Posts Tagged ‘Mystery’
Jul
Time Travel
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
For nearly three weeks, I found myself in a state of utter confusion. Despite using my usual login details, I was unable to access any of my accounts. It was as though I wasn’t myself, like something else had taken over my body. I entertained the possibility of theft or insanity, but my motherboard’s lack of responsiveness left me with more questions than answers. It reluctantly crossed my mind that I had been transported elsewhere. However, how and why I would end up there was still a mystery. These unexplainable experiences have left me feeling perplexed and uncertain. Time travel.
From Guest Contributor Clinton Siegle
Mar
Keep Movin’
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
—Get in the car, doll.
—Where we goin’, Roy?
—To get us some money.
—Gonna buy me something pretty?
—The world, babe.
—Slow down. You almost—
—Look in your purse.
—A gun.
—Know how to use it?
—Point and pull?
—That’s all.
—Who’m I gonna point it at?
—You’ll see.
—Why the mystery?
—There’s Buster, on that park bench.
—You gonna stop?
—He ain’t movin’.
—Looks like a bullet hole in his head.
—Change of plan, doll.
—Who killed him, Roy?
—Wasn’t me.
—Didn’t Buster teach you all you know?
—Main thing he said was, keep movin’.
—Slow down, Roy.
From Guest Contributor Joe Surkiewicz
Joe writes from northern Vermont.
Jun
The Homes Of Birds (Nature Contest Winner)
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I’m very excited to present the winner of our Nature Flash Fiction Contest, from regular contributor Brook Bhagat. Someone might look at the strange format and say it’s more of a poem than a short story, but my favorite poems are the ones that tell a story as well. Plus I liked it so this is the one I’m choosing. Congratulations Brook! And thanks to everyone who participated. A lot of great stories.
I understand the funeral I have the address the dress the time
it begins with smiling cameras and ends with paper tablecloths, cold cuts and deviled eggs downstairs
even worse is the sunshine, all those empty minutes left
I would have lost it
if not
For the hike, still in our black together,
you and Ben, the boy,
me and my sister arm in arm
down the easy path at
Garden of the Gods,
lighter than before, noticing the homes
of birds in the rocks and remembering
we are just a moment, fragments
of a mystery that flies and sings.
From Guest Contributor Brook Bhagat
Brook’s poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and humor have appeared in Monkeybicycle, Empty Mirror Magazine, Harbinger Asylum, Little India, Rat’s Ass Review, Lotus-Eater Magazine, Anthem: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen, and other journals and anthologies. She and her husband Gaurav created Blue Planet Journal, which she edits and writes for. She holds an MFA from Lindenwood University, teaches creative writing at a community college, and is writing a novel. Her poetry collection, Only Flying, is due out Nov. 16, 2021 from Unsolicited Press. See more at brook-bhagat.com or reach her on Twitter at @BrookBhagat.
Stay tuned for an announcement soon about our next contest!
Oct
Mystery Hour
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
A 9-year-old girl trick-or-treating in a black-and-white Halloween costume got mistaken somehow for a skunk. The lead detective on the case is borderline Asperger’s. Covering an entire wall of her grubby office is one of those conspiracy theory maps, with all the pins connected by strings. “I’ll break anything in order to figure out how it works,” she’s famous around headquarters for saying. Her brisk confidence irks male colleagues. “Go away,” one shouts, “and take your shitty forest!” She can’t hear him. She’s out in a far corner of the city collecting evidence of the refulgence of pearls of blood.
From Guest Contributor Howie Good
Howie is the author most recently of Spooky Action at a Distance from Analog Submission Press. He co-edits the journals Unbroken and UnLost.
Sep
Lure Of The Surf
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Chatter heightened in a resort restaurant.
“She’s a striking beauty,” someone blurted. “Out surfing every day,”
another added. “Can’t miss.”
Ken placed lunch servings before the patrons, imagining running into
someone like that.
When work ended, he headed for the beach. Between relationships,
feeling low, he sought peace by the sea. Surfers dotted distant
sparkling waters. Their faces couldn’t be distinguished.
Next day, Ken served the same group of diners who had talked so
passionately about the mystery woman.
“She’s walking ashore holding a surfboard,” someone shouted.
Everyone, including Ken, turned to look out the window.
It was his sister.
From Guest Contributor Krystyna Fedosejevs
Krystyna writes poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
Aug
A Genetic Predisposition To Solving Mysteries
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I found the broken glass of the window scattered over the shag carpet. Across the room, beneath the armchair, there was a dead sparrow. We had ourselves a mystery.
Ryan’s first conjecture, not unwarranted, was that the bird struggled before it died, coming to its final resting place several feet from the window. But he ignored the bullet hole in the far wall.
Ryan was always attracted to the easiest solution. And after discovering that our parents had once been international assassins and were now in quiet retirement, I wished that I had listened to him and ignored my curiosity.
Jan
A Mystery Unraveled
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Gordon Seckenheim dedicated his post-doctoral research to insect behavior. Specifically, he wanted to learn why moths are attracted to a flame.
His work determined that the moths killed in this way are suicidal. As corroborating evidence, he cited the global human suicide rate of .0074 percent. When you figure there are an estimated 200 trillion moths and butterflies, it makes sense that millions would kill themselves every night. It’s simple mathematics.
It was accounted a strange coincidence when Dr. Seckenheim himself committed suicide after his marriage ended.
Or it may have been that his emotional state somehow clouded his analysis.
Sep
No Explanation Necessary For Looking Good
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Detective Stephens surveyed the scene, trying to make sense of it. He could be certain of only one thing. The man was dead.
Stephens could find no explanation for the manner of death. The victim was fully dressed in a suit and tie, but had died from several bullet wounds to his heart. His clothes did not have any holes or blood on them. No one reported hearing any gunshots. A note read that despite his death, he refused to leave the neighborhood.
The mystery was never explained, but the man’s ghost never did leave. At least it was well-dressed.
Jun
Echoless Well
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
The town of Bottomless Well was famous for one reason only.
No one could ever remember any water being drawn from the well. Yet, thanks to its purported wish granting properties, people still visited from miles around.
The well was meant to be a mystery, like God or a woman’s heart; it was better not knowing where the bottom lay.
When scientists discovered that the floor reached exactly 36 feet and 7 inches underground, and that the peculiar convex shape and absorptive qualities of the rock prevented any sound from escaping, the villagers pragmatically changed the name. Life carried on as before.
May
Scooby Doo, Where Art Thou!
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Fred: Forsooth, the mystery’s unveiled
and the truth may be inveighed
that which proclaims your guilt
is the spot of blood on your hilt
Old Man: The fault, dear kids, lies not with my stars
nor with any lack of resolve in my felonious arts,
but in your mysterious machine you came peddling
and in solving this crime have proven sorely meddling
Exuent Old Man
Shaggy: The mystery’s resolved
and all danger dissolved
after so much hue and cry
it’s time the Great Dane and I
despite being two such mindless ‘tards
at last receive our just and due rewards.