Zombies

Grimm Shores

The house featured on the brochure promised a supernatural experience. So they bought the full pack. A week of no sleep, little food, and malevolent ghosts. The first couple of days were quiet. A few whispers. A bit of woooooooo and a biting grrrrraaaaaaah. Not a ghost in sight, though. As the days dragged on, so did the wooooos and the grrraahs. It was annoying. The full pack had cost a fortune, plus they were hungry. As soon as they opened the door to leave, a horde of zombies stormed in. So the house did get its ghosts after all.

100 Word Stories

 

Angels And Demons

 

Land of Glory

You are me and I am you.

No wonder they frowned when they heard us. We hid and chuckled. They didn't find it funny. Not funny at all. We hid for a long time. We chuckled for a bit but then cold wind struck the windowpane and made us shiver, a looming sense of dread washing away our giddiness. Perhaps we were only meant to hide.

Perhaps they believed we would never be apart. And yet... You are me and I am you, but something shifted when we moved away for a long time. Well, you moved away. I stayed. I always stay. I am the lighthouse of your delirium. I anchor you when stormy weather pushes you ashore.

One day, the lighthouse will not shine to keep you safe. One day, it will just stand, mute in its darkness. And then you won't chuckle, not even for a bit.

You will look for me in the house we grew up in, a house with tall windows and heavy curtains, their birds and butterflies frozen mid-flight in eternal immobility. I will be there. I will be there looking through those windows, watching you. And you will believe I am still the lighthouse.

You will try to tell me all about your adventures and your new friends, contrarians all of them, of course, and the photographs for the new book you swear you'll publish next year, you must come to the party, it'll be wild, promise, promise, and I promise because I am still here.

Your tsunami of words pins me in place, as motionless as the birds and the butterflies. Yet, my thoughts drift away. I am me and I am no longer you.

You still chuckle, just as we once did a long time ago. One day, you won't, not anymore. I... I hide, certain now that I too must move... away from them, away from you. Just away from...

Sprint @ The Writing Place, 

the Second Life® group of writers

that chose Milk Wood as the home for their events.

Pancreas Poetry

LEA13 Cica Ghost

Poetry, a freakshow in the making. Add a postage stamp, someone yelled. He continued. Something about his pancreas. She felt sleepy. He spoke louder. She stood, right there, in the front row, but she felt sleepy. She must've fallen asleep standing, because when she opened her eyes, the room was empty. The stage was empty. Where's the freakshow? Where is he and his pancreas? As she started toward the door, a piece of paper fluttered to her. It said "Violets are red, roses are blue, my pancreas will burst, and so will you." It must be love then. She smiled.

100 Word Stories

Silence

 

Amar
(Closed March 2018)

Silence. She was teaching meditation now. Breathe in, breathe out. The group followed her lead. Suddenly, someone at the back moved out of sync. Breathe in, breathe out. Another one out of sync. She stood up and walked to the back of the room. Now, one in the front row. Stop! What is going on? Everyone shrugged. OK, back to breathing. In sync again. For a few seconds only... She squinted. A corpse-pale specter kept pushing her students. She rolled her mattress and swung it. The specter looked shocked. Breathe in, breathe out, she said, a smirk on her face.

100 Word Stories

My Name Is...

 "My name is... She stopped talking and started clicking. Everyone stared. For a full minute, she just clicked."

"Wait. You have literally lifted this from that film."

"No, I wrote this."

"You didn't. It's from that alien film."

"Ah, aliens. Right. In my story, there are no aliens. Something malfunctions in her brain and she stops using words."

"Forever?"

"Yes!"

"Forever...?!"

"Well, I'm not sure. I'm not that far into the story. I was thinking something neurological."

"Ah, ok. My name is... Mrs. ClickClick."

"Funny..."

"Get a better story. And don't lift any ideas from a film again."

"I didn't!"

