August, 2012 Archives

29
Aug

Charlie Stiff

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

Charlie woke up unable to move. He wasn’t limp like a sack of potatoes that could be thrown over a shoulder. He was stiff as a metal rod.

His wife considered it a fitting retribution or all his years of unyielding stubbornness. His doctors thought they had discovered a new, more virulent strain of tetanus. Charlie didn’t care about the cause. Through clenched teeth, he tried to make it clear he just wanted a cure.

But there was no cure. Charlie Stiff spent the rest of his life frozen in place, his dreams of winning the limbo world championships destroyed.

23
Aug

The Dreamer

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

As a boy, Howard dreamed of giant spiders in his father’s tool shed. They were black with red spots and the size of a large dog.

He’d not thought of that dream in years. But when the town was invaded by giant spiders, he realized his dreams predicted the future.

He’d also once dreamed that tornadoes were actually giant tomatoes. One of them landed on his preschool and smashed everything. He now expected a giant tomato to hit and wipe out the spiders before more of his family was killed.

It turns out that giant spiders thrive on tomato sauce.

17
Aug

Maximum Adrenalin

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

Jordan Acker feared nothing.

He attacked danger with his shirt off. He used any tool at hand as a weapon, whether a mop or a bottle of mustard, and his kung fu skills sent would-be criminals running and impressed every club bouncer and traffic cop he encountered. His heart beat pounded in his chest more loudly than his fists bounced off the walls. When he drove, people dove out of his way lest they be heedlessly run down. He was the latest breed of action star.

At least that’s what he felt like while on one of his cocaine binges.

16
Aug

Balloon Pop

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

At the top of the cliff, Kurt ran back forth with a bag full of rocks, trying to pop any of the various-colored balloons that were floating past him. His sole task was to make sure that none of the balloons reached so high as to pass the tree line.

After a while, Kurt realized that the variegated balloon colors signified different values. For example, if he popped a green balloon, he was given a piece of pie. Each color offered something unique.

If his life weren’t in such danger, he’d have thought this would make an outstanding video game.

15
Aug

A Phalanx Of Ducklings

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

A phalanx of cars had stopped along the highway. It was raining and I didn’t want to get out, but I finally grabbed my umbrella. The smiling faces indicated no one had been injured.

I pushed my way through the crowd. What had stopped traffic wasn’t some kind of accident or road construction, but a family of ducklings swimming in a puddle that had formed inside a pothole. They were really the cutest thing you’d ever seen. There was room enough to drive past, but everyone was happy to spend the afternoon watching them. Some of us fed them breadcrumbs.

14
Aug

The Original Olympians

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

The original Olympic Games started out of a desire to bring together the warring factions of the Greek City States to do battle inside an arena instead of on the fields of war. Each city would select its best heroes to compete in the most basic athletic pursuits: running short and long distances, wrestling, and hurling a spear or a disc. The champions would achieve the honor of bringing glory and fame to their homeland.

The original Olympic Games ended when a tribe of storm giants descended from the mountains and slaughtered every single one of the participants and spectators.

13
Aug

The Information Overload

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

I was fifteen the year information came alive. Before that, we had a vague sense that information was becoming more dangerous, that there was a potential for catastrophe, but everyone was too busy making money to worry much about the ramifications.

Now our only hope is that knowledge can somehow overcome the information overload. Information bangs on pots and pans demanding your attention. It feeds off it. Knowledge sits quietly in its room waiting to be called upon.

It’s still an open question which is more powerful. But either way, the days of humanity dominating the Earth are long over.

10
Aug

Forgoing Responsibility

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

In the manner of all bloated bureaucracies, responsibility for the mistake was passed from desk to desk like a 12-year-old orphan moves through foster homes. Everyone knew it was a fireable offense and so the smart tactic was to duck under the nearest mound of paperwork whenever the department head glanced over. Eventually some new crisis would strike a floor or two above, and they’d all breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Of course that left Brenda on the hook again. As PR manager, it was her job to explain how a toaster oven had murdered a family of five.

9
Aug

Confidence, Inc.

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

Jonah saw the ad and hoped it might be the solution to all of his problems.

“In the modern marketing age, where even individuals have begun thinking of themselves as a brand, Confidence, Inc. is there to fulfill your personal advertising needs.”

Perhaps Confidence, Inc. would be able to stop the bullying and help make Jonah popular. He decided to visit their offices.

The executives at Confidence, Inc. had never engaged a client as young as Jonah. Most of their customers had at least started middle school. But after a company-wide strategy session, they welcomed Jonah as their first kindergartner.

8
Aug

Mike The Bike Messenger

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

As a bike messenger, getting hit by a car was a badge of honor. Mike would brag about his accidents to his peers and use them as anecdotes, along with his scars, to pick up women.

But his new job was too dangerous even for his hazardous taste. He didn’t care for the gunfire, and he especially didn’t like the IED’s. He should have stayed in New York rather than join the war effort in Iraq.

Still, getting ambushed and losing both of his legs in combat made for an impressive story, as did winning the Congressional Medal of Honor.