1/18
Ben Clay could smell the stolen meatball sandwich in the to-go bag he’d ripped off from Jo’s Pizzeria even while he was running away from the cop. Bad luck that it was the cop’s lunch. The cop was overweight, though, and the park was just across the street. He could outrun him.
#ThreadChallenge
#ThreadChallenge
08:28 PM - May 19, 2023
2/18
Nobody visited the overgrown park anymore. Too many people had disappeared there. No bodies ever turned up. It was scary, the source of monster stories. Ben went over a fence and ran along a jogging path for a short while, then turned into a dark crack between some ancient glacial boulders.
08:28 PM - May 19, 2023
3/18
Dead, dry leaves covered the ground. It wasn’t quite a cave, the daylight pouring in from above. It was warm. Ben could hide there and eat the purloined sandwich as long as he didn’t rustle the dry leaves or the paper bag. Part of the ground was clearer than the rest. He moved there.
08:29 PM - May 19, 2023
4/18
The boulders, the leaves, and the park, disappeared. Ben was standing in a black circle in a desert. Several desiccated corpses surrounded the ring, as though they’d stepped out of the perimeter, or just fallen down. A hot wind blew away the leaves that were in the ring. He took a deep breath.
08:30 PM - May 19, 2023
5/18
And darkness enveloped his mind.
Seconds later, he came to among boulders and leaves, in the park back on Earth. He could put two and two together; wherever he’d just traveled to had no oxygen. He’d passed out. He’d fallen back into the ring, somehow triggering it to send him back.
Seconds later, he came to among boulders and leaves, in the park back on Earth. He could put two and two together; wherever he’d just traveled to had no oxygen. He’d passed out. He’d fallen back into the ring, somehow triggering it to send him back.
08:30 PM - May 19, 2023
(Edited)
6/18
He looked down at his hands; the sandwich was gone. He was still hungry. He stared angrily at the black circle, wondering if he should risk his life to retrieve the meatball sandwich. His mouth watered. Outside the cluster of boulders, he could hear the cop puffing, stomping through the dry leaves.
08:32 PM - May 19, 2023
7/18
“You better come out of there,” the cop said. “If I have to come in there, you ain’t gonna like it.” He must have heard Ben get up from the mat of dry leaves just outside the black circle. Ben stood, making even more noise. He heard the cop coming toward him. Their eyes met. Ben took a deep breath.
08:33 PM - May 19, 2023
8/18
He stepped backwards into the black circle. Earth went away. The desert reappeared. He grabbed the sandwich bag and stepped out of the circle, scanning the area, wondering how long he could hold his breath. In addition to nine bodies, there were also a half dozen other black circles nearby.
08:33 PM - May 19, 2023
9/18
The cop appeared suddenly, like a magic trick, confused, eyes darting around the area, finally locking onto Ben. “You,” he started to say, then he passed out, falling onto a corpse just outside the circle’s edge. A new body for the desert planet. Ben stepped into the circle and returned to Earth.
08:34 PM - May 19, 2023
10/18
He sat in the leaves at the edge of the circle and opened the sandwich bag. He glared at the sandwich. Was it worth a life? It smelled so good. He glanced guiltily at the dark circle, sighed, put the sandwich down, and stood. He hyperventilated for a few seconds, then held his breath.
08:34 PM - May 19, 2023
11/18
He stepped into the circle, into the desert. Then he grabbed the cop’s ankles and dragged him back into the circle. Nothing changed. He stomped a foot, and the boulders and leaves reappeared. He let out his breath in a whoosh and carefully dragged the cop out of the circle. He was still breathing.
08:35 PM - May 19, 2023
12/18
The cop would be awake in moments. What were his options? Stay and get arrested? Run away? Ben had seen other circles out there in the desert. New worlds to visit. But how would he know if they were survivable? There was one, he remembered, that had some odd-looking bodies around it. Aliens?
08:35 PM - May 19, 2023
13/18
The cop, when he came to, would probably stay there. Hell, he’d just visited another planet. If Ben could figure it out, so would the cop. The corpses would close nine missing persons cases. He’d call in the discovery and then more cops would come, and then the NSA and all the other abbreviations.
08:35 PM - May 19, 2023
14/18
He could run and get a sandwich out of the deal. The cop wouldn’t pursue. Ben ground his teeth together, scuffing a foot at the edge of the circle.
The edge of the circle lifted. Ben stared. Well, that changed everything.
The cop took a deep breath and stirred.
Ben grabbed the edge of the circle.
The edge of the circle lifted. Ben stared. Well, that changed everything.
The cop took a deep breath and stirred.
Ben grabbed the edge of the circle.
08:36 PM - May 19, 2023
15/18
He pulled on it and a flat black sheet came up off bare dirt. Ben rolled it up quickly as the cop sat up. “What the hell?” the cop said.
“There’s your damned sandwich,” Ben replied. “And I just saved your ass.” He squeezed between the boulders and ran.
#ThreadChallenge
“There’s your damned sandwich,” Ben replied. “And I just saved your ass.” He squeezed between the boulders and ran.
#ThreadChallenge
08:37 PM - May 19, 2023
16/18
Ben carried the rolled-up disk like a small carpet. Nobody asked him about it. Back in the flophouse he called home, he spread it out on the floor.
It took only a few minutes to rifle through the clothing and wallets of the dead people on the desert world. A few homeless, some hikers, some kids.
It took only a few minutes to rifle through the clothing and wallets of the dead people on the desert world. A few homeless, some hikers, some kids.
08:37 PM - May 19, 2023
17/18
No wonder no one visited the park anymore, with all the disappearances. Ben ended up with $114 and some change. Eventually, he’d have to find some vacant spot in the city to bring back the bodies. Get some closure for the dead. That poor cop, they’d think he was nuts until all the bodies reappeared.
08:37 PM - May 19, 2023
18/18
Ben considered the black disk for a long time. He could sell it for a lot of money. A gate to new worlds! Then he glanced over at the small pile of money on his nightstand.
You know, he thought, I bet I could rent a scuba tank with that. With enough left over for a meatball sub.
#ThreadChallenge
You know, he thought, I bet I could rent a scuba tank with that. With enough left over for a meatball sub.
#ThreadChallenge
08:40 PM - May 19, 2023
In response to Tom Jolly.
Wow, fascinating story Tom. Reminds me a bit of a Matthew Reilly novella 'The Runners of New York'.
At the same time (typical Gen Xer) it also reminds me of those Roadrunner cartoons where he'd paint a tunnel on the wall.
Either way, great story.
Good luck with the Thread challenge.
At the same time (typical Gen Xer) it also reminds me of those Roadrunner cartoons where he'd paint a tunnel on the wall.
Either way, great story.
Good luck with the Thread challenge.
07:25 AM - Jun 06, 2023
In response to Gabe McGrath.
Thanks. I just read your entry. You should get bonus points for originality! Hard to pull off a choose-your-own-adventure with a limit of 20 entries. And here I was flustered because I couldn’t figure out how to do italics. No idea how you managed all those weird characters.
11:50 AM - Jun 06, 2023
In response to Tom Jolly.
I love this thread. The story is off to a great start.
09:45 PM - May 20, 2023
In response to Shawn Mischief Klimek.
Thanks! It's a spin-off from a book I started to write many years ago. Might rewrite this into a regular story.
11:09 PM - May 20, 2023
