So, I was listening to an episode of The Conspiracy Show w/ Richard Syrett the other day about the apparent rivalry between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, and one of the stories that the guest interviewee told kind of got the gears moving in my imagination. I began to put together an alternate-history type of scenario that includes a few wibbly wobbly timey wimey elements to drive the story along.

A Flash of Inspiration

Now, I get flashes of ideas for stories pretty often, but that's all they ever end up being: flashes. If I ever sit down to try and develop the plot it all falls apart. This one, however, flowed quite nicely, and I was able to knock it out in just a couple of days worth of on-and-off work whenever I had some free time.

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Queasy & Uneasy!

I am not confident in my free-writing abilities. Most of my writing experience has come in the form of non-fiction essays over scientific topics, so I am quite nervous about publishing a work of fiction for the entire world to see. At the same time, I personally think it is an interesting sci-fi take on an actual (Kind of. But I'll get to that in a second) historical event, and I am anxious to get some feedback on it.

A Little Bit Of Background

Legend has it that Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison were bitter rivals personally and in business. There are many stories of personal sleights even direct confrontations between the two men, most of which the villainous Edison emerged the victor. While it is true that the two men championed rival technologies (both of which would go on to shape the world we live in, today) and there probably wasn't any love lost between them, many of the accounts of personal encounters have been greatly embellished if not completely fabricated. The 'historical event' that I have based my story of fiction upon is one such occasion.

As the legend goes, Tesla was employed by Edison here in the US. During his employment, he was approached by none other than Thomas Edison, himself and offered $50,000 to develop 24 different working machines (the job given to him in the legends are kind of vague and change from one account to another). But, when Tesla completed his task and asked for his money, Edison replied, "You don't understand American humor." (Or something to that effect. Again, it changes from one account to another.) In reality, it does seem that Tesla worked for Edison, and he was offered a $50,000 bonus to complete a job, and he was denied that money after completing the work, prompting him to quit on the spot. However, it probably wasn't Edison who slighted him. In Tesla's own autobiography, he mentions that a manager offered him the money, "but it turned out to be a practical joke." Tesla made no mention of Edison being involved in the situation nor the phrase about American humor. Instead, I suspect he was probably referring to a man named Charles Batchelor.

BUT...

What if Edison had been the one to make the offer in person? Why would he have gone back on his word? Furthermore, why would he have used such a lame excuse? Those are the ideas that I wanted to explore in my work of fiction. So, if you feel inclined to do it, I would be honored if you would check back in tomorrow and read Part 1 of my first attempt at a sci-fi short story:

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Thank you for taking the time to read today's rambling. Most of my postings since I joined Steemit have been heavily reliant on warm, summer weather. Now that the temps have dropped off, all of my bugs have disappeared, so I haven't really had my camera out. I am also waiting with bated breath for our house to sell so we can get out to the country, and I can get to homesteading... or at least trying to learn. So, until something changes (and I'm trusting that the latter will change before the former), I may be in a scramble to create good content. But, please be patient, because I'm enjoying the ride, and I definitely plan on sticking around for quite a while! Until next time...