Writers! Rev up your aethereal engines of imagination, and use the image above as a prompt to create a microfiction of one hundred words or less!
Anything that fits under the umbrella of speculative fiction — science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction and more — is welcome to be shared as a comment to this post. I will select my favorite very short story from those submitted… and turn your words into a fully polished and credited presentation (in the style of my Aethereal Musings) to be featured on an upcoming Thursday on the blog!
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
If your piece is selected to be featured, you will be in the running to win the 2019 AETHEREAL ENGINEER WRITER SUPPORT PRIZE PACKAGE!
This mysterious box will be packed with all sorts of wonderful goodies catering to your authorly needs, all hand selected by yours truly! At a total estimated value of at least $100, you could brag about receiving one of the highest per-word payouts for any submission, anywhere!
How might you win such a fantabulous treasure?
The featured Thursday posts for Aether Prompt winners (not the initial Wednesday prompts) will receive a score. Each “Like” on a post will grant one point to the author’s score, and each unique WordPress reblog will grant three points. The author of the piece with the most points by December 1st, 2019… WINS!
I reserve the full and unquestioned right to break any ties, disqualify entries if shenanigans are suspected, and declare a winner with absolute and final authority. If you win, I will require your physical address to ship your prize to you (with standard shipping included free of charge).
So what are you waiting for? Write to get your creative engines going today! Write for the glory! Write for a chance to win a fantabulous prize!
But whatever you do, just keep writing. :-)
Take care everyone, I look forward to your creations!
~Jason H. Abbott
Aethereal Engineer 
Here goes. :-)
I couldn’t remember most of the day or when the blizzard started. But I knew my plane home from the war was leaving soon, and I’d be mighty sorry to miss it. My keys weren’t in my pocket, but my papers were—name, address, serial number—tucked there by my children. “Just show them to the officer,” they said.
Still in slippers, my feet ached with cold. I needed my boots, but there wasn’t time now. The airfield lights glowed through the snow, my plane’s props whirling. The old boys greeted me beneath the white wings and flew me home.
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I’m so glad you participated, Diana! Because you’re the winner of the January 23rd Aether Prompt!
I really liked the open mystery you worked into this one: There’s a lot going on between the lines that superficially reads as one thing, but the details make you look again as if you’ve spotted a detail out of place. And you have. Is it sad? Is it sweet? Is it both, or are we still not seeing the whole for the snow? Definitely would read more if you expanded on this one!
Your winning entry will get a featured post on Thursday, February 21st, and that also puts you in the running for the WRITER SUPPORT PRIZE PACKAGE being given out in December! Wowsers!
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Thanks so much, Jason. I actually didn’t know how the story would end when I began. Funny how that happens. I’ll try to participate more often. It was great fun. :-)
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I saw him after taking my late night piss. The cold had shriveled me up and made it hard to unclench. I’d had to close my eyes and hold my breath to get things working. Probably why he didn’t noticed me.
After all those briefings; all those photos of the pan seared wankers that looked into the lizard’s light, that idiot just meandered past the fence line!
What did he say? Same thing all the crazies do: ‘All else is Shadow. Only beasts enjoy the dark.’
Me? I just shook my heads and went to bed.”
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You’ve got a wonderful, gruff and clearly distinctive voice going in this piece. I enjoyed it, and honestly it was a close call between yours and the entry that snagged this week’s top spot. This is good work, keep it up!
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Thanks so much! I will be sure to keep writing and keep posting for each week’s prompt. Reading everyone’s comments to your writing is quite inspirational, so thanks for noticing the little scribe (lol).
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