatever your imagination wants it to be! Good story Neil
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Thanks. I’m glad you liked it
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Simple and neat. Could be developed or left as it is. Complete in itself yet with potential for expansion!
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Thank you. The’re not greater compliment for 100 word piece than “complete in itself!
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Fun voice in this.
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Thanks, Dawn
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I know Zack and Sparky, they belong to my club, they are just great characters, sadly Sparky keeps blowing things up and Zack then rebuilds them. Love your story.
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If I ever write about them again I’ll have Sparky blow something up
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Great fun tale, loved the last line.
Sparky and Zak sound like my two boys – they regularly made stuff when they were younger and we were never sure just what it was they had made, but applauded their ingenuity in making it.
Well done.
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I’m glad you liked it Dee, especially the last line
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The minds of what are presumably kids, of a certain age, where imagination runs wild – love the details of the scanner – and how the challenge isn’t necessarily to understand, but rather to create. Great tone and ambiance set here 🙂
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Thanks
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