July, 2015 Archives

31
Jul

Concluding Forever

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

We thought we’d have forever, but forever doesn’t last as long as it once did. One year, seven months, four days since we wed. Your beauty captivated me. Never thinking of yourself, you touched many lives, changed them, helped people achieve their deepest aspirations. You challenged me, forced me to chase my dreams. But what about your dreams, desires? You’ll never reach them now. You were there for me, but I failed you. Forgive me?

I’ll never forget. Never stop chasing. You’ll be with me forever my love, more than just a stone in the ground, part of me.

Goodbye.

From Guest Contributor Joshua Lanham

30
Jul

We Are Not Responsible For Lost Or Damaged Baggage

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

Let him hold and spoon your every nook and cranny of pre-decaying skin. Cut yourself slightly to scrutinize the way you bleed. Is it different?

During his flight later on, he will serve the peanuts and diet cokes to suits and pantsuits that view themselves as better, and this time they will be right. He knows, you know, and the ten untainted cells between you both know, too.

Tell your all-knowing daughter that you, Daddy, are too good at making friends.

Give tickets out with fervor.

Let yourself believe for a mere moment that you can run away for good.

From Guest Contributor Jacqueline McGarry

29
Jul

Only For A Moment

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

Astronaut Eric Shaffer sighed as he looked out the window. Venus was rapidly receding away, its surface invisible beneath the yellowish cloud layer that gave it that distinctive color. How he longed to see the blue of Earth again.

Four months earlier, Apollo V had left Earth. Months spent traveling for this: a six-hour flyby at thousands of miles distance. It was the closest he’d ever get to another world.

Shaffer gave a sad smile. It was time for the long journey home. A journey taken for nothing but a short glimpse. Yet, he decided, it was worth it.

From Guest Contributor Matthew Kresal

24
Jul

A Quick Snip

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

Grapes are always the go-to example: still purple and plump just seedless now, no lasting side-effects. My wife and the female doctor concur. I’m thinking laser as I agree.

I ease onto the metal bench outside the clinic as the local wears off. Once we decided to adopt, having our own kids didn’t seem right. She’s with her doctor right now. A session to get her over the trauma of my procedure.

I need a session also. To confirm I was insane for ever saying yes. My groin’s throbbing and I’m not thinking grapes anymore. It’s raisins, useless, shriveled raisins.

From Guest Contributor Garry Gunnerson

23
Jul

Vacation 2250

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

Still a little queasy, she stepped out of the ‘Beach Hut,’ glad the temporal capsule was not constrained to contemporary hygiene amenities.

Feeling vulnerable in her figure-hugging woollen tank suit – despite built-in modesty shorts – she moved to the water’s edge and marvelled at the carefree gambolling of the beachgoers: naive inhabitants of the Interwar Era, taking time off from the trials of the Great Depression.

Her ocular bioscan implant picked him out from the crowd: Tommy.

She grinned at the one-piece swimsuit her great-grandfather wore.

Translucent seawater free of corrosive algae was an emotional revelation.

She hadn’t expected to cry.

From Guest Contributor Perry McDaid

22
Jul

Disembodied

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

Glassy unseeing eyes stare out from rows of faces. Bloodless lips frame mouths, some closed, some open displaying teeth, some smiling, and some solemn. Disarticulated limbs lie about. Arms and legs in varying degrees of flexion and extension wait, motionless. Hair wigs of different colors and textures, long and short, decorate the windowsills of the dark and silent room. Headless torsos, male and female, some nude, some partially clothed, some prone, some supine, so lifelike yet so inanimate, complete the macabre scene.

On Monday morning, workers arrive to begin another week of readying manikins for the department store’s window display.

From Guest Contributor Judy Salz

19
Jul

And That’s That

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

“How are you really, dear?”

“I’m fine.”

“Sweetheart, you can tell me.”

“I am telling you. I’m just fine.”

“Are you getting out?”

“I’m out right now.”

“With someone.”

“I’m here with you.”

“A man! Are you seeing anyone?”

“I see a lot of men, mother. I’m not dating anyone, if that’s what you want to know”.

“What about that nice young man…”

“He’s married.”

“Oh.”

“You know, mom, I met this wonderful sixty-year-old man.”

“Oh, darling, sixty?”.

“He’s perfect. He’s dying to get laid.”

“JENNIFER!”

“I gave him your number. Have you had the chicken salad here?”

From Guest Contributor Jean Blasiar

17
Jul

Prescience

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

Liam awoke from a phantasm where puppy-like pigs defecated down his back, their feigned embraces weighing him down so much that he was left behind by his peers as he strove to participate in some great undefined quest.

As sleep dispersed, he really hoped it was allegorical. He dragged himself to the bathroom for ablutions and a shower. Today’s staff outing should clear all that from his head.

The phone rang, interrupting the ‘bathing therapy.’ He answered, dripping.

“Hello.”

“Liam, Jeremy here.” Head zookeeper.

“Pete’s called in sick, would you relocate the vampire bats to their new enclosure?”

Hell.

From Guest Contributor Perry McDaid

16
Jul

Cage Fighter

by thegooddoctor in Uncategorized

Emmet never gets scared. He is a terrifically talented mixed martial artist; flexible, strong, unpredictable.

His rise through the rankings has been steady. Probably get a shot at a universally regarded title next year.

The opportunity to compete tonight arose unexpectedly when one of the fighters withdrew suddenly, for reasons which were never fully explained.

Emmet took the fight at short notice, no questions asked.

As his second I follow him into the cage.

“I’m scared,” says Emmet as his opponent, a hideous alien lumbers into the cage. “The way they spoke, I was expecting to fight another human being.”

From Guest Contributor Barry O’Farrell

Barry is an actor and writer who lives in Brisbane, Australia.

Barry’s other stories may be found in Cyclamens & Swords, 50 Word Stories and of course here at A Story In 100 Words.

15
Jul

At Least It Gets Me To Work And Back

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

I pass the dump truck parade on my way to work, and I pray the spider cracks in the windshield of my creaking and shaking and ground-scraping savior will remain intact until tomorrow. But this is the end for it. The heavy glass shatters on me, pouring down with a ripping gust of gravel and unpaid bills. I cover my scrunched face to protect from the impending costs. I bleed my next paycheck into the repairs. There is a new scar on my credit report, just next to my student loan debt. My last breath is spent coughing up pennies.

From Guest Contributor Stacy Gorse