For the second week in a row Rich Meyer’s entry was chosen by readers as the favorite in the Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge.
The winning entry is rewarded with a special feature here today and a place in our collection of winners which will be published as an e-book at year end.
Without further ado, here’s the winning entry:
Marooned
by Rich Meyer
It hadn’t been hard, since the captain had been engrossed with the ladies on board. Just surreptitious movement of a magnet and the first mate had the boat heading right where he wanted.
His subservient act paid off when the boat grounded roughly on the island. The island he had been trying to return to years. The others bewilderedly gaped at their newfound status as castaways, and the mate moved the equipment satchels from the hold and found the cave. When he heard the growling from within, he knew things were as he had left them.
After setting up his gear, he brought some fresh fruit and water back to the others. One still had to play one’s part, didn’t they?, he thought. Later that night, he snuck out of camp and went back to the cave. The cave was still occupied. With the pneumatic launcher he assembled, he fired a small dart into the cave. A squawk was followed by a thud.
He then reached into his other satchel and withdrew a helmet-like device he put on his head. A flick of a switch and fiber-optic lines glowed neon green all over it. There was the sound of scuffling from the cave.
“What are you doing out here, Gil…?” The fresh-faced young girl stopped abruptly.
The mate smiled sorrowfully. “I like you. I was going to save you for last, but…”
The girl didn’t have the time to scream as the velociraptor leapt for her, his teeth sinking deep.
Congratulations Rich. Well done.
Congrats, Rich! I’m not quite sure how your brain works, combining Gilligan and velociraptors in the same story, but it obviously comes together. Who knew?