Posts Tagged ‘Guest Contributor’
Jan
The Exporter’s Lament
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
In Export there is something heroic about earning foreign currency for my country. It makes up for jet lag, family absences, and living out of a suitcase.
Disembarking the flight home, I am thinking of freshly made meals and welcome home sex, not necessarily in that order.
I open the front door to enter a silent, empty house; furniture, fixtures and fittings gone.
On the kitchen bench the business card of a lawyer, specializing in Family Law.
My mind floods with stories told by fellow exporters, their helpless acute vulnerability, when their wives ran off with another man or woman.
From Guest Contributor Barry O’Farrell
Barry O’Farrell is an actor in Brisbane Australia, who worked in Export many years ago.
Other stories by Barry can be found at Cyclamens and Swords, 50 Word Stories and here at A Story In 100 Words.
Jan
Surprise
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
He always smiled when she appeared. Today, he also winked.
No one else gave her a second look. At school, girls called her names. Boys threw stones.
She placed a chocolate bar on the belt. He rang in the price. She paid.
“Not getting your favourite?” he asked.
“You’re out,” she answered.
“It won’t happen again.”
She tore the wrapper off exiting the store. Took a mouthful. As she started walking home, a car pulled up behind her. The driver’s window opened.
“Found these in the back of the store,” he said handing her a caramel chocolate bar.
“Thanks, Grandpa.”
From Guest Contributor Krystyna Fedosejevs
Krystyna writes poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. Her recent work has been published at: Nailpolish Stories, 50-Word Stories, 100 word story, Boston Literary Magazine, From the Depths (Haunted Waters Press), ShortbreadStories and espresso stories.
Jan
Present
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
“The grandkids gave me a beautifully wrapped Christmas present. When I opened it, the box said apple. I thought it meant dried fruit. Turned out to be one of them takeaway telephones young people like.
“I’ve never tried a takeaway telephone. Grandkids showed me how to use it with finger sliding, pointing, tapping.
“They showed me all sorts of things inside it which were very surprising.
“Now I have lost it. Must have put it down somewhere, forgot it and walked off. If you happen to find it, my telephone has a white body and the front is black glass.”
From Guest Contributor Barry O’Farrell
Barry has written other stories which appear on Cyclamens and Swords, 50 Word Stories and of course here at A Story In 100 Words.
Jan
The Only Casanova in This Dead Country
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
“She was so hot,” Sam says. “It was like she was blasting out chunks of magma. When we finished, the whole apartment looked like Pompeii. Anyway – how’d you do with your lucky lady?”
I light up a cigarette and think for a moment.
“I was depressed the next day. Does that answer your question?”
“You tellin’ me you didn’t make a formaldehyde fetus?”
“Oh we had unprotected sex. I don’t know. Something doesn’t sit well inside.”
Sam puts his hand on my chest.
“There’s nothing comfortable inside that heart of yours,” he says. “It’s an abandoned archaeological site. Like America.”
From Guest Contributor Justin Karcher
Justin lives in Buffalo, NY. Recent works have appeared in Crab Fat Literary Magazine, Mixtape Methodology, and Maudlin House. You can find him on Twitter.
Jan
Callous Humans
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
An aged tiger was on the prowl. One night it caught a sheep. As it could not carry its prey, it tried to eat it there. The cows in the shed raised an alarm. The villagers gathered, pelting stones. The tiger ran away.
The villagers staged a protest, wanting the government to exterminate it. Experts were called in. The next day they shot the tiger. How callous are humans, I thought.
A tiger took a sheep, a sheep that was to be slaughtered the next day!
If animals could strike back for their rights, we all would be behind bars!
From Guest Contributor Thriveni C. Mysore.
Jan
Our Orchard
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
We chased each other between rows of plum trees. Leafy boughs drooped with blossoms casting shadows in our tracks.
We kissed when we caught up. I sank into your embrace wishing you would never let go.
But you did. A high school classmate was more clever than I. Grabbed your vulnerability. Clawed at your masculinity. You found her sexy.
I’ve returned. Standing across the street from a playground where our orchard used to be. The fruit trees were gone except for one.
Boys played rough ball games. One on a bench looked like you.
Love no longer filled that space.
From Guest Contributor Krystyna Fedosejevs
Krystyna writes poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. Her recent work has been published at: Nailpolish Stories, 50-Word Stories, 100 word story, Boston Literary Magazine, From the Depths (Haunted Waters Press), ShortbreadStories and espresso stories.
Jan
Impact
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
At the base of an apartment tower, lies a fresh corpse. Police arrive.
They log the remains of a habitual thief, the main suspect in a spate of “Human Fly” style burglaries.
Whilst finding the injuries which caused his death consistent with falling from a considerable height, the Coroner will observe some fingernails on both hands have been impacted and crushed.
I am sitting on the balcony of my fourteenth floor apartment, enjoying an early morning breakfast, and panoramic ocean view.
My nine-pound hammer rests against the leg of the table. It will be cleaned and stored after coffee.
From Guest Contributor Barry O’Farrell
Barry O’Farrell had his 950-word sci-fi story Shakedown published in the December 2014 issue of Cyclamens and Swords.
Dec
Sonny Boy
by thegooddoctor in Uncategorized
Stop! You there STOP! Shouted the policeman.
No way was I going to stop. I didn’t do anything. The cops just wanted anyone who had been near the riot to bring in and arrest, and it wasn’t going to be me. So I ran. And I ran smack into a horse which knocked me flat on my ass.
“Where you going there sonny boy?” smiled the burly officer on the even burlier horse. “It’s Christmas mister, I was just heading home to my gran’s. She ‘d kill me if she knew I was even near a rally.”
Too Bad boy!
From Guest Contributor Philip Diehl
Dec
A Christmas Present
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
It was Christmas. I saw a 7- or 8-year-old boy wearing a man’s overcoat that covered him from neck to toe. The sleeves of the coat were cut short haphazardly to match the boy’s arm length. I went to the nearby shop. As I had a son of the same age, I knew the size. I bought a nice pair of clothes, with a matching overcoat. Wearing Santa’s hat, I went back and gave new clothes to the boy. The unexpected joy on his face thrilled me. Unplanned charity brings a strange sense of contentment that money can never buy.
From Guest Contributor Thriveni C. Mysore.
Dec
Export Business
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Suddenly, the company in California I’ve been negotiating with is ready to sign.
This is so important, to say nothing of the many months of work involved; I have to fly there now!
The second I get off the phone from the airline, I phone a good Californian hotel to be sure of a reservation.
Of course the Reservation Clerk wants both my credit card details and residential address. Patiently I spell Brisbane for her and then Australia.
“Aren’t you glad I don’t live in Tallygaroopna or Coonabarabran,” I conclude with a flourish.
“Sir, you have no idea how glad.”
From Guest Contributor Barry O’Farrell
Other stories by Barry O’Farrell have been published by Cyclamens and Swords and 50 Word Stories, even though he is an actor living in Brisbane, Australia.