Comment from lancellot

Excellent

Hmm, this is interesting. Did this happen already, or is it a look at a possible future.

This is an interesting short. It does a good job in tapping into the concerns of a modern nuclear age where death of the planet is a real possibility.

 Comment Written 27-May-2023

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reply by the author on 27-May-2023

Thanks, Lance. You are right. This may not be our first time around. Nuclear energy is either going to be our savior or our downfall.

Comment from nomi338

Excellent

Without attainment of the knowledge of life destroying elements: hate, greed, jealousy, etc. They will also eventually expire just like those who preceded them. Love saves, everything else destroys.

 Comment Written 27-May-2023

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reply by the author on 27-May-2023

I am with you on that one Nolan.

Comment from Sally Law

Excellent

This is scary in short verse prose, Paul. It's not far from what the Bible says will happen one day. The good news is: after Armageddon, Jesus Christ will return to reign upon the earth for a thousand years. Sending you my best today as always and best wishes for the upcoming contest.
Sally :))

 Comment Written 27-May-2023

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reply by the author on 27-May-2023

Thanks, Sally. When He comes, He will have His work cut out for Him.

Comment from Dawn Munro

Exceptional

YIKES! This story is just a little too plausible! I fear we are (again) entering a cold war time with all that is going on in Russia, and I can only hope (and pray) your wee fiction isn't prognostication!

Well done! Good luck in the contest.

 Comment Written 27-May-2023

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reply by the author on 27-May-2023

Thanks, Dawn. There will be a nuclear incident. It will probably be action taken by a terrorist group.

reply by Dawn Munro on 30-May-2023

Say it isn't so! There was just a warning on our local news here about AI and the fact that we are under threat of it being used improperly...

Comment from Tom Horonzy

Excellent

Surely, you jest, that life as we know it came from the sea. Certainly, we are dependent on its existence as it controls all the environments, and is one link in a chain of many that joins each life, human and non, together. began from the sea

 Comment Written 26-May-2023

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reply by the author on 27-May-2023

Thanks for the review, Tom. I thought you were going to hit me with Adam and Eve for a minute. I think that story has a valid place in our history, but that's for another post.

Comment from Jumbo J

Excellent

Hi Paul,
well, you painted a gloomy portrait of what's to come... now didn't you? Smile((((((.

Punched a lot out within this tight eighty words restraint Paul. Your story is an eerie, 'glancing through the looking glass'... and what a thought?

Well written. A stark reality that can't do anything but sink in the very core of who we all are and wonder why?
All the very best wishes in this eighty word flash fiction contest Paul.

With our thoughts we create...
a reset.

Kind regards,
James.

 Comment Written 26-May-2023

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reply by the author on 27-May-2023

Thanks for the review, James. As long as we have brains, we are going to be in trouble. If we didn't have brains, life wouldn't be very interesting.

Comment from Carol Hillebrenner

Excellent

You told of lot of story in 80 words. From the destruction of all life on Earth to crawling from the ocean again seems quite possible the way the world is going right now.

 Comment Written 26-May-2023

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reply by the author on 27-May-2023

Thanks for the review, Carol. I just hope I'm not around when they decide to go nuclear. I have visions of what happened in Nevil Shutes novel "On the Beach".

reply by Carol Hillebrenner on 27-May-2023

I read all Nevil Schutes' novels and became a disaster reader at 13 or 14.

Comment from Debbie D'Arcy

Excellent

Powerful stuff! But so well expressed and contained in this limited word count prose. It does make you shudder though, a credit to your prose and brevity. And the image is perfect. Good luck! Debbie

 Comment Written 26-May-2023

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reply by the author on 27-May-2023

Thanks, Debbie. I also shudder. It is only a matter of time before someone detonates one of those things. It will probably be a terrorist group.

Comment from estory

Excellent

You squeezed something of the whole story of the Time Machine into this little piece, but what I thought was interesting is how the surviving primitive sea life seems to be coming ashore again and on its way to starting the whole process over again. And we have to wonder, will we end up in the same place as we did the first time around? A question of the power of human nature...estory

 Comment Written 26-May-2023

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reply by the author on 26-May-2023

Thanks for the review. Maybe our civilization is the second or third try.

Comment from Jim Wile

Excellent

Well, that's a gloomy thought, Paul. I loved your story, but let's hope this doesn't come to pass.

However, perhaps it has happened before, and we are currently in the third or fourth, or tenth iteration of life on Earth. Who knows? Jim

 Comment Written 26-May-2023

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reply by the author on 26-May-2023

Thanks, Jim. I thought of that when I was writing the piece. Maybe that's the next story.