How to Live Forever, a short story in 499 words

My writers' group's End of Term Competition was for a 1000-word story with the theme 'Journey into Space'. The science fiction genre does not come easily to me and this is the result of several weeks of struggle. Was it worth it? Please post your Comment below.

Being President of a major corporation specialising in interplanetary travel had its benefits.

Jenny was trying out the latest innovative vacation for the busy executive, before launching it to the marketplace.

That’s how she came to be on a planet where time was slower by a factor of three, allowing her to take a three-month holiday in just one month away from the office.

Jenny’s holiday was about to be tarnished. She noticed an anomaly in the hologram masquerading as a magnificent 18^th century chandelier. The very latest virtual home fitting had been invaded by something as prosaic as a cobweb. She remembered her great grandmother’s stories about domestic drudgery, before self-cleaning homes existed. She also remembered the antidote -  a ‘feather duster‘ - so she consulted the House Computer, which would access the InterWeb and replicate one.

“Wise One”, she said, directing her voice to a point about an inch in front of her face, “Instruction: Search. Feather duster. Buy. Quantity: one.”

“Hello Mistress. Would you like a feather or a duster?” spoke the slightly husky, and very human voice.

“Not a feather. Not a duster. Instruction: Phrase Search. Feather duster.”

“Apologies Mistress, but clarification is required: what is a duster?”

“Wise One: Instruction: Search Historical Databases for appliance used in mid 20^th century homes to remove cobwebs. Feather duster.”

“Searching databases” said the voice. “I have located 576,962 references to feather duster. When I add the search term ’buy’ the number of results is zero.”

Jenny slumped into a chair and was immediately regaled by Robby, who was programmed to tell her on the hour, every hour, his imminent duties. “It is 4 p.m. At 4.15 I must serve party food to the young master and his birthday guests. At 4.30 I must introduce the entertainer, a replication of a famous 20^th century comedian and his entourage. At 5.45 I must - “

Jenny immediately switched priorities, missing the end of the report as she rushed into the kitchen to greet her guests. Fifteen minutes later the butler interrupted the party, shepherded the children into the lounge, and announced, “Girls and boys, Ladies and Gentleman, I have the greatest pleasure in introducing one of the most versatile and long serving virtual comedians of all time.”

Before he could finish, a dozen tiny men with buck teeth rushed in, followed by a man with uncontrollable hair, wearing a red jacket, baggy trousers, and enormous shoes. Jenny relaxed and smiled, thinking of the old fashioned Blu-Ray discs in her family vault.

The first thing the entertainer did was to announce how tickled he was, to be here so very far from his home in Knotty Ash.

The second thing he did was to produce an implausibly large feather duster from behind his back, stretch up to the corner and brush away a small spider and his comfy little home.

Finally, he winked at Jenny, who beamed at everyone - how wonderful it was to live in civilised times!

 

Word count: 499