Notes From an Amateur Writer #26
STOP AND SMELL THE FUTURE
This Blog series is an exercise in creative writing. Sometimes expressed in short story forms, sometimes as a journal, or just my thoughts written down. This is my attempt to help coalesce my writing ideas and knowledge into usable form. It is a nursery of sorts for the stories that are on their way, or yet to be written.
The Future Has Already Started
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to live in the future. Then I remember that I hold Bitcoin, and I post on Steemit, and communicate with friends on the other side of the world in real time through video and voice software. I hold a couple of hundred books on a device slightly smaller than an actual real book. I couldn't do any of those things several years back.
I think the future has already started. Perhaps some people may have missed it's beggining. I know I almost did. I thought it was just another day. Turns out it was the future.
"I wasn't expecting you until later," I told the future. It was at my door, knocking.
"No time to waste," it said. But then there's never any time to waste. The past used to tell me that. And look what happened to it. Come to think of it, what did happen to it? I haven't seen the past in some time now.
"The past is gone," the future told me. "He never hangs around. He prefers to creep into your dreams when you're not looking and plant the seeds of half forgotten nightmares. He can be cruel like that. Makes you feel like you're losing your mind. Not me though. You stick with me, you'll see, good things will come."
"Like flying cars?" I asked the future.
"If that's you're thing, sure."
"I like the 3D printing thing. That's pretty neat," I told him.
"Yeh, it's a personal favourite of mine."
"Tell me, when is reality television going away?"
"You don't like it?" the future asked me.
"No, it's awful." I didn't tell him I don't watch TV at all. Too many fake people. I don't like fake people. And these days everybody wants to be a star. For doing what? Being a complete twat? Why didn't the past take that nonsense with him.
"I'm not much of a fan either, I have to admit."
I don't always have conversations with the elements of time, but when I do they usually go something like that. Just shooting the breeze really. It's what writers do. It's our version of time travel. There's no real maths involved. No major feats of engineering. Just a creative exploration of what's going on behind the curtain. Some people call that 'making shit up', but it's more akin to artistic licence.
The future is all around us. It creeps in slowly. We just don't see it. It's like the drip-drip of a broken tap. Eventually the sink fills and overflows. I think it's the same with the future. Little things change, then more little things. And perhaps we're so focused on our own little lives that we fail to look up, to notice. Then one day it hits us, we're standing smack bang in the middle of the future. We're breathing it. And in the case of Bitcoin, and the altcoins in general, we're spending it. It's here. Did you notice?
All images used with permission, and sourced from Unsplash.com.
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@naquoya
Short Fiction:
Bang Bang You're Dead
I Have No Name and I Must Scream
The Last Book Store
The Judge
The Man In The Mirror
The End of the World [Part 1] [Part 2]
The Locked Room
The Gods of Love and War [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]
Notes From an Amateur Writer blog series:
Notes From an Amateur Writer #1 - The Search For Inspiration
Notes From an Amateur Writer #2 - A Call to Action: Interacting With the World Outside of Me
Notes From an Amateur Writer #3 - Facing the Challenge
Notes From an Amateur Writer #4 - The Soundtrack to Grief and Loss
Notes From an Amateur Writer #5 - Music as a Catalyst for Imagination: Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing
Notes From an Amateur Writer #6 - The Stories All Around Us
Notes From an Amateur Writer #7 - Introducing Nomad [A Cyberpunk Mystery in the Making]
Notes From an Amateur Writer #8 - The House at the Edge of the World
Notes From an Amateur Writer #9 - Making Peace With My Kindle
Notes From an Amateur Writer #10 - Learning the Craft of Story Structure
Notes From an Amateur Writer #11 - Adults Sit at the Big Table, Children Sit at the Small Table
Notes From an Amateur Writer #12 - The Time I Won a Lego Competition
Notes From an Amateur Writer #13 - Learning to Fly
Notes From an Amateur Writer #14 - The Tucker 48: Face to Face With a Million Dollar Vehicle
Notes From an Amateur Writer #15 - When the Levee Breaks: A Story in Song and Words
Notes From an Amateur Writer #16 - Monty Python, Keanu Reeves, and My Case of Invisibility
Notes From an Amateur Writer #17 - Dancing With My Muse
Notes From an Amateur Writer #18 - Facing the Challenge Part 2
Notes From an Amateur Writer #19 - Telling Stories
Notes From an Amateur Writer #20 - Life Is Like a Box of Crazy
Notes From an Amateur Writer #21 - Writing Myself Out of Existence
Notes From an Amateur Writer #22 - The Finish Line Becomes the Next Starting Line
Notes From an Amateur Writer #23 - It Is Sometimes An Appropriate Response To Reality To Go Insane
Notes From an Amateur Writer #24 - The Happy Smiley People Ad Agency
Notes From an Amateur Writer #25 - Some Days Are Full of Blah