“Ghost ship” photo by: olivier6973
For this week’s Flash Fiction we had 200 words to write about the prompt above, and include an inventor.
Off the deep end
“It’s just a little further!”
Dad’s enthusiasm is infectious. From the looks of the rotting wooden walls, it isn’t the only thing.
“Dad, what are we doing down here? This doesn’t look very safe.”
“Exactly! Where else would I find subjects?”
He’s not making any sense. It’s getting worse. Ever since Mum died, he hasn’t been sleeping. I moved back in to keep an eye on him, but I hear him wailing away out in the shed. He thinks I can’t hear him out there, but he’s loud enough to wake the dead.
The object in his hand starts to glow blue. It isn’t the only thing lighting up. I haven’t seen Dad this excited in as long as I can remember.
Perhaps I can follow him just a little further.
“What exactly is that thing?” I ask, trying to be encouraging.
“It’s an apparitional materializer.”
“A what?”
“It temporarily makes ghosts solid.”
That’s it. I have to call it. I can’t keep going deeper into this ship wreck with someone that is clearly out of their mind.
I turn and bump into someone, or more accurately, something. The squishy blue figure smiles at me with crooked teeth. “Welcome aboard!”
