New Series of "Speculative Fiction": "Expiration Dates"

Hello, I'm planning on writing a "few stories" into this BLOG, in the next few days, on the topic of Expiration Date.  Before I get to that, I want to go into the topic of "Speculative Fiction":  The person who I attribute this to is Harlan Ellison.

Expiration dates.  How often do we see these, when we purchase "stuff" at a grocery store?  Milk, for example.  If it's within its "range", and kept correctly cold, it "should" be OK.  And if not, the store you purchase it from should "cheerfully" refund your money.  However, if you leave it in the "fridge" too long, where it's more than, say a week and a half past its "expiration date", drinking it can become "an adventure"!

But, especially after the first story, I plan on going past, just food.  For example, there was an awesome movie "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away", called Logan's Run.  It, in turn, is based on a book, about 10 years before the movie, also called Logan's Run.  I actually like the book better than the movie, but there's a lot in common, but other things that are different.  In both, you aren't "supposed" to grow up, past a certain age.  (The actual age is different, by the way).  In the movie, you go out, in a blaze of glory, in something called, "The Carousel" (with awesome Special Effects, of course).  In the book, it's a "pleasure-inducing toxic gas".  Less special effects, but more believable.

Another example of a Horrifying "expiration time" is the movie, "the Wizard of Oz". In a late scene, the Wicked Witch of the West has captured Dorothy and has her locked in a room.  She turns over an hour glass, and "informs" Dorothy that, when the sand runs out, her life ends!  And THAT turned into the movie that gave me the WORST nightmares of ANY movie in my LIFE!  (And I have a LOT to compare it to, including the Living Dead series, as well as some Italian Zombie "flicks", including ones by Lucio Fulci). And WHY would I have worse nightmares from Wizard of Oz, than say, "Day of the Dead"?  Because I have NO idea WHAT was to happen, when that sand ran out.  What would it feel like?  How long, between the "first sensation", until the "final death"?  And so on!

Anyway, I'm not sure how many stories it will take, for me to get my ideas across.  But the first one will begin with the idea of, say, milk or a sandwich, and what happens when the time runs out.

Thank you and best regards,

Kenneth Wayne Parker, Carrboro, NC