Tuesday, September 9, 2014

The Dangers of Thrift Music

Today's writing prompt: "A magic system in which the audio you play in your car will give your car superpowers."  I honestly have no idea what I'm going to write or how it'll work but here goes.

Maegan drummed her fingers on the side of the driving stick.  The interpath was jammed today - she couldn't see anywhere to go front, back, side, or even below or above.  Of course she was stuck in the center of the tube.  She leaned against the back of her pod.  So many years of commuters, so many advances, and still no one had fixed traffic jams.  Sickening.

At least this new pod was more comfortable than her old one. Maegan settled back into the chair, letting herself ignore the infuriatingly slow crawl of traffic for a moment to enjoy the plush seat.  She threw her eyes around the pod's small interior and they landed on a small bag of music chits she'd picked up out of curiosity at a second-hand shop.  "Why not?" she said with a sigh.  "Seems like a good time to see what I got."  And probably listen to them all before I get home, Maegan added internally.

The first chit, which Maegan flipped through rapidly, held upbeat pop music. Fun, but not Maegan's mood right now.  The next was full of mellow ballads.  The next, lukewarm junk.  Then Maegan put the fourth chit in.

The music started as a low thrumming that slowly got louder.  As it did, her pod seemed to resonate with the rhythm.  She felt it vibrate deep in her bones.  It swelled to a loud POP and the whole pod flashed with bright light.

When the spots faded from Maegan's eyes, she was speeding down the tube.  A sign wrapped around the outside of the tube told her she was a good 10 miles closer to home.

The Tiny is distracting me too much to finish, so here it ends. For now....