The Freezer

Yes, I've been missing for a week. Or more? But I have something good to share today. It's a new story idea. Except that it's not new. I first started developing it several years ago with the intention of writing and filming a little movie. We were going to use our house and grounds as the set, so the setting of this book will always look exactly like my house in my mind. A little weird, but it makes description easier. I might have to relocate it closer to a city, though.

Man, I love writing.

The world is about to die a violent death at the hands of a rogue planet. The last escape ships have gone, leaving billions of people knowing the exact date and time of their demise. Society is coming apart at the seams. Violence is spreading; food is disappearing. There's one month left.

One father turned down a seat on a spaceship to stay with his five-year-old girl, and he intends to make her final days happy. He'll stay in his home and refuse protection. He'll feed his enemies and treat them like friends. He'll plant a garden, find water for the lawn, and teach her to ride a bicycle. He won't pick up a gun or show any of the fear gnawing away at his insides.

And if keeping his daughter from feeling that fear means building a spaceship out of an old freezer, he'll do that too. If she sees the lie in his eyes, maybe he'll even learn to believe the impossible. That their crude spaceship will work. That it will carry them away to find mommy, who left—and was lost—on a scout ship.

Whatever it takes to hide the fear. It's only for a month.

(And no, I haven't settled on names yet.)

Comments

  1. Jolene PerryOctober 10, 2011 at 9:56 AM

    You have some kickin' ideas Ben. Too bad you have one of those pesky jobs, lol.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jaimie TeekellOctober 10, 2011 at 3:29 PM

    I very much like this idea. A lot a lot. The concept reminds me on the surface of Melancholia (which is a 2-hour long punch in the face, let me tell you... a beautiful, perfect movie) except yours isn't about depression and the meaninglessness of life, lol.

    ReplyDelete
  3. SpendloveOctober 11, 2011 at 7:39 AM

    Sometimes I wish some of my story ideas had a little more substance too them. Something beyond "oh, hey, that's a big battle and lots of people died".

    Lucky.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousOctober 11, 2011 at 3:13 PM

    Dang, that will make an awesome book. The spaceship freezer reminds me a little of a Ray Bradbury short story. I don't recall the name, but the dad builds a 'rocket' and takes his kids on a tour of the solar system. It was touching. Please tell me your story has a happy ending!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousOctober 11, 2011 at 3:14 PM

    Hey, it let me post a comment! Wahoo! (That last post was me, btw.)
    ~Alberta

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ben SpendloveOctober 11, 2011 at 3:32 PM

    It does have a happy ending, despite the bleak impossibility of it all. And it does seem rather Bradburyesque, doesn't it? I should go back and read some of his stories.

    ReplyDelete

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