Posts Tagged ‘Family’
Jan
Family Portrait
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I held her dainty hand, her fragile bones hidden deep within her withering skin. Her once cerulean eyes, now slate-grey from worries of not knowing, look at me longingly as if I had all the answers. Her time was slipping, and that’s what she wanted; to be with her Papa… her Mama… her Mamoo… I wish she could remember; the stories she told… her children’s names… me… I opened the photo album on my lap. She smiled down at the pictures. “What a beautiful family you have.” My eyes fixated on her, wishing she could remember… they’re her family, too.
From Guest Contributor McKenzie A. Frey
Jan
A Viking Burial
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
“Who does this anymore?” Joshua asked. “A viking burial — is it even legal?”
I looked out at the lake, its opposite shoreline no longer visible under the moonless night sky. The family lake house was well secluded, shrouded in forest nearly twenty miles thick.
“It’s what he would have wanted,” I answered, glancing down at the lifeless figure in the wooden canoe, hands gracefully folded, with a wreath of crumpled newspaper haloing his head.
With a heavy sigh, Joshua waded the canoe out to water as I lit several matches. He smirked.
“Feels like cheating, without the bow and arrow.”
From Guest Contributor Amanda S.
Oct
What It Felt Like To Die
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I plummet to the earth–the emerald field I stood upon moments before.
The one who injured me was merely a streak of shadows which approached, just as quickly as he vanished.
Below my navel is a tiny puncture. What was once unblemished flesh is now a faucet, bathing soil with my body’s vital broth.
I realize my aorta is severed.
Clouds bob and flicker, bearing the faces of my family. I panic, fervidly trying to grasp them–their expressions are indifferent, unresponsive.
Instantly, tranquility engulfs me. Darkness eclipses my vision. I surrender, relishing the divine slumber that beckons me.
From Guest Contributor L. Michelle Corp
Oct
Decisions
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I was 22. He wasn’t ready, and I wasn’t sure if he was the one. At the time, it seemed like an easy decision. We weren’t married, and I had just started a new job. I was young. I could get pregnant again. Right! Besides, I wanted to be married first, then after a few years have a baby or two. That made more sense. Children should have a stable home. Right? I’m an attractive, intelligent woman, I’ll meet someone who wants a family. But leaving the clinic that day, it never became apparent, that I would never conceive again.
From Guest Contributor Dana Sterner
Dana is a Registered Nurse and Professional Writer. She has written for regional and national magazines, and continues to write in many different genres.
Aug
We’re All Learning
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Back to school shopping.
Jennifer wanted pens and whiteout. Stevie picked a package of pink hangers. One by one, items landed in the shopping cart. Mother pushed. Around the big superstore they went. Cart three-quarters filled when they finished.
“Don’t they need new clothes?” grandmother asked anxiously.
“They don’t sell clothes here,” mother answered.
Grandmother frowned. “You should have another colour. Pink is for girls.”
“But I like pink,” Stevie answered.
Mother asked “why not” and turned her face the other way.
Where was I? In the elevator with the family, hearing their conversation as it unfolded to the public.
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, and Espresso stories.
Jul
Family Under Scrutiny
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Spectators looked on with intense intrigue as the judge examined articles placed before her.
“Mister Coroner,” she began. “Did you succeed in contacting the victim’s next of kin?”
The questioned man glanced nervously about him. “No, Your Honor. Records show her parents are deceased. A younger sister ran away from home six years ago. Hasn’t been seen since.”
“Have you tried her extended family?”
“I’m not aware of any members.”
I sat fidgeting in the back of the courtroom.
“Excuse me,” I said rising. “I knew the young victim.”
“Who are you?” the startled judge asked.
“I was her sister.”
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, and espresso stories.
Jun
Chase
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Squealing brakes was the last sound Jonathan Perry heard. A red 1997 Ford Mustang slammed into him as he legally crossed at the corner of Matthews and 25th.
Seven blocks and 45 seconds later, the left leg of Kirsten Tolliver was shattered by a silver 2007 Honda Civic as she waited, ironically enough, for her bus to the hospital.
At Lincoln and 62nd, the Palmer family, James and Stephanie, their daughter Iris, and their half-Lab, half-Dalmatian Patches, were struck head on by the aforementioned Mustang as it merged into oncoming traffic.
This was the point at which the chase ended.
Jun
The Ceramic Urn
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
We own a precious family heirloom; a ceramic urn. Well, it may be precious in the sense of sentimental value but we would like to know more about it. We sent it to an expert.
All eight family members now assemble around the boardroom table to learn the expert’s opinion. The family elect me to read out the report.
“This ceramic urn is African. When the rim chipped centuries ago, someone fitted a silver collar which helped preserve it. In our estimation, it is at least 500 years old.”
“It’s the same age as Granddad!”
Granddad smiles, displaying his fangs.
From Guest Contributor Barry O’Farrell
Barry O’Farrell is an actor living in Brisbane, Australia. Barry’s other stories have appeared in Cyclamens & Swords, 50 Word Stories and of course here at A Story in 100 Words.
Mar
Nothing More Than Coincidence
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
The argument over the next-door cemetery was one of those that never ended, though nobody in the Miller family took it particularly seriously. None of them were actually frightened.
But after the third Miller boy died of an unusual accident on his 18th birthday, the rest of the Millers began to wonder. No family could be that unlucky, right?
It was Mr. Bodewin, the retired Sheriff, who told them they didn’t live on the edge of the cemetery, but smack dab in the middle. But he maintained the boys’ deaths were an accident still. Mr. Bodewin didn’t believe in hauntings.
Mar
The Retreating River
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Peering through the tinted windows, she saw the river’s glittering trickle and the constellation of shiny debris scattered over the vast expanse of sand. Plate-sized, they glinted in promise. Starfish? Shells? Ornaments discarded as the river retreated to curl down in a corner?
Sliding back the glass, she blinked. Stark sunlight shone down on a thousand shell-bright paper plates, discarded as family picnics retreated to idle their way home, say their twilight prayers, curl down in a corner, and let the television flash blindly off their faces.
The train blew past the retreating river with barely a sigh, as always.
From Guest Contributor Aparna Nandakumar
Aparna lives in Calicut, India, and writes poems and short stories. Her work has previously been published at Atticus Review and A Story in 100 Words, and is forthcoming at Cafe Dissensus and Red River Review.