Hello, Writers and Dear Readers.

Happy Mom Day!!!! Our new Challenge of the Week is up and active, and here's the link. This should be some good reading... https://theprose.com/challenge/14006

On the channel today, we announce the CotW, formally, and feature a piece by the beautiful brain of Beccawaits and one from the illustrious Bunny Villaire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij-JFI9p_to

And.

As always.

-Thank you for being here.

-The Prose. team

Transcript: VOICE_001.M4A audio file.

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“Today is July 5th, 1984, or 2024, depending on how you look at it.

“Shit. I might have fucked up.

“I need to get the SD card from my phone into the safe deposit box I was told to use as a drop. This Galaxy 5 seems to be working fine… well, at least the installed apps still work. If the worse happens, and I don’t make it back, at least my message will. At least I hope so.

“I know that jumping back in the timestream doesn’t stop it from flowing. Every day I spend here is a day gone by there, so I don’t have to worry about feeling older when I get home. I also know that the big red button on my phone’s screen is supposed to initiate the Tunnel’s homing mode. I’m not sure how that works, since there are no 5G towers here. Like Elton John’s Rocketman, I don’t understand all the science behind the Tunnel, it’s just my job.

“Like I said, I think I fucked up. When I landed here, I discovered that there are some problems with our assumptions. My memories have now changed, but I’m not sure if they are subjective, or actual. This shit hurts my head.

“Anyway, I needed to know if I could influence anything that mattered, but I wanted to do it carefully. I remembered a softball game I was in on the 4th that year, or this year, or whatever. I decided to see if I could change one small play by distracting the biggest jerk I ever knew, Tommy Wilkers. He scored the winning run against my team that day, and gloated about it all year.

“When the big asshole started to swing at the last pitch, I screamed “MISS!” He checked his swing and missed the pitch, but every eye on the field looked toward me… including my own. I jumped up and bolted down the bleachers, pushing people out of my way and making one little girl cry after spilling her popcorn.

“The thing is, I now remember that day and the weird guy in the baseball hat and sunglasses who made that little girl cry. The pitch had been BALL 3, and Tommy had smacked the next one out of the park.

“I ran for at least 15 minutes.

“The weirdest part was the black van that showed up after that near the alley I was hiding out in. It was still there this morning, so I ducked through the Chinese restaurant, but that same van seems to be following me. Maybe I’m paranoid, but I think there is someone, some group or something, monitoring the timestream.

“I hope not, because I could have put us all on their radar. If so, I am sorry. I just pray I can pick this card up myself, in about 40 years.”

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NOTE: Agent Salisbury was lost on Tunneling Mission 4. No sign of him was ever found, but this SD card appeared on the drop box on August 3, 2024. All records of that mission are being scrubbed, and his family will be compensated by anonymous donation.

My greatest creation

My little boy

He’s not real, but he will be

He’s not just a toy

But where has he gone?

Will I find him again

Stuck in a fish

Like Jonah, I bet

He misses me as much

As I miss him

The whale's mouth opens up

And a small thing slips in

My Boy! I cry

With a tail, that's okay

But his eyes are different

Why does he look this way?

Teeth as sharp as knife

I step back

Release the little puppet

From my father-like grasp

He crawls towards me

On fours like a beast

The hunger in his eyes

He needs something to eat

I throw a fish his way

He pushes it aside

The little puppet jumps at me

Murder in his eyes

The last thing I remember

Is a firm wooden grip

My little boy grew up

Disappointed Jiminy Cricket