Gustave

/ Steve Lakey / 14 Comments

eiffel-tower-dmm Photo: Copyright – Douglas M MacIlroy

 

‘Gustave’ likes the night-times. That’s when he lights himself up and shines over Paris.

How different it had all been when he’d first arrived. Part of the Martian Invasion force, Gustave quickly built himself a quadruped fighting machine. His role was to ‘liberate’ Paris.

And he would have done it too, if it hadn’t been for those pesky bacteria! Fortunately, unlike his comrades, Gustave was immune…

He received the Mission Abort order, but instead of self-destructing, he made friends and settled down with the Parisians. Gustave became such a hero, he was given the title ‘Champ de Mars’!

 

This is my contribution to Friday Fictioneers 100 Word fiction photo challenge for 27 December 21013, hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. Click the link for more details.

To read the other contributions, please click the logo.

friday-fictioneers

Memory Trip

/ Steve Lakey / 1 Comment
plasma ball

© Al Forbes 2013

 

Religious leaders condemned it. Leading scientists expressed their scepticism. But the overnight phenomenon that was Past Masters, went from strength to strength. 

Their claims were big and bold. Although the specifics were to remain secret, advanced Plasma-Ball technology had now made it possible to permit Time Travel to the Past, at least for seven days at a time. The ultimate trip.

The week-long experience had a very affordable charge – it all seemed such a reasonable price to pay. There was no shortage of willing volunteers.

Who knows how long this whole thing would have lasted, if undercover journalist John Clay hadn’t taken a remotely controlled micro camera in with him?

Day One involved intense Mind Programming sessions before he was put to work in their factory – reminiscent of a Dickensian workhouse. He stayed there for the whole week, sleeping on the factory floor and eating gruel. He was, of course, making Plasma Balls.

Before he left, a further Mind Programming gave John a replacement memory overlay. What a great time he thought he’d had!

John’s team uploaded the videos and they quickly went viral. Now the people behind Past Masters are having some Hard Times of their own…

 

This is my contribution to Sunday Photo Fiction – 08 December 2013, hosted by Al Forbes. Please click here for more details.

To read the other stories, click the logo.

spf

Weekly Photo Challenge: Grand

/ Steve Lakey / 7 Comments
London and Home 090

© Steve Lakey 2013

        The Victorian Gothic Palace of Westminster, London.

1096

© Steve Lakey 2013

The Medieval Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire, UK.

324

© Steve Lakey 2013

Chatsworth House, Stately Home, Derbyshire, UK

This is my contribution to Weekly Photo Challenge, hosted by The Daily Post. This week’s prompt is Grand. Click here for more details and to view the other entries. 

iPhoneography Challenge: Nature (Byron’s Garden)

/ Steve Lakey / 14 Comments
Back Camera

© Steve Lakey 2013

 

© Steve Lakey 2013

 

© Steve Lakey 2013

 

These photos were taken with an iPhone 4 and enhanced with iPhoto. They are  from the gardens of Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire, UK – the ancestral home of the poet Lord Byron.

A small selection of quotes by Byron that reveal his love for Nature:

‘I love not man the less, but Nature more.’

‘Ye stars! which are the poetry of heaven!’

‘As long as I retain my feeling and my passion for Nature, I can partly soften or subdue my other passions and resist or endure those of others.’

‘Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.’

In the formal gardens of Newstead Abbey, lies the tomb of Byron’s beloved Dog, Boatswain. Byron wrote this beautiful inscription for the tomb.

Epitaph to a Dog

 

This is my contribution to iPhoneography Challenge: Nature, hosted at Lens and Pens by Sally.

 

Please click the logo to learn more about the current challenge and see the other entries.

iPhoneography