Is There Anybody Out There

It starts with a single click.  A sound so faint that it is almost missed amid the background noise; the noise, like an album of whale songs, had been my constant companion for days, weeks, months.  To sit at the console for every shift and listen to the sounds of the stars, waiting, hoping for something more; it began to take its toll.  The noise gets filtered out of your head, you go about other tasks, challenges, interests, including balancing the checkbook.  Then, when all awareness is gone, forgotten, a faint sound comes out of the speaker.  That click.  I’m here, its saying.  Can you hear me?

I stop what I’m doing and cock my head toward the speaker.  Every cell in my body attuned to what was heard but almost missed.  Then it happens again.  A click.  It’s not the whale sound of space but an artificial sound.  Someone out there is making it, sending it, hoping it will be heard.

My heart is now racing, the clicks coming more often, as if they are trying to synchronize with my pounding pulse.  Must get confirmation.  I punch the number for SETI.  The phone rings incessantly.  Where are they?  Why aren’t they picking up the phone?  And where the heck is Brian?  He went out for a break twenty minutes ago.  He should be back.  Somebody, anybody, do you hear what I hear?

“Hey, get a load of this,” Brian exclaims when he saunters back into the lab.  He’s holding a yellow metal box with a wand.  The letters C D inside a triangle on its side.  He brings the wand over his watch,  the box clicks, and the clicks echo through the speaker.  I hang up the phone.  “I found this old Geiger counter in the back room.  You wanna see what else it can pick up?”

The sounds of the stars.  Not really.  Just the sounds of boredom.

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This bit of boredom relief is brought to you courtesy of Inspiration Monday

The Rules

There are none. Read the prompts, get inspired, write something. No word count minimum or maximum. You don’t have to include the exact prompt in your piece, and you can interpret the prompt(s) any way you like.

OR

No really; I need rules!

Okay; write 200-500 words on the prompt of your choice. You may either use the prompt as the title of your piece or work it into the body of your piece. You must complete it before 6 pm CST on the Monday following this post.

The Prompts:

SELL TIME

MOMENT IN THE SUN

SOUNDS OF THE STARS

HOW TO BE AN EARTHLING

OFF THE RECORD

Want to share your Inspiration Monday piece? Post it on your blog and link back to today’s post; I’ll include a link to your piece in the next Inspiration Monday post. No blog? Email your piece to me at bekindrewrite (at) yahoo (dot) com. (I do reserve the right to NOT link to a piece as stated in my Link Discretion Policy.)

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