Upstairs/Downstairs in Space

My attempt at the Vocal Media Sci-Fi Challenge

Hope springs eternal. This week I entered another Vocal Media contest. The prompt is to write the first chapter of a Sci-fi book, with the only stipulation being that you must start it with the sentence: “Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say.”

In thinking about the prompt I was so mad at the genre that I couldn’t get to a story. I was mad because I think that instead of heading out into space we should be taking care of the one precious liveable planet that we have. I hate people’s pipe dreams of colonizing Mars and living in space. I have news for you all: you aren’t going to find anything half as nice out there as the planet we are busy f***ing up. So before we flee the planet, let's make this one great again.

So, yes, I was resistant to the prompt. In fact, I started a bunch of stories in my head that had nothing to do with space. The problem was that they were not Sci-fi. All those potential stories were about people living in sustainable villages on Earth.

My story finally started to flow when I realized I could channel my hate for rich people who want to colonize space into the story. By the way, sci-fi is hard! Much appreciation to those who can pull it off.

So, without further ado, I give you:

Going Up

The story of a Riser going Down while going Up