Cultivating the End
I am insect to them, confined to tunnels. Eyeless, I crawl along smooth corridors, sensing where stone is cool, sniffing the air, listening for jangle of keys — and the cries of my children.
I am queen of my species. Try as I might, I cannot stop my eggs from pouring forth. My captors wait… snatch and carry them away.
Do they understand my children will mature?
That their jaws will crush any obstruction?
That our carapaces protect against any hazard?
That they’ll come for me?
Do they know we shall inherit their planet?
That they cultivate their own end?
[100 words]
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is the host of Friday Fictioneers.
Tao-Talk 
Lisa – what an intense atmosphere – I felt trapped in the dark with her, experiencing her confinement firsthand – scary but a breathtaking write🙌
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Ange, thank you. I can’t get the idea of people being locked up for effed up reasons out of my head.
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Yes it’s horrific
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Wonderful writing, Lisa! You described so well the terrifying feelings of being locked up.
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Thank you, Nancy. I feel for every prisoner wrongly imprisoned.
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Truly horrific. From many angles.
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Sandra we are our own worst enemies :(
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In answer – I think not! Love this!
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Thanks, V!
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Love this Li.
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:) <3
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Cockroaches.
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Very well could be, James!
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Confinement of any sort can be very intense on ones mind
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Totally agree. I remember reading an article about how often prisons put inmates in solitary. It’s not only double punishment, it is torture!
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Very atmospheriic, disturbingly so. Well done, Lisa.
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Thank you, Keith. My mind is in the basement these days :(
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Long live the cockroaches: are they winning?
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Long live the cockroaches: are they winning?
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James, they are holding their own at minimum. When will us humans learn?
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Yes, it does feel like that at times. Two steps forward three steps back.
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Dear Lisa,
Funny. I went in the same direction as James and thought “cockroaches.” Although it’s difficult to lock one up. Lots of emotions and directions one could go in this snippet. A little Kafka perhaps? Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, thanks so much for your thoughtful comment. I agree on the Kafka!
Shalom,
Lisa
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they’d better watch out. in the end, vengeance will be hers.
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Yes. I was kind of thinking of the Queen Xenomorph in the Alien series when I wrote this, and us humans haven’t wiped them out yet!
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My mind was abuzz with possibilities. Aliens are what I landed on. Like “Independence Day” when the alien was asked what they wanted and it said, “Die.” Great storytelling, Lisa!
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Brenda, thanks so much!
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Loved this, Li. Very cleverly done, but those ‘things’…
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I understand, Chris. We underestimate them at our peril.
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I loved this. Human arrogance will eventually lead to their destruction.
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Thanks, Nobbin.
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