27
Feb

Final Instructions

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

The fight between Lefty Louie and Bonecrusher Rocco was only minutes away. Bonecrusher was an awesome specimen – a huge head, bull neck, and massive chest and biceps.

In Louie’s corner, Al, his manager, had a few last words.

“The referee’s going to give you both instructions in the middle of the ring.”

Why a square surface was called a ring Louie didn’t understand.

“He’s going to tell you to go to a neutral corner when someone’s down. Break when he tells you to. Then he’ll say let the better man win.”

“What?”

“I know, Louie. Just forget that last part.”

From Guest Contributor David Sydney

26
Feb

What The Stars Saw

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

The stars saw her face, someone who wishes wildflowers never died, thunder always accompanied rain, and the sounds of the waves were something that left the shoreline. Even the tears she shed when she thought it was only her and the items of clothes on the floor because the mirror just did not look right. The stars saw the smile she wore when he cherished her in the dark and the tears she lost when she was left to her own company on the worst nights. Some nights the stars were enough. Some nights, she wished they would do more.

From Guest Contributor Caitriona Mullenix

23
Feb

The Ending?

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

At the beginning of my travels I lived in a reality where the US used Celsius. A temperature for a human was a 100 C. Body temperature was 97.8 C. How could that be? Blood flowed much much faster there. And reality spun up much faster too.

Meaning? Here they say 243 million years for an orbit of the Earth, while on a parallel Earth they said 1000 years. Begging the question how much faster is reality here? The big differences? Simple no known Black Holes? Yes. Abe Lincoln was a senator? Yes. Japan was off the coast of China.

From Guest Contributor Clinton Siegle

22
Feb

Rainbow Potato

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

I tell myself I don’t belong here, and I don’t. The place is home to depressives, insomniacs, winos, recidivists. Trains pass through without whistling or slowing down. Meanwhile, stacks of coffins keep arriving in the dark by truck. The first thing I do most mornings is examine my face in the mirror for signs of fresh trauma. There was one morning when I asked Google if rainbow and potato rhyme. The answer came back, “Not exactly.” A handsome young drifter, stepping off the overnight bus from Providence, smiles plausibly while wearing a necklace of human ears tucked inside his shirt.

From Guest Contributor Howie Good

Howie’s latest book is Frowny Face, a mix of his prose poems and handmade collages from Redhawk Publications.

21
Feb

Ghosts

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

In front of the circus truck came a moving van and two old clunkers. People were finally moving into the house at the end of the cul-de-sac, which we’d all suspected was haunted. The circus truck double parked beside the moving van and out poured our old friends, the bearded lady and fortune teller, clutching his crystal ball, two sweet loveable clowns who rolled out smiling, somersaulting around the cul-de-sac. Soon our kids were busy taming the lions while the elephants practiced their counting and we gossiped about the new neighbors until one of them floated by and said hello.

From Guest Contributor Linda Lowe

20
Feb

Storm

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

The snow and wind pelted my face. The inclemency hadn’t started until I was half-way to the subway station, and people slipped across the pavement rushing to get home. Vehicles honked at pedestrians cutting in and out of lanes, so I had to be careful. I tried not to think about the numbing in my fingers after forgetting my gloves at home.

After a half hour walk which should’ve taken ten minutes, I was in the station.

When the train arrived and I boarded, I knew it would be a matter of time before I’d be snug by the fireplace.

From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher

19
Feb

Miles Away

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

Sophia stared out the window as Sebastian faded into the distance. She knew with a hard, scientific certainty that she would never see him again.

This was not some intuition. As her vehicle sped towards the distance, Sebastian floated in nearly the opposite direction, his back to her. By the time she returned, he would be lost forever, miles away.

She fumbled her radio, searching for the correct channel.

“Sebastian, can you hear me?”

“Yes, I’m here.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right. We all knew this was a possibility.”

Thus Sebastian Spellman became the first American astronaut lost in space.

15
Feb

Slab Of Butter

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

James had few true pleasures remaining in his life. Time, divorce, and the company had taken most everything. His doctor seemed intent on taking what remained.

“You’re going to have to cut out alcohol and fatty foods.”

James stared down at his bowl of greens. Across the table, George was cutting into his steak. Steven, keeping it light, had a baked potato topped with sour cream, chives, and bacon. They both drank from judicious glasses of red wine.

“Can you pass me that plate?”

Ignoring the stares from his friends, James smeared a large slab of butter onto his salad.

14
Feb

’13-Shot’ Frank

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

The Old West had its deadly gunslingers like ‘Wild Bill’ Hickok, Wyatt Earp, and Doc Holliday. Then, there were poorer slingers like ’13-Shot’ Frank. Yes, Frank had lost 13 consecutive fights and had the bullets in him to prove it. Still, he limped on to his 31st birthday.

Doc Jenkins had pulled him through each time, unable to extract a single slug. He was called by Frank’s landlord to the bedside.

“Can you keep him alive for a couple more rent payments?”

Was this the end? Doc Jenkins could handle wounds and fractures. But chronic lead poisoning was another matter.

From Guest Contributor David Sydney

13
Feb

Are We All Bound In Hell?

by thegooddoctor in 100 Words

The quantum traveler reviewed history yet again.

Age of change?

Age of reality?

Watching the Mandela effects replace known history?

Or a mind swapped into a shifted realm?

For?

In Abe Lincoln’s election 1860 only 2 parties ran. Not 4.

Lincoln according to Hillary Clinton and myself was a senator.

The question really is does any of it matter?

Or is this all some sort of dream?

Science confirms we live in a simulator.

So a test is expected at the end of a simulated training run.

Is life the test or is hell just all there is to expect?

From Guest Contributor Clinton Siegle