Posts Tagged ‘Guest Contributor’
Apr
Final Act
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Scott stared at the blank screen and pondered how to begin his obituary. Prone to bouts of depression, solitude, and introspection, Scott Beeker lived a quiet life filled with anger, passion, and, most importantly, love. Yes, that sounded nice, he thought. During the final years of his life he traveled the country in search of romance and adventure. He found both one night last May in the basement of a restaurant in downtown Los Angeles. There was so much to tell, wasn’t there? So many stories that were more interesting than he’d first thought. If only there was more time.
From Guest Contributor Dan Slaten
Apr
The West Wing
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
We’d barely set down our suitcases when Vic said he wanted to leave. “Let’s wait for a Howard Johnson. This place is a dump. Look, cockroaches!”
And there they were, pausing to look at us as they strolled across the bed. “Yes,” I said, “but they’re dressed to the nines.”
They were stunning, her in a lacy ball gown with puffed sleeves and a train, fashioned from the iridescent wings of flies, and him in his coat and tails and tiny top hat.
“Let’s stay,” I said. “Maybe we can learn something.”
“Don’t be stupid,” he said. “Roaches are roaches.”
From Guest Contributor Brook Bhagat
Brook’s nonfiction, poetry, and fiction have appeared or are forthcoming in dozens of publications, including Little India, Outpost, Nowhere Poetry, The Syzygy Poetry Journal, and Rat’s Ass Review, and she is the co-owner and chief editor of BluePlanetJournal.com. She holds a B.A. from Vassar College and an MFA from Lindenwood University and teaches creative writing at a community college. She has completed a full-length hybrid manuscript and is writing a novel.
Apr
Zip Bombs
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Six nuclear bombs head for Russia. A short time later the world’s arsenal is launched. Life on the planet changed overnight.
Jon is hiding in a barn with other civilians. As soldiers break in Jon transforms into a pile of hay bales. Soldiers gather the civilians and escort them to camps. Julie, still in the barn, escapes detection because she‘s covered in hay bales. Jon saved her life. Jon changes back to human form.
Afterwards Jon and Julie become best friends. Months later, Jon tells her his secret. “Those six nuclear warheads, they weren’t bombs, that was me,” says Jon.
From Guest Contributor Denny E. Marshall
Apr
The Night’s Hope For A Better Tomorrow
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Dreams projected on a ceiling from a restless mind. A vision of a better tomorrow plays from the imagination onto the stucco. With pleading hope for happiness to join the rising sun, the reality of sadness can be temporarily cast aside. Muscles relax and the burden lessens with the promise. Eyes close and colors dance a firefly ballet on the back of eyelids. Fantasies and nightmares disturb the slumber but recede with the buzz of an alarm clock. Golden rays of butterscotch pour through the glass and warm the face. I rise, we all rise… with hope in our hearts.
From Guest Contributor Jordan Altman
Apr
Grief Group
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
“It’s only been eleven months,” said the other woman afterwards.
“This’ll probably surprise you.”
“You’re attracted to one of the guys in our group?”
“Ha! No, what I miss most is the comfortable, predictable ways Ben and I had. But real love? It disappeared years ago.”
“Real love? You don’t know how lucky you were!”
“Yeah. Part of me likes being on my own again. Still…”
“So you’ll go for the passion next time?”
“Next time? My libido’s semi-retired. So I think it’d be more like us both coming home from work, and just drinking wine together at day’s end.”
From Guest Contributor Gerald Kamens
Mar
The Last Call Before A Trek
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
He woke up early that Sunday morning excited to go on a trek. His friends had been calling since morning, planning the route, discussing apparel. He was enthusiastic. It was a perfect getaway from the usual day-to-day stress. Chirping birds, a cool breeze, and serenity!
Last night had been disastrous. His wife was not satisfied with their sex life. She was adventurous and experienced. He had made bad decisions at work. To top it all off, he’d brawled with a friend.
He was about to leave when his phone rang. His ex-girlfriend said, “I love you”. He skipped the trek.
From Guest Contributor Manmeet Chadha
Manmeet is an Alumunus from the London School of Economics & Political Science. He works in India as an Economist & Writer.
Mar
Plague
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
First little Amy was stricken, taking three days to die.
After collecting the body, the wardens painted the black cross on the door.
Then her husband and son Mark sickened. She could do nothing for their agonies.
A cart collected them to be buried in the pit.
Now the street is sealed off. No food arrives, and the water is almost gone.
She sneezes twice. She knows this is the end. But what is there to live for?
Thus the pauper Mary Wells died alone in London in 1665, with no priest to console her, no caring God above her.
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 The Ekphrastic Review, Tuck Magazine, 1947 A Literary Journal, Dead Snakes, Schlock! Webzine, Short-story.me, Anotherealm, Under the Bed, A Story In 100 Words, Poems and Poetry, Friday Flash Fiction, and in various anthologies.
Mar
Worries In The Sand
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I write my worries in the sand. They stretch across the beach, one after another. I shake as I write them – the pain intense. Finally, I finish. I walk away from them and sit down on the dry sand above the tide line to wait. The waves rush in, lapping over the words, washing them away. The tension leaves my shoulders as the sand smooths out, but the pain is still there. Will death wash away aches like the tide waters? Will I become smooth like the sand as I wash out into the eternal sea of the next horizon?
From Guest Contributor Tyrean Martinson
Tyrean is a daydreamer, believer, and writer from the Pacific Northwest.
Mar
Lift The Perfume
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Lift the perfume, dust, put it back down.
Lift the box, dust, put it back down.
Lift the moisturizer, see her initials, freeze.
JS.
Just last week she was teasing me about cleaning our bedroom.
Well, my bedroom now.
Since the accident.
Not an accident, a stupid drunk drove into the side of the car.
The violent end replays in my mind.
My room is silent now. No more laughing. No more cuddling. No more urging me to clean up.
Just an alone silence. An empty room.
I put down the moisturizer.
Lift another perfume, dust, put it back down.
From Guest Contributor Rodney Goodall
Mar
Relationships
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I was about to toss you out. End our years of coexistence.
Reminiscing helped me see you in a new light. Made me realize how good
you’ve been to me.
Through difficult as well as good times you were there for me. Your
goal to please was simple. You aimed to brighten my dark evenings and
make me feel safe at night when I couldn’t sleep.
I’m thankful for your enduring warmth. For without you, I wouldn’t
have been able to orientate myself in these surroundings. Nor read my
favorite books.
Lamp I’ve owned for countless years, we belong together.
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.