Copyright – Douglas M. MacIlroy
The Rescue
The fructification chamber is where they harvest thoughts… from children, mostly, because they have the grandest imaginations.
They sit, inhaling the drugging vapors, their brains imprisoned within their curious fantasies.
Their dreams nourish the now lackluster world… the very essence of their visions, their hopes, even their nightmares, extracted to create an elixir for the exhausted.
The clients are mostly artists, filmmakers, writers who have lost their touch but refuse to give way.
Surrounded by lazy curls of smoke are rows of orphaned and abducted children.
He unstraps a girl from the chair
and screams at what’s beneath the helmet.
Hi FF family! I’ll probably be late in reading some of the other stories. Another busy week for me. It’s Holy Week and i have a very religious family and i need to seek atonement for my sins. (takes a few days) lol so I guess that’s a pretty legit excuse 🙂 Thank you to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for hosting Friday Fictioneers for two years now! Wow. And thank you as well to the people who provide the photos to inspire us every week. this week’s photo is from Douglas M MacIlroy.
Here’s to many more years of great writing and meeting new friends. xo
The Eclectic Eccentric 
Great idea …… harvesting thoughts. 🙂
thank you 🙂
You are welcome.
Your imagination blows me away… every time KZ. Another great offering.
thank you Sandra. i appreciate it 🙂
KZ, you are either one of those kids whose imagination knows no bounds or one of the clients who did you-know-what 🙂 Wonderfully innovative take on the photo.
thank you 🙂
Love this idea, K.Z. Reminds me of The Flame Alphabet when the adults siphoned something from the children to protect themselves. It was chilling, too.
thank you 🙂
Incredibly rich and unjaded sentences. Really with your tales its not only the story itself, but also the way it is told as a bonus, but didn’t quite get the last line. Not sure why ‘behind’ – but again, wonderfully told.
you’re right. should be “beneath” the helmet. thanks 🙂
Ohhh, this is good! Love it. This would make a good start to a larger story, too! Love it! Happy Easter!
Happy Easter. thank you 🙂
When I first saw the photo, I thought “let’s see KZ make a horror out of this cheery scene!”
And you did 🙂
A scary look into a possible future.
lol thank you 🙂
There is a reason why I wait to read your stories each week, don’t remember what it is, as I am enjoying this story right now.
thank you 🙂
would it be “behind” the helmet, or “beneath” the helmet? well done.
thank you. I’ll go fix it 🙂
I really liked your take on the prompt! The phrase “elixir for the exhausted” is wonderfully evocative. Great story!
thank you 🙂
Interesting world you put together there, KZ. Echoes of Stephen King, maybe? The idea of a thought harvester sounds good. I know it’s been done to death (I have read a lot of sci-fi in my life—ideas are common), but not the way YOU write it. It reads almost like a haiku of sorts. Has the same kind of “feel.”
Have a happy Easter from the USA!
thanks kent 🙂 happy easter!
Hope you had a happy one, too! 🙂
Blessed Easter.
happy easter 🙂
I enjoy the thought of harvesting ideas from children. They are so weirdly innocent, but their thoughts are not always simple,
it’s so true! adults often tend to underestimate kids haha thank you 🙂
you never disappoint.
glad to know. thank you 🙂 happy easter.
hope you have a nice easter, too.
Happy Easter, kz. We have church tonight and tomorrow night, then the big celebration on Sunday!
janet
happy easter 🙂
Diabolical! Not a bedtime story for the young; that is for sure. Have a blessed Easter, KZ!
thank you. happy easter 🙂
My story kind of runs along these lines, K.Z. This is very imaginative tale!
thank you Amy. happy easter 🙂
KZ, when I read this, the word “phantasmagorical” came to mind. Just something about the idea of an imagination-harvesting machine. And it ended with a nice horror twist, which is quite your style. It would be great to run the world on children’s imaginations…if it didn’t use them up so horribly in the process. 🙂 Have a great Easter!
thank you David! happy easter 🙂
The Matrix angle ! 🙂 it’s really amazing – how much imagination a child’s brain has…
Dear K.Z.
Thank you for the anniversary greeting…actually I will have been hosting two years this coming October. I started with FF under Madison Woods two years ago. 😉
Another spine-tingling horror offering. Well written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Another good story in the genre you do best,, KZ. Well written. Happy Easter!
happy easter 🙂
Now we know where Alice in Wonderland came from. I’m glad I’m too old to have my thoughts harvested. Some of them wouldn’t be very entertaining.
A very imaginative piece, KZ. Kudos.
K.Z. you never disappoint! You are so talented and well versed to be able each week to hold my imagination- so I look forward to reading you every time! Good job and well done! Happy Easter Egg! Nan 🙂
happy easter 🙂
*Shudders* That last line was a killer!
Wow. Intense. Loved this. Kudos.
The imagination of children extracted an elixir. Love it!
Hi kz
I’ve just had a horrible thought: is the fructification chamber where you get your stories from? I hope not! Another fabulously dark story from you 🙂
Each week, I approach with caution… knowing you’ll blow my socks off, KZ. Very interesting idea, tying the helmet to sucking thoughts. Wow!
You never cease to fright, KZ! the grandest imaginations… do you know how important that line is? It made the story for me.
Am speechless Kz!”Harvest thoughts”-creepy yet so creative!Then,”extracted to create an elixir for the exhausted”-ooh,I shudder at the image!To cap it all,such a horror-laden twist in the end-my mind boggles at your expertise-awesome ,once again! 🙂
chilled me to the core, KZ..again!! 🙂