May Microfiction: A World Without Light
Sometimes I’ll use prompts to give me ideas for writing, and often, I have no intentions to really do anything with those pieces, they’re just a chance to try out something new, or maybe even write something verging on fan fiction, which I couldn’t publish anywhere. This piece is a little fanfic-y. I wonder if you can spot the fandom(s)?
“A World Without Light”
by Ria Rees
It's four morning-time, and my chores are calling. I leave the canteen and feel my way along the wall, reading the braille print signing the different corridors. 'Caution: Stairs' reads one, followed by 'Fungi House'.
I take the turning towards the comms room, finding my way with relative ease — I take the same route every day; our rota never changes in Juntar. Feeling the console buttons, I switch the power on, then turn the dial, listening to the shifting sounds as the radio tunes in.
"Hello," a strange voice speaks over the static, "can you see me?"
"Hello?" I reply, speaking into the microphone. "What wavelength are you transmitting on?"
The voice continues. "I’m from the next reality over. I thought you might find this useful."
I hear a click, and my eyes burn, singed by some unknown light source. White rays invade my pupils, blinding me. "What the hell...?"
"Oh! Sorry," the light turns off, and the figure — of whom I only caught a rough blurry outline — chuckles. "I forgot you wouldn't be used to it. I thought a torch might come in handy, so I brought one."
"A torch? They haven't worked for hundreds of years."
"Well, this one's fine." The light sears my eyes once more. "Shit, sorry."
"Where are you from, again?"
"The next reality over, I was hitchhiking. Have I offended you in some way? I thought it might be useful."
Although I know they can't see me, I shake my head. "Next reality?"
"Yes, it seems you got the short end of the stick. We got the invention of dimension jumping, whilst you suffered a cataclysmic loss of light. It could be worse, though. I just passed through a world without shrimp."