© Ayr/Gray
“Gertrude,” was the answer Farmer Johnson gave when asked who his prize goose was.
When the man from Monsanto came to call one bright April morning, he led with his card and a tip of his new Stetson hat. The fact that the hat was new should have been a red flag to Farmer Johnson; but it wasn’t often that anyone asked questions that mattered about his geese. The brand new Peterbilt with a trailer stacked with cages should have been another one. This was no farmer, nor was he any neighbor from these-here parts.
Despite his affection for Gertrude, Farmer Johnson took the thousand dollars in cash without blinking. He did notice the baby soft palm of the visitor when they shook on the deal.
The man from Monsanto drove across the land for a year, unloading each month, until the laboratory was full of material. AI Director UBX392 insisted on no human input or oversight, so obliviously confident in the genius of machine.
Meticulous robotic arms sliced, diced, and refashioned the materials into creations that would make Victor and Giger weep – with joy or terror isn’t known.
Now believed to be ready for worldwide marketing, Director UBX392 called a (human) press conference.
Curtains whooshed aside and there stood “Gertrude.” Her clockwork “quack!” drew applause.
A hand raised in the audience.
“Where do the eggs come from and how many can she lay a day?”
[236 words]
Jenne and C.E. are the hosts of The Unicorn Challenge.
The rules are:
Maximum of 250 words.
Based on photo prompt above.
That’s it.
Tao Talk 
Very nice! :D great story Li! :-)
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Thank you, Carol Anne :)
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And I guess they won’t be golden!
Fun tale, Li!
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Thanks, CE!
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Hmmm. Methinks they might be lacking in Omega 3. :-)
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:)
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Very intriguing plot.
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Thank you, Sadje!
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Most welcome my friend
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Good to see you back, Lisa!
Fun tale or the future of the world if we’re not careful!
I prefer to go for ‘fun tale’, although…!
It’s a great, tight tale and that phrase ‘the baby soft palm of the visitor’ made my flesh creep.
And a brilliant final line.
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Jenne, thank you for the welcome back and your thoughtful comment. Will do my best to remember your weekly challenge.
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I too enjoyed the observations that told us Readers that this was surely cityfolk, tractor or no tractor.
Monsanto! The original evil empire….
( I will resist the urge to rant, your story was well told.)
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Clark thank you, glad you enjoyed that aspect of the story. The Monster’s Mother is Bayer and it was one of a long line owners of a nearby chemical factory. A few years back, after they lost a humongous lawsuit, they quickly covered the Bayer sign with a plastic banner with a different name on it. It has changed names twice since then. I’ve always wondered what the machinations are behind the serial owners of a death-dealing, polluting entity of evil like that…
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We can always rely on you to come up with something completely different! Love that last line!
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Keith, thank you. I’ve seen so many sci fi movies with these kinds of critters that it was a natural path to make it sci fi.
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Fun story Lisa… of course I think of the golden eggs.
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:) Now wouldn’t that be something. As you can see, after my siesta, the internet worked again. So frustrating when it cuts out like that.
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I know that sucks… ours is interupted sometimes. Glad yours is back on…I’m riding down the road with my co-worker Zach and I’m commenting on my laptop….No I’m not driving lol.
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HAHA, imagining you blogging as you drive. They just made it illegal to even touch a phone while driving. Another nuisance law that gives the popo the right to pull you over. I understand it isn’t safe to text and drive, but that’s going too far imo. At the same time they have said you can drive/ride a motorcycle without a helmet. Crazy times. Happy you have your laptop and can blog to your heart’s content as Zach drives. Do you use your phone hotspot to get internet?
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Yes that is how I get internet. My car has a bluetooth that connects with my phone. My car is 2005 but the owner before me bought a stereo that has hands free phone capabilities. I always buy old cars because I wore my last two new cars out…and I hate car payments.
These are crazy times!
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