Thursday, July 11, 2013

Prompt: Right place. Right time. Wrong dimension. Part 2

…continued from yesterday

It was Peeehuuullbia who invented the di-chro-locator, but it was the young team of males whom Henry had been charged for teaching gambling who built it to look like a slot machine. Delighted with their own fine humor, they got Henry drunk on seawater and tumbled him into his rebuilt capsule, pulling the lever and slamming the hatch shut just in time.

Henry had lost track of how many times he had played. Um, tried to return home. It was hard to remember the end goal sometimes. He half expected cherries, lemons, and strawberries to pop up on the screen, or a clean sweep to start lights flashing and coins pouring out from under the console.

The Donsalvians had modified his capsule so that he had enough resources to last indefinitely, but he could not bear to remain confined for more than a few weeks at a time. So he gambled time and again, throwing the lever and spinning the di-chro-locator to return him to his own Earth. After each spin, if he were able to exit the capsule, he would explore – for the scientific record, of course – until he felt the urge to try once more.

So, snake eyes. As the di-chro-locator slowed to a crawl, and finally rested on three numbers that meant nothing to Henry, he turned on the external viewers and stared in disbelief. His capsule rested in the middle of Times Square, New York. He recognized the show placard lining the inevitable construction barriers along the sidewalks. All the ads looked familiar. Finally, a flashing billboard displayed the date, and Henry whooped for joy. He was home! At last!

Then something blurred his vision and swept through his body like a chill. He recoiled and looked around to see what had happened. His brain finally caught up with his eyes. He was sitting in the *middle* of Times Square, on Broadway. Cars and people were blurring past. And through. He felt it again. And again. And again.

He slammed his fists against the di-chro-locator in frustration. Two cherries and a damned lemon.

Right time. Right place. Wrong dimension. 

Dogs in house
Houdini, Brindle
Time writing:
40 minutes
July word count:
5,098

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