Fog a Mirror

Time Remains

 

"I've never felt so grounded," he said.

She could see through him.

"Some girl I met online," he said.

A whole lot of bravado, a cigarette hanging from his lips.

That snapshot she took of him... The ridiculous hat, the feather, the flower. Was it a rose?

Hopeless. Empty.

She still remembered the album crammed with photos of himself, only himself. Page after page, after page.

When she asked why, he grinned and mumbled some vague explanation filled with an under-layer of self-doubt he desperately tried to hide.

Grounded in his desperation, wanting to be seen for what he wasn't.

100 Word Stories

Frozen in Time

Home

 

Is this what we're supposed to see?

Is this the real face of...

Now is the time to be honest.

However, no one wants to tell the truth.

Everyone is hiding behind fake compliments.

Is this what we're supposed to do?

Is this the real...

And that flower was so fragile. As fragile as they were, staring at it, wondering.

The two of them. Alone.

They were real. Yes, they were, together in that frozen pain of what was not, together as they had always been, mourning what could've happened but never did.

The two of them. Together. Always together.

100 Word Stories

Collection

Milk Wood

 

He knew that the collection of plates with flowers on them was worthless.

However, his wife thought they were her ticket into a world of traveling and luxury.

When she died unexpectedly, one of her daughters lit two candles next to the plates, mentally claiming them as hers.

"No one wants these plates, right?"

Everyone said they did want them.

That's when a family crisis started. Years of arguments ensued. Marriages. Grandchildren. Divorces.

And the damn plates were still there, sitting on the shelf.

Good thing he had hidden the gold.

Traveling was nice and luxury hotels were even better.

100 Word Stories

Satisfied

Milk Wood

 

Let the music play.

And smile.

They tell you about her.

You don't recognize her in their words. But you smile.

They talk about what they don't know, veiled words of criticism oozing through.

Smile. Always smile.

Because letting them know what you really think would show ungratefulness.

And you're not ungrateful.

Let the music play.

Words turn into this vague hum.

And you try to make sense of it all. But you don't want to, because you know all about her.

They are satisfied. They have now established themselves as better than you.

It's OK. It's OK...

You smile.

100 Word Stories

Forward, Oblique

 

Land of Glory

Forward, and they stretched their arms forward.

Oblique, and they stretched their arms kind of sideways but not quite.

Black hole, and they were confused.

Stakes, and they were even more confused.

One of them mimicked a vampire being stabbed. Everyone thought that was a good idea and did the same.

"The point of this class is to open your mind. Express yourselves."

That's when he said "I think I'm about to relapse and start killing people again. That stakes part triggered me a bit."

The class was canceled due to a stampede of students exiting and never coming back.

100 Word Stories

Intake

 

Land of Glory

They told him no one would force him to eat only fruit and he was fine with that. He would eat meat too. "Not here, you won't," they said, smiling that placid smile of veggie eaters. But he knew what to do. He'd eat their fruit and then he'd sneak out. He was only there because she forced him to go. "You need to lose weight." Well, not by eating a ton of fruit, he thought.

When they caught him at the local diner, eating a steak, they cried. "Poor animal." He was offended and replied "I'm not an animal!"

100 Word Stories

As Far as the Eye Can See

 

Pala

"As far as the eye can see, the blue ocean, a nothingness filled with promises of many tomorrows. A certainty of the soul. A timeless motion forward. Perhaps even..."

"What on earth are you talking about, man?!"

The raft drifted aimlessly.

"We're lost. We're going to die and you're blabbering crazy stuff."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes. You'll start seeing things soon."

"You mean... Like that dragon?"

"Yes, like that dragon... Good grief man, there are no dragons."

The dragon swallowed them whole and burped. Not tasty, not tasty at all. Skinny, dehydrated humans. Nope, never again. Heartburn was a killer.

100 Word Stories

Blinded

 

Wintersweet

Dusk set in. The black panther remained seated on his pedestal, his back to the water, watching the humans getting ready to wrap up their day. It was that time again. They didn't know. But that old witch had taught him well. She had showed him who to snatch and when. The next morning, they would wonder. How? Why? When? Who did this? As the morning approached, he'd go back to being a statue. A statue on his pedestal, the one they revered, the one they looked up to for protection. Dusk set in and he waited on his pedestal.

100 Word Stories