100 Word Stories

Frostbite

 

Home

When words stumble through the page in a wave of sorrow, tears morn a future unlived. When a smile brings a tightness to the heart, one pauses just to breathe, a foggy gaze peering through, an overwhelming sadness stifling one's fears. Numbness creeps through the cracks of one's soul and one swears never to feel this chill again. And yet, it returns. Word after word. Tear after tear, the pages pacing relentlessly, gnawing at what remains...

"What? I thought it'd be a children's story this time," said Mouse. "The darn book shifted again... This online sorcery course is total nonsense."

100 Word Stories

A Porn Star Challenge

Amar

He was a porn star. Was. You can't do anything else, someone said. Challenge accepted. He looked around for acting roles. Failed. He worked as a delivery man. Why aren't you in acting? Failed. More acting roles. Failed. Performing had never been an issue before, he thought. The local hotel had a job. Yes. During the break, sitting in front of the hotel's fireplace one day, he overheard someone say uh, it's that guy. At least someone remembered him. It's that guy who dropped my dinner, and apologized in a very unusual way. Where's a camera when we need one?

100 Word Stories

Fringe

 

Bous Land

"This is not a fringe. It's a tassel." Her boss went on and on about the virtues of fringes in modern furniture. She thought modern furniture was mostly practical. Except for that armchair she inherited from the neighbor who moved to Africa right after redecorating the place with the "most modern furniture in the world". It did look quite cybernetic, except for the armchair. "You keep it", he said. And she did. That was when she decided that she'd have a tassel over a fringe any time of day, much to her boss's aggravation. Viva Las Tassels! Be a rebel!

100 Word Stories

Omnibus

 

Avatar Games

The omnibus edition included three of eight books. The release would take place in a week. However, the printing took longer than expected. The printer kept having to reprint everything. Odd pages would appear. After a few attempts, the editor decided to just print it and see what happened. We'll say it's a special remixed edition, he said. Right before the release, the editor leafed through the book. There was nothing wrong. And then he noticed it. There were not three but four books included, all in perfect order. Sometimes, we just have to let magic happen on its own.

100 Word Stories

Roger

Bridgetown

Wrench, he said. Roger, she replied. Screwdriver. Roger. Spark plug gapper. The what? Spark plug gapper. What did he mean? She searched the tool box and couldn't find... what exactly? Quick, the spark plug gapper, he shouted. She looked at him in a panic. The what, the what? And then, it was too late. He had lost his human form. Well, now you know, he said. The spark plug gapper was the code to reset her brain-vision connection. For some reason, it hadn't worked this time. He would have to complain to management, because he did like his human helper.

100 Word Stories

Beginning

bwc village

 

Many years later, he went back up the hill. The tire swings were still there. He swayed his legs back and forth as they had done. Why did it have to happen? Why? The cold night embraced him, cuddling him in its arms. He started to cry. Why can't I go back and undo everything? In the distance, he heard a train. Their train. The train that would take them away one day. The train that had killed her... At sunrise, he dried his tears and finally summoned the courage to take the train. For you. For us, he shouted.

100 Word Stories

Dirty

 

bwc village

A guitar case and no guitar, plus a sleeping bag. A trip to the mountain gone wrong. The police searched everywhere. Nothing. One day, he was back, holding his guitar. The police asked him questions. "The guitar code was dirty again," he said. "I planned to go to horse days." Horse days? "Yes. A historical field trip, not this garbage." The police had no clue what he meant, but they were offended. A nutcase, no doubt. The moment they tried to grab him, he held his guitar up and... disappeared. One wonders where he ended up on a corrupted code.

100 Word Stories

Pathetic

 

Binemist

Pathetic. The word reverberated in her mind. The beach house was nearly empty now. He moved on and got offended when she found out. He begged for "a second chance". But she packed up her stuff and walked away. Deal with it. The problem was, he didn't want his "new life" anymore. "It wasn't fun". Get a house, have kids, go to work, come back home. Suddenly, what he had with her was what he had with the other one. Boring. Shame the beach house was one of the casualties. She moved on. It's nice to be free, she thought.

