Thursday, February 7, 2013

Nothing Like a Morning Flight



Sunrise, settling back, coffee and muffin in hand. Opening up the newspaper.   Nothing like a morning flight.

Then I heard the short snapping sound and men were walking through the cabin.


"Okay, everyone:  Out now into the buses. You'll be in Philadelphia in six or seven hours, you'll awake there, and remember nothing."


Only this time I did remember. Every word.


"Charge 'em for airplanes, pay for buses, we make a bundle!" said one man.


"Good thing no one ever expects the .... aeroplanes! .... to be on time."


"Air travel, ha!"  laughed the other. "Why, humankind is still 200 years away from air travel!" 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Picture prompt above, story below, and I nailed it at 105 words, which is close enough to the designated 100 word limit to get me off the ground and into the air flying, thank you very much!

This is my weekly contribution to the Fabulous Friday Fictioneers and Flying Circus for this Friday, February 8, 2013.   Now please click the link and fly on over to the other high flyin' contributors, making sure to bypass any lurking buses.

Man may not have been meant to fly, but he (or she) sure was meant to blog!

54 comments:

janet said...

That was a twisted, crazy story. You had me going back and forth to be sure I'd gotten it. Nice start to my morning, which is about to get much busier! Thanks for the fun, but slow, ride.

janet

Sandra Crook said...

There's a well known budget airline over here in the UK that charge for everything they can possibly think of in order to make a buck. Charge you for checking in, printing out boarding passes, measure your bags to the nth dimension to see if an additional charge can be slapped on. They were even hoping to charge for toilet visits I hear. I hope to God the Chairman of this company isn't reading this or we're all sunk. You should patent this idea - he'll snaffle it.

So original Perry, really funny. How do you do it? Well done.

Perry Block said...

Thanks, Janet. Sounds like your morning is nothing like a morning flight!

Of course there is nothing like a morning flight because there really IS nothing like a morning flight! Now I'm every bit as confused as you were ...

Perry Block said...

I hope he does snaffle it because then I can find out what "snaffle" means.

Thanks, Sandra! Hope all is well in the land of Richard III.

Anonymous said...

wow this is delightfully different. crazy story but of course, you pulled it off.

Anonymous said...

this may sound like an odd comment but i'm curious as to why you chose philadelphia.

Perry Block said...

I live there, and it saved four words over "The Duchy of Grand Fenwick."

Perry Block said...

Not me. It's 'The Conspiracy to Make Us Think There are Such Things as Airplanes so They Can Charge Us for Them' that pulled it off.

I hate to think what the acronym is ...

petronmb said...

Good one!

Anonymous said...

All I keep doing is imagining how they would have pulled off that atomic bomb at hiroshima if planes were all a hoax... hmmmm... It'll come to me. Very fun read ;)

Madison Woods said...

Great story Perry! I loved the twist throughout the whole thing :)

Russell said...

Buses? What's that? We travel by mule down here, but boy you should see the baggage charge they add on. Once, on a flight up to Joplin they stopped twice to change the mule's shoes. What a hoax! Everyone knows they wear army boots-not shoes.

Anonymous said...

sometimes I think the bus would be faster!

tedstrutz said...

Bizarre tale, Perry... I'm guessing it's all about the muffin...

Shirley said...

What was in that coffee and muffin?

Anonymous said...

Good Job! Enjoyed reading that one.
Scott
Mine: http://kindredspirit23.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/3686/

Perry Block said...

I'm afraid I'm 200 years away from "Good one!"

Perry Block said...

Atomic what?

Perry Block said...

Thanks, Madison! At least nobody's ever got to be afraid of flying anymore ...

Perry Block said...

I hate to break it to you, Russell, but mule travel is a myth too. And I'm getting sick and tired of pulling that little wagon with you in it all the time!

Perry Block said...

Thank you for your lingering LOL.

Perry Block said...

Exactly why nobody bothers to invent planes!

Perry Block said...

I'm sure it was a guy sitting with his muffin and coffee one day not going anywhere who thunk it all up.

Perry Block said...

I don't know, Shirley, but it caused me to invent air travel. I hope they have one of those places in the bus terminal in Philadelphia!

Perry Block said...

Thanks. Glad you decided to fly me!

Tom Poet said...

I am starting to think this is all made up!

Tom

Perry Block said...

No, Tom, every one of my stories is based on documented fact. Certificates are on file in the office.

Anonymous said...

I love it! My kind of story, all the way. :D What do you suppose those guys really look like behind the mask? They are wearing masks, aren't they? Humankind - snort!

Anonymous said...

Hah! Science faction. I loved the idea of this, I really thought you were going down the terrorist attack route, so it was a surprise.

nightlake said...

a good one:)

Rochelle Wisoff-Fields said...

This mouse is roaring...with laughter.

Rochelle Wisoff-Fields said...

Dear Perry,
Does this mean that after I read your story I won't remember anything? I once traveled from KC to NYC by bus. I was ten at the time and I still remember feeling hazed by the end of the trip. I think I'll take Russell's mule cart.
Fun story.
Shalom
Rochelle

Douglas MacIlroy said...

Dear Perry,

Man smart enough to write a twisted tale like you did ough to be able to handle the jump to light speed and WordPress. Get hot while I wade through the BS to tell you I liked your writing this week.

Aloha,

Doug

EL Appleby said...

Love this story - very original - very funny. Just one thing, though - the use of the word 'aeroplanes' - does that mean they were British tricksters? One's not sure one approves...

Perry Block said...

I would guess they are wearing masks. They'd have to be ugly people to be scamming us like this! Thanks for writing, Debra.

Perry Block said...

Yes, I could have gone down the old terrorist attack route but then I'd have to heroically rescue everyone, and I was too comfortable with my muffin and coffee. Next time.

Perry Block said...

Thanks. I always try to be good.

Perry Block said...

No, you will remember but you will think it is a work of fiction. Remember all those lousy meals and crying babies you seem to remember from flights past? Dreamed up in the board rooms of "airplane" corporations.

In real life, you were in Russell's mule cart.

Perry Block said...

Thanks, Douglas. And about space travel? William Shatner is wholly in charge of the special effects required to make us think there is space travel.

In reality, we've never gotten higher than Albany through "space travel."

Perry Block said...

Not British tricksters. Just tricksters using the preferred spelling for the projected flying machines once they are actually built. The rather more brittle term "airplanes" is simply slang of the moment.

t said...

I loved your spin on this!

Could it be true...?

Dobson said...

Ah the subterfuge the airlines rain down on us and how we allow it. We are left to curse their ways, but ultimately act as sheep and follow their directions.

brudberg said...

Talk about conspiracy... And probably the last time I crossed the atlantic the buses carried me to a giant studio. :-)

Unknown said...

Very creative take on the prompt. Nicely done

Perry Block said...

You doubt me? Tell me: ever had any good food on an airplane? Landed on time? Joined the mile high club?

Don't you think at least one of these things would have happened if there really were such a thing as air travel???

Perry Block said...

If I had thought of that sentence, I could have bagged the whole story!

Perry Block said...

The pontoon buses? Oldest trick in the book!

Perry Block said...

Thank your, Boomie. And have a nice flight!

Beth said...

You are crazy but in a good way.

Beth said...

You are crazy but in a good way.

Anonymous said...

I agree with both of Beth's comments. Very quirky, great little story.

Perry Block said...

You can say that again!

Perry Block said...

Gee, you actually did!

Perry Block said...

Thank you. Glad I made your flight that little bit more comfortable!