Sunday 20 June 2010

Blue Screen of Death

This Fast Fiction was brought to you by deepbluemermaid and the word 'scream'.200 words- didn't post one yesterday because I was at a wedding.

Blue Screen of Death
Colin sighed. Time was running out. He had tried turning it off and on again. He had even taken the back off the machine. This was proving to be much harder than he had anticipated. There must be something else…

“You have a deadline, you know,” said the man. His new boss.

“I’m doing my best. Can you tell me any more about what happened?”

“I told you. I pushed ‘on’, and it died.”

Colin turned back to the computer. He knew about this sort of problem. Perhaps he wasn’t asking the right questions.

“Look,” he said, turning to face the man, “I’ve done everything I possibly can.”

“You said you would fix my computer. That was the deal.”

“And I’m telling you that I fixed it. It will switch on and boot up.”

“But it doesn’t run any programs. And where are my files?”

The man chuckled, and Colin shuddered, remembering their initial meeting, after the scream of metal on a wet road.A door opened.

“I don’t suppose,” Colin said, trying not to let his voice falter, unable to take his eyes off the scythe, “that we could try that game of chess after all?”

© Ellen Couch, 2010

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