Beyond Antarctica
This is my creative take on a writing prompt. These are unedited and written without any plotting. I allow about 30 minutes to thoughts flow.
The Writing Prompt
They told me I couldn’t go back. That once I crossed the boundary, I’d never be the same. They were right.
My Creative Take:
They told me I couldn’t go back. That once I crossed the boundary, I’d never be the same.
They were right.
We took my buddy’s small plane and headed straight for the ice wall. Beyond Antarctica. Beyond everything we were told was real. We expected resistance, warnings, maybe even a fighter jet escort to turn us back. But no one came. Not a single voice on the radio. Just silence.
The sky felt too open, the air too still. As the sun rose behind us on the familiar side of the wall, it cast just enough light across the frozen expanse to guide us down.
We landed hard on what looked like solid ground, but it didn’t feel right. Moments later, the engine sputtered and died. All our instruments went black. We sat there, stunned, staring out through the windshield at creatures unlike anything we’d seen.
Later, we’d come to know them as Zillow beings. They were odd, ethereal creatures with elongated limbs and shifting, iridescent skin. They weren’t hostile. If anything, they were kind. But they made one thing clear: we could not go back.
This land beyond the ice wall was our new home now—a twilight place where the sun never fully touched the surface. And so we’ve stayed. In the same spot. In the same plane.
If, by some miracle, this letter reaches you… we’re still here. It’s been 9,432 days. We’re still waiting to be rescued.
My Thoughts
I wrote this one within fifteen minutes of reading the prompt. This is what I came up with. The one thing the world can agree on is that there’s a treaty in place, which says no one will cross the ice wall. Why? And maybe in this story, the two characters didn’t actually live. What are your thoughts?
