The Sprint of Courtney Revere

Copyright Dale Rogerson, story prompt

The Sprint of Courtney Revere

It should have been an email, but of course, the Internet was destroyed.

This had been way easier for her ancestor: two choices, that was it. She pulled out her cheat sheet. Cheat sheets.

One if by land, two if by sea, three if by air, four if directly from orbit . . . she skimmed. 26 if by hyperdream, whatever that was.

Courtney peered up at the church tower. 18. No, wait! She’d missed one. 19 lamps.

19 . . . 19 if by Fosterian wormhole.

Okay.

Courtney broke into a sprint. She took a deep breath. “The Neptunians are coming! The Neptunians are coming!”

16 Comments Add yours

  1. Dale's avatar Dale says:

    Hahaha! Love this, David. Yanno, I’m gonna have to go read that damn poem, now (the original, of course).

    Like

  2. Neil MacDonald's avatar neilmacdon says:

    Let’s hope the receivers still know how to count now the internet’s down

    Like

  3. The Neptunians are coming…the Neptunians are coming. Better than the Russians.

    I always say David, you should leave your imagination to Science. You are the master of flash fiction. Dale’s steeple is stellar as usual.

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  4. PS I’m sure wherever Paul is, he too enjoyed this. 🙂

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  5. trentpmcd's avatar trentpmcd says:

    The little kid in my story must have been channeling Courtney… Good one.

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  6. James Pyles's avatar James Pyles says:

    I wrote a story about destroying the internet (it’s currently submitted and under consideration). It’s really, really hard.

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  7. This was fun and ominous. Good thing there was a hardcopy of cheat sheets available. I did wonder why they couldn’t just send a text though.

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  8. Sandra's avatar Sandra says:

    Ingenious response. Loved it. Her ancestor would turn in his grave.

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  9. Very imaginative take on the prompt. I liked the subtle humour.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Joy! Glad you liked it.

      Like

  10. Great take, David. This was such a fun read. Thank goodness it’s the Neptunians and not the Kardashians! 😂 🛸

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Haha, now that would be a funny story. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Tessa's avatar Tessa says:

    Oh what a great story based on the old poem. I loved it!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Tessa. My sister was born on the 200th anniversary of Paul Revere’s ride, so I’ve known it my whole life.

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Dear David,

    I can always count on you. Love this take. So now I want to know who the Neptunians are. 😉

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hmm, I don’t even know. I was going to say Martians but it seemed too stereotypical.

      Like

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