100 Word Stories

A Stable Tin of Beans

Milk Wood

Fix fence, check how stable the tin of beans is, she typed. Stable tin of beans? Where had that come from? She continued typing her To-Do list. She shook her head. Then, she realized she was stuck. She couldn't think of anything else to add. Tin of beans. Tin of beans. Check. Check, check if stable. She decided to check the cupboard. A tin of beans, check. Stable... Oh. It was cracked open. Something was growing inside. She took a closer look and a voice in her head said "Thank you". The green spores were the last thing she remembered.

100 Word Stories

Gemstone

Milk Wood

The art installation Gemstone featured a naked mannequin with a television for a head, holding a megaphone. Its right arm was missing. Find meaning mode activated. Broadcasting television slogans while the body suffers the pain. Pleased with his interpretation, he approached the artist and shared his view. The artist looked at him, puzzled. He nodded, trying to prompt the artist to say something. The artist said "No, we got the mannequin on sale. They had lost the head and an arm, so they gave us an old tv and a megaphone.” Gemstone?! They should've named it Lacking a Gemstone, then.

100 Word Stories

An Empty Cup

Fenris Isle

 The café was still closed. "The clients are outside." The stress. Let them wait, said the manager. Wait?! The clients will leave. The manager, furious, slammed the door open, letting a flood of people in. "Line up, ladies and gentlemen." Some of the clients left. And like so, day after day, the café went bankrupt. "Now we're unemployed." The manager sneered. "I've got a job for you." The staff looked surprised. "I have a... parallel business in the basement." Six people were counting bills. Millions. "Where is this money coming from?!" The manager smiled. "No one knows." And he winked.

100 Word Stories

Tokyo

 

Missing Melody

He booked a trip to Japan. He wanted to visit Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe. He wanted to just sit and enjoy the beauty of the cherry blossoms. So, he landed in Tokyo. He was hungry. He went to a street vendor and sat down to eat. And he stayed. He ate and stayed some more. The food was so good, Kyoto and everywhere else would have to wait. A few months later, he moved to Tokyo, and his life changed. Strange guys with massive tattoos hired him to be a bouncer. He'd do anything for that food, even go to jail.

100 Word Stories

An Old Postcard

 

Milk Wood

Dear You,

Here's an unrequested update that will cause a sudden flare-up of indigestion, I know.

He took everything. The jewels, the money, even the hand-painted dishes no one liked.

He did leave a rather offensive note behind that I'll refrain from copying here.

Now, how do you want to roll? Shall we hunt him down or simply ignore him?

Crazy question, I know. I can hear your swearing from the future. I know your answer.

I've gathered a team. I know where he hangs out.

Meet you at the usual place. Tomorrow, midnight.

Bring the meat grinder.

Yours truly.

100 Word Stories

Give Up

Bridgetown

Give up. Give up. Give up. And he tossed and turned on the bunk bed. Nightmares turning into night sweats. His ears beating to the drum of his heart. Tomorrow. It'll be another day. Tomorrow. But it never was another day. It was the same day, over and over again. The same intelligence gathering. The same raids. The same ambushes. The same killings. The same deaths. A never-ending string of horrors. Give up... He wished closing his eyes would make everything disappear. The noise, the nightmares, his heartbeat. Give up... That nagging voice hammered on. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, I'll give up.

100 Word Stories

Railing

 

Collins

The stairs to the basement had no railing. "No one ever goes down there anyway," he said. One day, they decided to sell the house. There was nothing but a small apothecary cabinet with empty drawers in the basement. "Who put this here?" She shrugged. "Garbage." That's when the problems started. He tripped and hit his head on the corner of the cabinet. She twisted an ankle and he dislocated a shoulder while trying to move it. Enough was enough. They decided to leave it behind. The cabinet whispered "Railing". They rushed to sell the house for half its worth.

100 Word Stories