Wednesday, 28 August 2013

FRIDAY FICTIONEERS - UNION STATION TODAY - MY 100 WORDS - BY LINDA PALUND





UNION STATION TODAY

            “Jeez, will you look at that!”
            It’s hard to move quickly inside a Hazmat Suit, but when I managed to fumble my way through the opening Jack had blown for us, I had to catch my breath.  Which is also very difficult in these suits.
            With Global warming, the tornadoes became more frequent in Maryland until they finally decimated the Lusby Nuclear Power Plant, sending deadly radiation on favourable winds straight to DC. 
            The evacuation was a farce, only the President’s plane made it out safely.  The remaining terrified residents barricaded themselves inside Union Station.
            That was 50 years ago.

  • Historical Footnote:
  • In 1961, as a testament to the strength of the Station's design and construction, a civilian firm surveying the Washington, DC area buildings determined that Union Station could serve as a fallout shelter for hundreds on an extended basis and thousands in an emergency. One key location was a deep, heavily pillared storage area originally designated as a swimming pool and steam room for affluent railroad patrons.
·       This Dabble in FLASH FICTION is from FRIDAY FICTIONEERS courtesy of:
·       http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2013/08/28/30-august-2013/
·       and you can comment on mine below:
·        
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45 comments:

  1. Anonymous28 August 2013 at 19:48

    hair-raising. you painted a horrifying picture. well done.

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    Replies
    1. Linda Palund28 August 2013 at 21:11

      Well, I had a little help from a book I just finished called BOMBSHELL, by James Reich. Talk about hair-raising!

      Delete
  2. Anonymous28 August 2013 at 19:48

    Global Warming is a myth, darling, and Al Gore a fearmonger. Or, at least that's what the guy wearing the tinfoil hat on the street this morning told me.

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    Replies
    1. Linda Palund28 August 2013 at 21:12

      Oh darling! If only we had remembered what we used to know...

      Delete
  3. Anonymous28 August 2013 at 20:47

    Can't help it--I like the idea of a swimming pool and steam room for affluent travelers in a train station much better than the possibility of Union Station being turned into a fallout shelter. Ahhhhh, for the good old days. Nicely done (hopefully, this is not prophetic).

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    1. Linda Palund28 August 2013 at 21:13

      God, I hope it is not prophetic, but read BOMBSHELL a fiction by James Reich and all this will seem tame by comparison...

      Delete
  4. Sandra Crook28 August 2013 at 21:03

    A really original take on the prompt, and a bit of education to go with it. Well done, enjoyed this.

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    1. Linda Palund28 August 2013 at 21:14

      Thanks, Sandra. I was prompted by reading that bit and combined it with a wake up call in the novel BOMBSHELL, by James Reich. If you want to read something really horrific, and a reminder of what we used to know and let ourselves forget, read it now!

      Delete
  5. Ton Poet28 August 2013 at 21:44

    It looks like we were both on the same page. Just hope yours doesn't come true.

    Tom

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  6. Tom Poet28 August 2013 at 21:45

    LOL...That's Tom Poet!

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  7. Linda Palund28 August 2013 at 21:52

    Yes, Tom, I have been quite touched by the memories of all we were supposed to stand for and all we have let slip away...

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  8. Bookie28 August 2013 at 22:39

    Different and very interesting!

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  9. Anonymous29 August 2013 at 16:27

    Ah yes, now I see what you mean about my piece following up on yours! Those that could, would probably aim for robust buildings in a situation like that. Londoners escaped to the underground in the Blitz, after all... I like your take on this (dystopia rules!).

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    1. Linda Palund29 August 2013 at 22:43

      I am feeling very dystopiac, if that's a word. I've been reading horrific fiction, like Bombshell, and Life After Life, and now I am reading the latest by Margaret Atwood, all hoping to save the world by presenting the worst we have to offer!

      Delete
  10. Anonymous29 August 2013 at 18:33

    Fascinating! I had no idea. You created a really good little story! :D

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    1. Linda Palund29 August 2013 at 22:43

      Thanks Linda, one never knows where the prompts will lead...

      Delete
  11. Perry Block29 August 2013 at 19:21

    50 years ago! That means I've been dead for quite some time. No wonder my life is so boring! Nicely done, Linda; a preview of the shape of things to come ... or what has come already.

