Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY
IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I
generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family
rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to
write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration
(quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind.
These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat,
irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if
anything comes of them.
H Trope: Black
Barf http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BadBlackBarf
Current Event:
Ebola Outbreak (http://cydathria.com/ebola.html)
Haysam Akbhar-Sosa shook his head and said, "This is impossible. I
can't do it."
Bao Coppage stood beside him. She said, "We don't have any choice. If
Ebola spreads any farther, it's gonna take over the world." They looked
down at the waves of refugees fleeing Egypt and the Middle East, ravaged by a
nearly uncontrollable strain of Ebola. They were on foot, in cars, buses, being
pulled by donkey, oxen, and even other humans whom they whipped. She said,
"It's stop it here and now or we all go down."
"I don't much care if Europe and the US go down..."
"There are people of faith everywhere, Haysam. They're all gonna die.
This strain of Ebola doesn't care if you're a holy man or an avowed
atheist."
There was a long pause and she'd known him long enough to expect him to
argue. But this time he said only, "I know." He leaned over the
sights of the monstrous flamethrower. Mounted on the gondola of the massive
helium balloon, they flew slowly along with the river of sick humanity.
"We might not have to do anything," Bao said.
He shot her a look and she was surprised when he said, "Thanks for
trying to make me feel better, but it's either kill these...ghūl...ghouls..."
"You know what these things are?"
He nodded slowly, "They're from ONE THOUSAND AND ONE ARABIAN
NIGHTS." He paused for a long time, then added, "My brothers would
tell me stories about them after I tattled on them."
"Your brothers told you the stories?"
He snorted, "Yeah. They hated me because I was the baby of the family
and mom loved me more." She scowled and looked at him. He batted his
eyelashes and then burst out laughing.
Leaning into him, she opened her mouth to reply when a commotion broke out
below. Directly under the gondola, all they could see was people bunching up
instead of trudging on. Bao had to pull back on the throttle and then give it a
short reverse spin.
"What's..." Haysam began. Then the faces below looked up at them.
There was a wet, gurgling sound, then a mass of humans looked up, opened their
mouths. An instant later, what looked like a fountain of tarry black liquid
rushed up.
It wasn’t. They’d been told them to
wear gas masks, so they were suited up. What no one had mentioned was
tentacles. Black, dripping, horrible, the slender, pestilential whips grabbed
them, slammed Bao and Haysham, then tore the masks from their faces. Convulsing
in a paroxysm of agony, they screamed until...
Names: ♀ China,
England; ♂ Egypt,
Bahrain
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