Posts Tagged ‘Guest Contributor’
May
We Will All Stop Using Acronyms
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Friday afternoon: Another email pinged through from the boss, full of acronyms and bullet points. Bullet points always made Stella want to shoot herself.
“WTF,” Stella replied. “This is CRAP. CBA, TBH.” She went home.
***
Monday morning: “Stella. My office. Now.”
***
“Well, of course I mean Wednesday/Thursday/Friday,” Stella explained. “There’s to be a Completion Report After Production. Your IRK suggestion Can Be Arranged. Your third request, the prioritization protocol presentation, I’ve marked To Be Handled.” She drew a long breath.
***
Another email pinged through as Stella returned to her desk: “Moving forward we will all stop using acronyms…”
Stella smiled.
From Guest Contributor Fiona M Jones
May
After The Verdict
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
“Mr. Bromley, before I sentence you, do you have anything to say to this Court?”
“I’m innocent, Your Honor.”
“I meant anything more than that nonsense. You’ve been found guilty by a jury of your peers. You understand, don’t you?”
“I think I would’ve done better with a different lawyer.”
“By the way…Why did you choose your brother-in-law, Mr. Bromley?”
“Because, Your Honor, my sister-in-law cost a lot more. But I tell you, I’m innocent.”
“I told you to stop saying that.”
“Your Honor…”
“Yes…”
“Maybe if I’d offered a better bribe? Would that have made all the difference?”
From Guest Contributor David Sydney
Apr
The Ghost Fox
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
We had never seen such a white fox. At first we called it a ghost fox.
Foxes cannot talk so think of it as a fairy story and go with it.
I was teaching the white fox binary arithmetic. There are 10 types of fox. Those who understand binary arithmetic and those who do not.
What he said at first was reassuring in a way.
“We do not eat humans. You are too big and the meat just goes off.”
“We do kill you though.” The last bit was a little muffled because he had his teeth in my neck.
From Guest Contributor Derek McMillan
Apr
Breakfast
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
“Mel, you don’t happen to have any rat poison on you, do you?”
“What’d you mean by that?”
“Well…it’s a kind of poison that you use on…”
“I know what rat poison is, Ed.”
They were at the counter of AL’S DINER, eating their breakfasts.
“You don’t need to get upset.”
“Look, Ed, I’m trying to finish my oatmeal.”
“I know. But I asked Marge already.”
Marge was the waitress.
“She said they didn’t have any to take care of the rat that’s been running around the place this morning.”
“What?”
“The one there…That one, by your foot.”
From Guest Contributor David Sydney
Apr
Super
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
You’d probably call it spying, but how else to know when I should come? Sounds are a bit muffled after all this time. My body feels battered; too many buildings leapt at a single bound wreaked havoc on my joints. I’m not as fast either, for speeding bullets whiz by me, and this famous cape I still wear drags in the wind. Lois passed years ago, and where is Lex? Running some nursing home into the ground; I’ve no doubt. Yes, I fly lower and peer through your windows. I need you all now, more than you ever needed me.
From Guest Contributor Colleen Addison
Apr
Ascent
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I turn aside before Everest’s summit. Hobbling to a low drift, I scoop away the snow. I have found her, still lying where she had collapsed on her fateful ascent years ago. I peel off her goggles. She stares at the cobalt sky, as if daydreaming. Her ivory skin remains unspoilt, despite the passage of time.
Laying down beside her, I unclip my mask and gasp in the thin air.
My heart pummels my ribs while I remove our gloves.
I wrap my wife’s stiff hand in mine and gaze up at the heavens, waiting to see what she sees.
From Guest Contributor Christopher Mattravers-Taylor
Chistopher has been shortlisted in the Summer 2023 and Autumn 2024 Voice.Club Competitions and longlisted in Periscope Literary’s 2023 short story competition. He was also a finalist in Globe Soup’s October and November 2024 100-word competition. His short stories have variously been described as fierce, dark, humorous and descriptive. Currently he enjoys writing short stories with a speculative edge, and now is beginning his debut novel. He lives in Bristol, UK, with an amazing wife and two wonderful children he does not deserve.
His writing is coloured by his experiences as a ME sufferer, particle physicist at CERN, property developer, core driller, disability benefits claimant, Dalmatian breeder, traveller, and more besides. One thing has remained constant in his chaotic life, however: his love of Encona Hot Sauce.
Apr
Heart The Size Of A Car
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I wake up and it’s almost dark. I hear boom…boom…boom. I think it’s the raccoons jumping across the roof on their way to look for food. Maybe it’s the wind, the porch swing hitting the house, fireworks for some forgotten holiday or the war we’ve been waiting for but when I pull back the curtain on the window in the door, each rectangle of glass is a piece of your thumping heart, the size of a car, its feathery periwinkle veins like map-rivers, red finger-branches steady, wrapping down around the lower chambers, stamping the glass with tree patterns, knocking. Asking.
From Guest Contributor Brook Bhagat
Brook (she/her) is the author of Only Flying, a Pushcart-nominated collection of surreal poetry and flash fiction on paradox, rebellion, transformation, and enlightenment from Unsolicited Press. Her work has won contests and appeared in Monkeybicycle, Empty Mirror, Soundings East, Anthem: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen, and elsewhere. Two new collections, Exodus with Red Delicious and I Drink from an Ear: Real Ghazals, are forthcoming from Unsolicited Press in 2026 and 2027. She is a founding editor of Blue Planet Journal, the founder and facilitator of The Nearby Universe writers’ group, and a professor of creative writing at Pikes Peak State College.
Apr
House Delivery
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Sarah paced the room. “What if she doesn’t like me?”
Josie gently touched Sarah’s shoulder and spoke reassuringly to her friend. “How could she not, you’re giving her a home and she’ll be going to a good school. She’ll make nice friends and be happy.”
“I hope. I’ll be a single mother without a husband; she may not adjust.”
“Stop. Everything will be fine. Let’s have that wine and we’ll watch a movie until she gets here.
They stood and the doorbell rang.
Sarah ran to answer it. “She’s here!”
When Sarah opened the door, it was the pizza delivery.
From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher
Apr
The Bigger
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
It was just before the bout between Lefty Louie and Bonecrusher Rocco. Both fighters were in their corners. Louie’s manager, Al, offered his last words of advice…
“Remember, Louie, the bigger they are…”
Bonecrusher was big all right. Huge head, bull neck, massive right hand, and a 15-0 record, all by knockouts.
“Got it, Al. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
Al added a few more lines of disbelief to his face.
“What’d you mean, Louie?”
“Fall, Al. The bigger they are, the harder…”
“No, Louie, hit. Remember, it’s hit. The bigger they are, the harder they hit…”
From Guest Contributor David Sydney
Apr
Wish
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I cannot tell you how long it’s been since my yacht sank and I wound up here. I remember the storm and jumping into the life boat, praying that the rain pelting on my head eased and a ship would find me. I must’ve passed out from the cold because when I awakened, my body was muddy, freezing and drenched from the water. Sand and ocean surrounded me, and the boat had floated back into the sea. I was stranded on an island.
I wanted to spend time sailing alone.
Every day I wish I went to a movie instead.
From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher