January, 2026 Archives
Jan
What’s In Store
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
The best way to describe the sensation was like a super vivid acid trip where all his thoughts were crystal clear and jumbled together at the same time. He’d never actually tried acid, being too afraid of losing his mind, but he imagined it was like this.
His therapist prescribed him antipsychotics, but he refused. He decided instead that he no longer needed a therapist. What was the point when he could experience his entire future laid out before him at once? Like he was everywhere and everywhen at the same time.
If that made him crazy, so be it.
Jan
Affair
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I parked across the street and put the car in park. I had the radio low and gulped a beer, hoping a cop wouldn’t catch me in the act. Fortunately, no cars were in sight.
Deep down I knew something was amiss, so when I found the texts on her phone, I wasn’t surprised. But my best buddy, that’s unforgivable on both sides.
Her car just pulled in. When she reached the porch, he came outside and smiled. They embraced, lips locked together, hands in each other’s hair, before shutting the door.
I knew then what I had to do.
From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher
Jan
Hello Goodbye
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Life is all about the timing.
I fell in love over the course of a several hours last Saturday. I’d only intended to stay out a couple hours, as I was still processing my recent breakup. But then I met Alex. We ended up dancing and talking until dawn, bouncing from one club to the next around the city, and I decided that here, finally, was the love of my life.
It turns out he was pulling one last all-nighter before leaving for a new posting in Olive Branch, Mississippi.
Just as I was saying hello, he was saying goodbye.
Jan
Spring
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Spring is wonderful in Michigan. The snow melt signals that the warm weather has arrived. Flowers begin to bloom. Birds and squirrels appear out of nowhere, ready to embrace the new growth all around.
Jenny steps outside, bracing for the biting wind, only to realize she has on too many layers. Her watch says it’s 60 degrees, the warmest day of the year so far. When she moved to Kalamazoo for grad school, she’d worried the winters would be too intense. Growing up in Atlanta, she was seven the first time she saw snow.
The only problem: It’s January 12th.
Jan
When The Fairy Dust Wore Out
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
When the great clock hands of Big Ben stretched upwards to midnight, Peter Pan sagged and leaned against them, resting his aching back. After years of flying, he had grown not old but weary. London was all skyscrapers now, smoke-plumes that he had to twist to avoid. Still, beneath the honks and hustle of the streets below, Peter imagined he could hear the calls of Tiger Lily, Tinkerbell. As he watched the dull skies, he pictured Neverland, the green of it, the harbours. Then through the smog he saw hands outstretched, a Lost Boy perhaps. Relief coursed, and Peter sighed.
From Guest Contributor Colleen Addison
Colleen lives, and writes on a small island off Vancouver, Canada. Her work has been published in River Teeth, Painted Pebble Lit Mag, and Crow & Crosskeys, among others. She is a recent winner of the 3rd Wednesday flash fiction contest.
Jan
The Hymn Of Future Days
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
With the contract for his eternal soul available for sale on the open market, Henry weighed his many options before settling upon the only religion he could find fully focused on the future as it really is, not some promised eternity we can never verify for ourselves.
The congregation sings the Hymn of Future Days, our days, the days that grow out of our decisions now. We erect our house of worship on these very real bones of actions and words, and if it all comes crumbling down, we have only ourselves to blame.
Choose your building blocks with care.
Jan
Manuscript
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
The rain pelted the window as I typed the last few pages of my manuscript. It was past midnight, and I had been working for hours with a cold cup of coffee on my desk. My agent advised that it would be in my best interest to have it ready by tomorrow morning, my first novel.
Thunder filled the sky, and my dog Bree ran under bed, my concentration never faltering.
As I typed “The End,” a flash of lightning lit the sky, and the electricity went out.
I didn’t have a chance to hit save before the power outage.
From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher
Jan
The Speculative King
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Edmund Mortimer, crowned King Edmund III, is considered amongst certain scholars of the apocrypha to be the greatest monarch of England. His rule not only saw Great Britain and Ireland peacefully united, but also the annexation of Normandy and Brittany, who voluntarily joined the commonwealth out of regard for his magnanimity. His reign lasted 70 years, starting at age 9, and even as a boy he was renowned for his kind heart and wise decisions. His abdication ushered in the golden age of English democracy, which endured until wicked King Henry restored the monarchy in 1485.
Thus fate always wins.
Jan
Skipping Stones
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I once skipped a stone 17 times across Lake Wawasee. It was one of those still days when the water is pure glass and you can see the clouds clearly reflected on the surface. We competed in hunting for the smoothest rocks all morning. I found one that was round and flat and just the right weight so I saved it until last. No one else got more than 11 and I was proclaimed the rock-skipping champion of Indiana.
I’ve never skipped a stone since. I’m satisfied knowing I once achieved a moment of perfection that can never be matched.