The Writer’s Club Phoenix

Last weeks challenge at KSP Writer’s Circle was interesting.  We listened to some music; that I later found out was “The Phoenix” from “War of the Worlds”, and then had to write a piece inspired by it.  Amazingly we all seemed to find the same main themes.  My attempt follows.

Posy dangled her feet in the murky green water.  There was no danger for her in those swamps; she knew every critter in the bayou.  What’s more they knew her, the gators wouldn’t waste the energy; too often she’d pulled back in time & laughed at ’em.  Last few years they just lazed in the sun ‘n’ let her scratch their bellies with a big ole stick.  Sometimes an old jitter might latch onto her toe; but a drop o’ kerosene soon put them off.

Posy loved this part o’ the swamp; it was dark & cool even in the middle a June like now.  All brown n’ green, like no people had come to tame it and make it grey & dull as all heck.  Just a listenin’ to the plop as frogs ‘n’ toads jumped in and out of the cool, mossy water.  Watchin’ a heron dive for sumpin’; crawdad maybe or a bug.

A different sound started up; a kinda gentle hum in the distance.  Some swamper out huntin’ maybe, with one o’ them fancy new engines.  Couldn’a bin any those idjits from school; the music weren’t cranked up loud nuff.  The gentle hum started & stopped as if the engine were cuttin’ out.  Tourist on the latest tour boat maybe; but most of the old timers would’t rent without sendin’ their own driver.

Suddenly a big ball o’ silver just crashed through the trees, so gentle the branches just moved back into place after it fell to the ground.  Right in the middle of the water on a li’l island.  That big ole ball took up all the dirt and still had it’s tail draggled in the mud.

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Inside the ship the Draxians were moving slowly.  Centuries of calm left them ill prepared for emergencies of this nature.  The cacophony of sounds emitted by their stricken vessel were disquieting.  But they soon fell into a unified, almost rhythmic pattern.  Together flicking the switches needed to turn off their engines before further damage was done, and start their atmospheric checks to ascertain what must be added to the metabolic stabilizers on this new planet so they could vent the ship.  The urgency was still there, but after the initial panic they all fell back into familiar patterns of the well drilled emergency plan.

 

We had more time but as I said; that’s were the music ended and we would have to listen to something else for more.

Thanks as always to Pixabay for the pictures.