Posts Tagged ‘Life’
Nov
Platero And I: Miss Dolores
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Look at Don Fernando, Platero. He is wearing his best suit.
He bought it thirty-seven years ago, when he was first invited to read to the fifth grade Miss Dolores has taught for so long. He had written two children’s short stories in his life. Miss Dolores loved both.
Today he will be reading for the last time. Miss Dolores is retiring and her successor doesn’t believe in reading by ‘a failed writer.’
“What are you going to do now?” I asked.
“Write new stories,” he replied adamantly.
Maybe he’ll write short stories about a sweet donkey like you, Platero.
From Guest Contributor Hervé Suys
Hervé (°1968 – Ronse, Belgium) started writing short stories whilst recovering from a sports injury and he hasn’t stopped since. Generally he writes them hatless and barefooted.
Aug
The Statue
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
The old master carved the tortured limbs and anguished face out of the stone.
Christ on the cross came from his very soul, he who had witnessed war, massacres and the plague that had taken his wife and dearest daughter, his whole life seeming one long crucifixion.
He cursed the God that had forsaken him and the bishop who had commissioned the artifact for the new cathedral. Tired and sick, he died a few days after the statue was completed.
For centuries after his death, visitors stood in awe before his creation that spoke of suffering and, to some, redemption.
From Guest Contributor Ian Fletcher
Aug
The Problem
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Ender the pirate was paying attention. Aliens were among those who called themselves humans. August 2023, alien souls from Perseus arrived via asteroids. Eager to explore our world, they realized the limitations of their ethereal existence. Filled with curiosity, they inhabited human bodies to navigate our reality. At first, chaos ensued as they adjusted to their newfound life. However, through empathy and understanding, they integrated seamlessly. Together, humans and extraterrestrial souls embarked on a remarkable journey, fostering unity, and rewriting the definition of what it means to be alive. The problem? Everyone on Orion were hybrids already with mRNA vaccines.
From Guest Contributor Clinton Siegle
Jul
Raise Your Voice
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
raise it as if your life depends on it. Your future too.
Scream if needed. Scream even if your voice cracks.
Don’t wait for help, help yourself.
Learn to survive, and remember,
the young neighbor who cries every night,
a distant cousin with a broken arm, a young girl on the bus, with bruised marks.
Remember the scars, the burns, the pain, the losses too.
Read the silence, the untold stories behind every closed door.
Then write a new story, draw a new picture,
paint your toenails red, wear a bindi, go out and shout
Shout until you are heard.
From Guest Contributor Marzia Rahman
Marzia is a Bangladeshi fiction writer and translator. Her writings have appeared in several print and online journals. Her novella-in-flash If Dreams had wings and Houses were built on clouds was longlisted in the Bath Novella in Flash Award Competition in 2022.She is currently working on a novella. She is also a painter.
Jul
Cat Lady
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
In a rapidly gentrifying London suburban apartment by the park, where the people are cold and the weather is colder, I overhear a nascent rumor in the making, about myself from the overfamiliar voices, and for a long second, I wish my life was as interesting as my thriving geriatric grapevine conjures it to be and believes in possibilities over probabilities. I move on, wondering why those so close to death remain so inquisitive about the lives of others who are busy living, and I tell my friends that if I ever become that bitter old cat lady, stop me.
From Guest Contributor Dr. Vaishnavi Pusapati
Jun
Them Big Oak Trees
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
At first, her followers thought it was intended as a metaphor. Every acorn is a big bang all its own. Every tree the mother of countless worlds.
But the famous scientist was not speaking metaphorically. She’d cracked the greatest secrets of the cosmos. Our universe was born inside a tiny seed, bursting into life, which in turn gave birth to more trees and more universes. The math was both terrifyingly simple and unfathomably beautiful. The world no longer required religion and, without Gods, there was no more war or poverty. Peace and love reigned.
Until a giant squirrel ruined everything.
Jun
Vernon Dreams Of Love
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Vernon had a mighty fine vision of a better life. Though the East had been kind to him, his yearning for adventure in the Wild West was powerful.
He dreamt of wide-open prairies and a sky lit by a million untamed stars. Somethin’ he’d only read about in books. The drawings of them big ol’ mountain ranges plumb near took his breath away.
Unbeknownst to Vernon was the expanse of Manitoba, sometimes called âpisînikan by the Cree, which means someone who rises from the dead. Soon, his easygoing lifestyle would be disturbed as hordes of undead settlers blocked his path.
From Guest Contributor J. Iner Souster
May
A Closed Time Curved Loop Time Traveler
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
As a closed time curved loop time traveler watched in horror at the death of mankind. He wondered. Was it always thus? A learning simulator bent on self-destruction? From one reality bounce to another, pray for peace. In the end, God wins all games. Why? In a Dyson Sphere or Solomon’s statement, there is nothing new under the sun. And that which the author of life has given, so he shall take. Multiple dimensions exist. And every twist and turn of the story of life is taken. What about the dreamers? Even their dreams come true somewhere within a simulator.
From Guest Contributor Clinton Siegle
May
Endurance
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
When Henrik asks me to hide his wife and son, I don’t hesitate.
Every day, I bring food and water to the sewer where I’ve hidden them. I feel it’s safer than hiding them in my house when the Nazis show no boundaries in searching homes.
Unfortunately, it’s not the accommodation I hoped for, but Henrik and his family are grateful. The resistance has brought more people into the hiding space and so they are no longer alone.
It saddens me, but I fight along with my comrades for a better life in our country.
And so, we all endure.
From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher
May
Shadows Of The Forgotten Timepiece
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
He never uttered the word curse, but Dante had no doubt his life was marked for tragedy.
From his car accident at 16, to the string of outlandish catastrophes that followed him like ducklings throughout adulthood, including bouts of homelessness, addiction, and illness, both mental and physical in nature, Dante never caught a break, until finally he simply gave up all together.
Most of those who knew poor Dante blamed his lack of willpower. But they might have thought differently had they realized every misfortune occurred at exactly 3:13 PM. The same time he’d broken his grandfather’s lucky watch.