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  12. Linda Palund29 August 2013 at 22:45

    Yeah, pretty grim. I wish you hadn't reminded me of taking the 50 years personally. Ouch. You are right. Aint life just wonderful?

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  13. Russell30 August 2013 at 16:45

    I like it that a favorable wind took the fallout over DC. People have been saying for years that we need to clean house and start over.

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    1. Linda Palund30 August 2013 at 22:38

      Hey, thanks for noticing that line. I kind of liked it myself...
      Remember, this was actually inspired by a book I just finished by a guy living in New Mexico, named James Reich, called BOMBSHELL.
      That says it all.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous30 August 2013 at 17:32

    Hi Linda G,
    You did some crucial research to come up with this futuristic tale. And those HazMat suits, well, that's the future of haute coture. Nobody does the dark vision of our collective future the way you do! Ron

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    1. Linda Palund30 August 2013 at 22:39

      Thanks for the praise, but it really wasn't that difficult. The really dark vision came from BOMBSHELL by James Reich.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous30 August 2013 at 21:26

    Very effective description of one possible future. Hopefully I'll be gone by then....

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    Replies
    1. Linda Palund30 August 2013 at 22:40

      Oh no, not you too! Don't remind me of our short spell on this planet, it hurts. I want to fix it before we leave it.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous30 August 2013 at 22:33

    Now I like a good history lesson with a story. Really well done!

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  17. Douglas MacIlroy31 August 2013 at 09:11

    Dear Lindaura,

    Those fallout shelters are only as good as their supply of food and water. I loved the President escaping...to preside over what population exactly? Idiots. Great story though.Will probably come true before we're gone.

    Aloha,

    Doug

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  18. Linda Palund31 August 2013 at 09:53

    I guess it's not really such a great story then... I have to start looking at things differently, but I can't find my rose coloured glasses!

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  19. Rochelle Wisoff-Fields31 August 2013 at 11:09

    Dear Lindaura,

    I always enjoy and educational story. This one made me shudder. Funny how the president is the only one to escape. Well, not funny...you know what I mean. I fear this one won't be fiction much longer.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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    Replies
    1. Linda Palund31 August 2013 at 12:39

      And now I am reading the latest Margaret Atwood. No wonder I feel so pessimistic! But you should really take time out to read the English author, Kate Atkinson's Life After Life - It's about somebody trying over and over to change the world...

      Delete
  20. brudberg31 August 2013 at 12:14

    I understand why it's quite empty now... sad one.

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  21. Linda Palund31 August 2013 at 12:39

    Yep, sad, but possibly true...

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  22. Anonymous31 August 2013 at 14:01

    Haunting story, mostly because it could be real one day....

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  23. Linda Palund31 August 2013 at 14:43

    Yes, I am pretty haunted by reality. I hate it.

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  24. Anonymous1 September 2013 at 04:43

    This is such a chilling story. Great research too, into the location. Fascinating.

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    Replies
    1. Linda Palund1 September 2013 at 11:39

      Thanks, Greeny,
      I had help with the inspiration after reading the novel BOMBSHELL by James Reich.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous2 September 2013 at 13:38

    And what do they find inside that place? Simply grisly remains? Or perhaps...something even more terrifying...

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    1. Linda Palund4 September 2013 at 13:13

      I think really grisly remains is most likely. Really grisly....

      Delete
  26. Jules2 September 2013 at 19:43

    Glad you like our combined efforts with the vampire story. Writing with someone can be a fun challenge.

    Up until the latest renovations a few years back our local high school still had a fall out shelter. My one child while in attendance about fourteen years ago did a little exploring and found stale crackers! I like your story. I wonder if we still need a few today...
    ~Jules

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    Replies
    1. Linda Palund4 September 2013 at 13:13

      I think we need more than that. I think we need to shut down Nuclear and for for wind and wave. Not to be too controversial....

      Delete
  27. Anonymous3 September 2013 at 10:27

    Linda, this is so chilling, all the more so because the research has already been done...
    Well done, great story
    Dee

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  28. Anonymous6 September 2013 at 21:35

    I'd love to think that they found the descendants of the original shelter-seekers living a grand old life inside, but I'm guessing not :-(

    Great story!

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    Replies
    1. Linda Palund28 September 2013 at 11:38

      Oh, that's a nice idea, but hard to think it could become reality.

      Delete

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