Mysterious Disappearance
After 10,000 Earth years since the last visit, today was Earth’s turn. The Angelic Scientific Krew (ASK) chattered happily (telepathically) at how good the planet looked. Clean skies and water, lush vegetation of all kinds, and a full complement of fauna — but curiously no humans. It was surprising, as humans had a red asterisk on the list as dominant and dangerous to planet viability. There were no obvious clues to solve the mystery.
Agreeing that they didn’t have time to solve it with their overbooked itinerary, they loaded Earth’s black box onto the ship and headed for Mars.
[99 words]
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is the inventive host of Friday Fictioneers.
Tao Talk 
Ohh I loved this! Great take on the prompt.
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Thank you very much, Shweta, glad you enjoyed it.
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I knew it. My fridge is an alien black box recorder
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🙂
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I love that the fridge is the earth’s black box! So often we find the causes of the “crash”…
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Thanks, Dale. Glad you enjoyed the concept.
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Very much so.
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I like it. Bet they get a shock when they retrieve the data.
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Thanks, Anthony. I agree! We stand out like a sore thumb don’t we.
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Loved your take on the prompt.
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Thanks, Sadje!
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You’re welcome
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About as much attention as we deserve. Nice take.
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lol Well-said. Thanks.
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since their last visit, i assume humans have evolved into different creatures all together. 🙂
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🙂 Very possibly. Let’s hope if they did they evolved into a less capricious, less volatile species that won’t warrant a red asterisk.
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Dear Lisa,
No wonder Earth is looking so clean and lovely. The bad stewards have left the building. Love where you took the prompt.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, thank you, and I’m glad you enjoyed where I took it.
Shalom,
Lisa
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You’re welcome, Lisa. 😉
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Wonderful scenario, I wonder what we did (so many possibilities) to get extinct
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Thank you, Irene.
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clever. I sometimes think that the best hope for the planet wold be another asteroid. It would take more than that 10,000 to recover after a hit like that, but it might be better in the long term…
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“Earth’s black box.” I love that. That’s ingenious.
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Thank you, Nobbin. When I looked at the picture, my first thought was “black box” and the sprang from there.
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Awesome story I loved it! enjoyed reading it! Xx
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So glad you enjoyed it, Carol Anne, thank you!
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Ha, fun concept! I’m sure they’ll get around to investigating the black box eventually to find out what happened to us 🙂
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🙂 Or maybe never, as they see how well the planet is doing without us!
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I hope we do have a black box somewhere. Someone/something is going to want to know.
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I really enjoyed this tale Jade
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Thanks, Jude!
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Great take on the prompt. Good job they didn’t linger, they may have taken the virus away with them as well as the black box
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Thanks, and good point!
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Excellent Jade. We could do with a black box right now!
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Oh Wow! But it also scared me Jade.
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A very creative direction you took with the prompt. Nicely done!!
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Thank you, Brenda 🙂
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OMG, don’t open that box! Great story predicting the future.
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Thank you, James!
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That’s a great take on the prompt!
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Why thank you.
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Earth’s Black Box! Science Fiction take on the prompt! You really did a great job with your imagination! Thanks!
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So happy you liked it, Nan, thanks!
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LOL! This was so “men in black”! 🙂
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🙂 Exactly, love your comment!
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🙂
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I like the fact that you used the fridge as a metaphor.
Nicely written …
Isadora 😎
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Thank you 🙂
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Fantastic ! Haha I giggled reading this one. I fear the Earth black box might be full of useless data
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I fear you’re right.
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Good story, an imaginative take on the prompt, loved the ending.
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Thank you 🙂
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Topical and the idea of it being a black box for a alien race was creative. I rather enjoyed this
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Glad you enjoyed it, Mike. Thanks!
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