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Entries for the Micro Fiction Challenge 2022 and Drabble Activity 2024. |
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Short stories of 100 words exactly, written for the Micro Fiction Challenge, 2022, the Drabble Activity 2024, plus a few for my own benefit. |
| Exhaustion Ralph Carver walked to the window and looked down. Three floors up, he had a great view of the car park below. Nothing was happening down there, but things rarely did in hospital car parks. He raised his eyes to the horizon, where a row of trees marked the freeway. Cars flashed through the intervals between the trees, busy upon their business. Ralph was tired and desperate to go home. He decided that he hated hospitals. And then the public address system piped up. “Doctor Carver to Emergency. Doctor Carver.” “Oh God, let this be the last one,” he muttered. Word count: 100 For no particular reason Prompt supplied by writingexercises.co.uk: The view from a hospital window. |
| Heart Attack The attack was over in seconds. From the first shortening of breath and slight nausea, to the full blown, massive unease and desperate attempts to escape from underneath the crushing weight, to the faint rebirth of hope in the draining of the weakness that transfixed the limbs, and then the slow return to a world of the unremarkable, the often overlooked cosiness of daily life, was no more than moments. Long moments, it’s true, moments of frantic and insoluble desire to escape the torture of feelings too large to describe, moments like hours. Then the dread of the next one. Word count: 100 For no particular reason Prompt supplied by writingexercises.co.uk: The attack was over in seconds. |
| Imagination Winston Fotheringhay was Dave’s favourite author. He had read all of Fotheringhay’s books of adventure, mystery and heroic deeds. Dave wished he had a similar imagination. So it was an exuberant Dave who took his copy of Fotheringhay’s latest book for the author’s signing at the local bookshop. He joined the line and waited patiently. When his turn came, Dave handed over the book and Fotheringhay began to write a brief message on the title page. “Where do you get the ideas for all your books?” asked Dave. The author answered without looking up. “It’s all from memory,” he said. Word count: 100 For no particular reason Prompt: A thought that came to me on answering Lilli’s QOTD today. |
| Oops 3 When Whitfield looked out the window, he knew immediately his time machine had worked. The view was entirely different from the one he’d observed only half an hour before. Instead of city streets, he was looking at a forested scene with thick undergrowth. Two young dinosaurs were playing in a clearing nearby. All he needed now was a screwdriver to alter the settings and head back to his own time. That was when he remembered that he’d left the screwdriver on the desk in his workshop. A huge, reptilian eye blocked the light from the window as it studied him. Word count: 100 For no particular reason No prompt. |
| Baggage I saw her in the airport, weeping in a chair near the baggage carousel. In my awkward, masculine way, I tried to comfort her. Her suitcase had been lost on her flight from Antigua. Someone must have taken it, mistaking it for theirs or, perhaps, it had been stolen. The authorities were very helpful, although the suitcase remained lost. She was offered a room in a hotel for the night while further enquiries were made and this did much to mollify her anguish. We said our goodbyes. When I opened my case that night, I found nothing but women’s clothes. Word count: 100 For no particular reason No prompt. |
| The Lamp When Ali came across the old lamp in the antique shop, he knew exactly what to do. He bought it and hurried home. Once there, he found a suitable cloth and rubbed vigorously at the lamp. A thin stream of smoke issued from the spout and coalesced into the shape of a genie hovering in the air. “Okay, you got me,” said the genie. “You get one wish.” “What, only one? It’s always three.” Ali felt cheated. The genie sneered. “Nah, that was a failed business model. These days it’s one only and you have to finish cleaning the lamp.” Word count: 100 For no particular reason No prompt. |
| Carpentry Harold’s client rubbed his chin as he considered his new desk. “It’s very beautiful,” he said to Harold. Harold thanked him.. The client continued, “Did you include a secret drawer?” “Yup. Do you want me to show you?” “Let me try first.” The client inspected the desk closely but found nothing. “Okay, I give up. Where is it?” Harold stepped forward and pushed at a corner of the desk. It slid away, revealing a space behind it. There was a piece of paper inside. Harold fished it out and read the words printed on it. Back to the drawing board. Word count: 100 For no particular reason No prompt. |
| Vanish My brother, Marston, was in charge of the first settlement on Cronus. I was in the expedition sent to investigate the settlers’ disappearance. Their initial buildings were still there, grouped like molehills in the endless fields that covered the planet. But there was no sign of the people. We found none in months of searching. As we waited to leave after our failure, I wandered over to the herd of herbiverous groguls nearby. These, Cronus’ sole animal species, were totally fearless, having no natural predator. One sported a necklace of alien manufacture. And then I noticed another wearing Marston’s wristwatch. Word count: 100 For no particular reason No prompt. |
 Zipper Alison stared at the apple she had taken from the basket. It had a zipper sewn into its skin. The temptation to open the zipper was strong but Alison first put the apple on the kitchen table and checked the other apples. None of them had zippers. She turned back to the table and the zippered apple. She decided it must be some kind of joke. A strange one, since the joker would never see his prank play out, but why else would anyone sew a zipper into an apple? Alison opened the zipper. The flesh inside was pure gold. Word count: 100 Because I saw a picture Prompt: As per illustration. |
| The Butterfly Effect Deep in the Brazilian rainforest, a butterfly flapped its wings as it departed the flower it had landed upon. This disturbed a current of air rising from a patch of sunlight on the forest floor. The air shifted from the route it had been destined for and left the canopy in a spot where the wind blew it much further east than would otherwise have been so. Eventually, it became a hurricane. But the butterfly landed on a leaf that released a drop of water it had been holding. This drowned an ant that had plans to conquer the world. Word count: 100 For no particular reason No prompt. |
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