Sophinisba Solis (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophinisba) wrote2009-05-20 11:04 pm
sophinisba) wrote2009-05-20 11:04 pm
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Children of Men drabbles
I wrote these drabbles for the movie Children of Men today! This means I now have one 17,000-word fic and six 100-word fics in the same tiny fandom. :) These are all gen and rated G or PG. The ones with prompts were for this post at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
writer_game.
Daughters of Eve (100w, Julian, apple)
Pregnant women must be eating the wrong foods, taking the wrong drugs, maybe living in the wrong neighborhoods. No one was sure what caused the infertility, exactly, but they knew the infertility led to all their other problems, and it must have started with the mothers.
Before she went underground Julian went in for fertility tests every six months, just like everyone else. The doctor shook his head.
Don't give me that look, she wanted to say. You made this world as much as I did. But as she got up from the table and dressed she always felt ashamed.
Growing Up (100w, Luke, no prompt)
Luke was born in Lagos. His little sister Sarah was born in London. She died in the flu pandemic before they were old enough for that to make a difference.
"I'm from Kilburn," he'd say, flashing his beautiful smile, and when he was a little boy that was enough.
By the time he was a teenager they wouldn't take his word for it, but he'd show them his papers and they'd give him his phone call.
When he was twenty they sent his parents to a refugee camp. Six years later they tried to take him. Luke doesn't smile anymore.
Abandon (100w, Miriam, no man's land/talented)
The soldiers were so busy shooting at the rebels that they abandoned that whole complex of cages. A talented burglar among the prisoners busted the lock and burst out, leading a charge toward the gate.
"Wait," Miriam shouted, "we've got to help the others."
"No time," someone said. "More soldiers come soon. We must go now."
But Miriam was a nurse, and the people who were bleeding were inside the camp, not in the no man's land beyond. So she walked away from freedom and toward the machinegun fire, hoping against hope to hear a baby's cry among the screams.
Fading (100w, Theo, flat/deaf/atone)
He's heard so many explosions, had the ringing in his ears so long, he'd be worried about ending up deaf, but since he'll be dying soon it probably doesn't matter. There's no land in sight now, no guns within hearing, and the waves are gentle and flat, rocking them like a baby in a cradle. He wishes he could hold her but his strength is going, so he'll settle for sign language. Kee nods and copies his action and a warm numbness washes over him like forgiveness. He closes his eyes and smiles, thinking, It's all right. Dylan is alive.
Fear of the Magi (100w, Kee, epiphany)
The ship's location and the baby's existence are meant to be secret, but the rumours spread on radio waves like blood on the water, and within two weeks they start to arrive. Not all at once, never more than three at a time, in rowboats and rafts. Some with oil or powdered milk, some carrying nothing at all. What they all have in common is the look in their eyes, of recognition and prayers answered. The shooting's over now but the look still makes her tremble, and she hugs her daughter close and whispers, "You're mine, Dylan, only ever mine."
Dead End (100w, Kee, dead-end)
Kee remembers getting caught one time in blind alley, nowhere to go. The bastard had a knife. Later James beat her up because she hadn't even got paid. That was bad. Still, she got through it, crawled away, lived to see another day.
The Tomorrow's got the whole Atlantic to move around in: no dead ends, any future possible. But what's the point, when you've nowhere to land, and anyway someone else is steering the ship?
The baby fusses but won't eat. Kee's breasts are swollen and sore. "Tell me what to do," she says. She's never felt more trapped.
writer_game.Daughters of Eve (100w, Julian, apple)
Pregnant women must be eating the wrong foods, taking the wrong drugs, maybe living in the wrong neighborhoods. No one was sure what caused the infertility, exactly, but they knew the infertility led to all their other problems, and it must have started with the mothers.
Before she went underground Julian went in for fertility tests every six months, just like everyone else. The doctor shook his head.
Don't give me that look, she wanted to say. You made this world as much as I did. But as she got up from the table and dressed she always felt ashamed.
Growing Up (100w, Luke, no prompt)
Luke was born in Lagos. His little sister Sarah was born in London. She died in the flu pandemic before they were old enough for that to make a difference.
"I'm from Kilburn," he'd say, flashing his beautiful smile, and when he was a little boy that was enough.
By the time he was a teenager they wouldn't take his word for it, but he'd show them his papers and they'd give him his phone call.
When he was twenty they sent his parents to a refugee camp. Six years later they tried to take him. Luke doesn't smile anymore.
Abandon (100w, Miriam, no man's land/talented)
The soldiers were so busy shooting at the rebels that they abandoned that whole complex of cages. A talented burglar among the prisoners busted the lock and burst out, leading a charge toward the gate.
"Wait," Miriam shouted, "we've got to help the others."
"No time," someone said. "More soldiers come soon. We must go now."
But Miriam was a nurse, and the people who were bleeding were inside the camp, not in the no man's land beyond. So she walked away from freedom and toward the machinegun fire, hoping against hope to hear a baby's cry among the screams.
Fading (100w, Theo, flat/deaf/atone)
He's heard so many explosions, had the ringing in his ears so long, he'd be worried about ending up deaf, but since he'll be dying soon it probably doesn't matter. There's no land in sight now, no guns within hearing, and the waves are gentle and flat, rocking them like a baby in a cradle. He wishes he could hold her but his strength is going, so he'll settle for sign language. Kee nods and copies his action and a warm numbness washes over him like forgiveness. He closes his eyes and smiles, thinking, It's all right. Dylan is alive.
Fear of the Magi (100w, Kee, epiphany)
The ship's location and the baby's existence are meant to be secret, but the rumours spread on radio waves like blood on the water, and within two weeks they start to arrive. Not all at once, never more than three at a time, in rowboats and rafts. Some with oil or powdered milk, some carrying nothing at all. What they all have in common is the look in their eyes, of recognition and prayers answered. The shooting's over now but the look still makes her tremble, and she hugs her daughter close and whispers, "You're mine, Dylan, only ever mine."
Dead End (100w, Kee, dead-end)
Kee remembers getting caught one time in blind alley, nowhere to go. The bastard had a knife. Later James beat her up because she hadn't even got paid. That was bad. Still, she got through it, crawled away, lived to see another day.
The Tomorrow's got the whole Atlantic to move around in: no dead ends, any future possible. But what's the point, when you've nowhere to land, and anyway someone else is steering the ship?
The baby fusses but won't eat. Kee's breasts are swollen and sore. "Tell me what to do," she says. She's never felt more trapped.