October, 2016 Archives
Oct
I’ll Stay
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I’ll stay.
I never did see their faces when they grabbed, raped, and beat me. Nor when they left me for dead in the canal not far from home.
A delusional hermit fished me out – tended to me in his old gardening shed they used to give coal miners. He called me daughter. His tenderness and doting seemed true.
It’s been two years – he is my Dad. And I his Isabella. A cozy shed-home for two.
But now shades of my past have begun flickering through the fog. I had been Anne. An orphaned young prostitute. Alone.
Isabella was lucky.
From Guest Contributor Nicolle Browne-Jamet
Oct
Locked
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Depression lives with me. Locks my mind in a formidable place. It allows limited interactions with the outside world. Pushes aside the people who love me.
When I feel ready to emerge, it tempts me to abandon the thought. I’d peer out of windows opened to the world and sniff the air. Then, recoil. Preferring the comfort of what I know to something new.
Today, its hold is difficult to resist. A backpack filled with textbooks stays put in my bedroom. The bed becomes my refuge. The pillow, a sponge for tears.
The lock on my school locker remains locked.
From Guest Contributor Krystyna Fedosejevs
Krystyna writes poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Her work has been published at: Nailpolish Stories, 50-Word Stories, 100 word story, 101 Words, Boston Literary Magazine, From the Depths (Haunted Waters Press), ShortbreadStories, SixWordMemoirs, and Espresso Stories.
Oct
Running Man
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I stroll around the park, mulling over my next 100-word story.
A scrawny bald man hurtles towards me.
“Ian?”
“Bill?”
He stops.
“10K training, 8 laps of the park – my 99th half-marathon’s on Sunday.”
“Wow!”
“But no full marathons now after my knee surgeries.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, impact injuries.”
Divorced, kids grown up, running has been the constant in his life.
“Still running, Ian?”
“Just jogging and some yoga.”
“Get back into it!” he says fervently.
Telling me his Facebook address he sprints off.
Leaving the park, I watch him running around in circles, the perfect subject for my story.
From Guest Contributor Ian Fletcher
Born and raised in Cardiff, Wales, Ian has an MA in English from Oxford University. He has had poems and short stories published in Schlock! Webzine, 1947 A Literary Journal, Dead Snakes, Short-story.me, Anotherealm, Under the Bed, A Story In 100 Words, Poems and Poetry, Friday Flash Fiction, and in various anthologies.
Oct
Priorities
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Lillith’s earliest memory is of her nail poking at her father’s love handle. As if her finger was able to inject happiness, and heal the month-to-month worries that emerged as dollar signs in his eyes, just around his pupils.
In high school, Lillith filled out a career questionnaire while watching her mother dust her two-thousand-square-foot ball and chain. What did she want to be? She simply wrote: free.
On her thirtieth birthday, Lillith’s parents pulled up to her one-hundred-and-forty-four-square-foot tiny home. As Lillith washed the sand off her feet, her mother whispered to her father, “When’s she gonna grow up?”
From Guest Contributor Susan Shiney
Susan is a writer, painter, and teacher originally from Southern California. She is now living in Lille, France.