Posts Tagged ‘Village’
Dec
Kesaran-Pasaran
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
When I walked into the village, white fur balls kept falling from the sky.
“What are they?” I asked a villager.
“They’re kesaran-pasaran.”
They floated through the air like dandelion spores. On sunny days, they fell and covered the ground. On rainy days they spread and multiplied. The dead ones fueled the city. Their spirits harvested crops and generated electricity.
“What do we know? Our livelihood totally depends on them,” the villager said, laughing.
One day I left the village. When I turned back, the village was gone. Instead, white fluff balls spread as far as the eye could see.
From Guest Contributor Yukari Kousaka
Translated by Toshiya Kamei
Born in Osaka in 2001, Yukari Kousaka is a Japanese poet, fiction writer, and essayist. Translated by Toshiya Kamei, her short fiction has appeared in New World Writing.
Jun
The Man Who Loved Trees
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
NATURE SUBMISSION:
There once was a boy who loved trees. He frequently played in the woods near his village, until one day all the trees were gone.
He decided to plant a new tree every day. His friends laughed at him, insisting that one person couldn’t make a difference. But he was determined. Many years passed, and the number of trees he’d planted grew into the thousands. An entire forest existed thanks to his efforts.
Then the hurricane came. All his trees were wiped out in a single night.
The morning after the storm, the man woke up and planted a tree.
From Guest Contributor Cissy Lee
May
The Cellar
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Oksana pounded the door of Zoya’s wooden house. She screamed.
“Zoya, the Red Army has surrounded the village. Hide, Zoya!”
Zoya, holding her toddler Ekaterina in her arms, opened the door.
“Oh, God, help us. Oksana, where’s Father Nikolai?”
“They’ve started a fire in the church! Hide, Zoya.”
“God have mercy. Run Oksana. We’ll hide in the cellar.” Zoya pressed her daughter tightly to her breast. She ran to the cellar.
Zoya embraced her daughter. She heard a crashing sound. When she realized the smoke was coming from above, she said, “I love you Ekaterina. We’ll be together in Heaven.”
From Guest Contributor Deborah Shrimplin
Jan
Spending A Penny Dreadful
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
The Fleadh Ceoil festival was at its height. Those who hadn’t arrived early were relegated to rural camp-sites.
Still, even on the outskirts of the small Kerry village the women’s toilets were dutifully labelled with the Gaelige ‘MNA.’ It wouldn’t do for traditional/folk festivals to be less than authentic.
The next generation of the attending family carnivals had finished their setting-up chores and, thankful of the break, watched with some amusement as the drunk approached with strained gait and increasing urgency until finally bursting into the ‘Ladies,’ zip down.
Screams.
“Must be a wil’ handling being dyslexic,” one mused.
From Guest Contributor Perry McDaid
Nov
Houghton
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
The dark forest overlooking Houghton was well known to be the home of sprites. Thomas Buchanan, of Oxford, had made the journey to confirm the rumors of their presence were true. He came with all the normal accoutrement, including a traveling dresser, a coterie of servants, and a pack of beagles.
The sprites are nearly impossible to find when they want to stay hidden but Buchanan was prepared. Through a mixture of alchemy and freshly-baked pudding, he attracted a number of the young fairies. The hunt had begun.
No one ever heard from Buchanan, or the villagers of Houghton, again.
Dec
Communal Sin
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
The fever spread through the village so quickly, everyone was sick before the first child died. The wise one said they’d been forsaken by the gods. No one listened. They were too busy dying.
In an earlier age, the epidemic, though tragic, would have passed quietly. The village would have been swallowed by the forest and forgotten. But these days, the village sat next to a gold mine, and many of the workers had come to the village for sex, then carried the fever back to the city. Soon the entire world was infected. Sin can no longer be contained.
Jul
The Tragedy Of The Greens
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
The green spaces in the village of Turnstell once served the needs of the entire community. Mr. Damhorst grazed his flock of sheep in the fields. Mrs. Graham was able to keep her honeycombs next to the woods. The Goldsmith twins collected berries for their homemade jam.
That was a long time ago. The Greens are no longer green. That’s because the sheep attracted wolves, and the berries attracted bears, and the honey, well they brought the bees. Plus a developer chopped down the woods and built a row of high-end condominiums.
But mostly, people just really hated those bees.
Apr
One True Love
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Jesper believed in one true love. He fell for his when he was still a boy, while picking mushrooms in the forest behind his home. He met a girl in a white dress and they played for several hours, so that by the time he returned home, Jesper’s father gave him a whipping for being late.
Jesper never forgot that girl. For many years he searched everywhere for her, in his village, in the neighboring towns, along the main road that led to the city. No one knew of such a girl.
It was as if she were a ghost.
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.
Mar
The Stray Cats Of Glen Eden
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Glen Eden would otherwise be quite charming if not for the herd of cats.
They are unlike any cats you have ever seen. The size of golden retrievers, with husky fur, they have thoroughly overrun the village.
Their favorite spot is the widow’s cabin. She not only feeds them fish and chicken in individual bowls, but she always keeps her fire burning, making her roof an especially balmy spot for naps.
The cats don’t normally eat humans, but knowing that there have been attacks from time to time is enough to make any visit to Glen Eden a harrowing affair.