Mandy White is the Readers’ Choice in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge. The winning entry is decided by the popular vote and rewarded with a special feature here today.
Without further ado, here’s the winning entry:
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Ain’t Good
by Mandy White
George Kemp puffed a cigarette, his previous butt still smoldering in the ashtray as he watched the action unfold on the monitor. He chain-smoked out of sheer boredom. With the new security system in place, the guard had precious little to do except sit and smoke and watch the screen. The other guards were engaged in a round-the-clock rotating poker game, players replenishing with every shift change. It didn’t bode well for them; George foresaw a lot of unemployed prison guards when word of the new system’s success reached corporate headquarters.
It was a simple concept: a blend of old technology and new. The Nano-units were equipped with GPS to detect movement of the security chips embedded in the inmates’ flesh. Implantation of the chip was done upon inmates’ arrival without their knowledge, to prevent them from devising ways to remove or disable them. Escapees had ample time to change their minds; the units didn’t engage until the chip breached an invisible perimeter, a half mile from the prison’s outer walls. Warning signs posted along the way advised escapees to reconsider and turn back. The Nanos intercepted anyone who passed the point of no return, with a success rate of 100%.
Yes, George’s future looked dim indeed. He wondered whether it was too late to go to accounting school like his mother had always wanted him to.
Congratulations. Nice Story.