Rain

Mare Serenitatis

Drip, drip. It was difficult to walk on one leg. Fortunately Lord Heavenly had chopped John’s leg, not his life. John crossed the patio and searched for the gold coin. It was not under the vegetable cart or the empty wine barrels in front of Wimpey’s den. He searched everywhere. He would buy a nice sword, he thought, lusting for the gold. Soaked and impatient, he suddenly slipped and fell against an abandoned sickle. It dropped violently. Well, now he had done it, John thought. Drip. And he didn’t even remember anymore why Lord Heavenly had chopped his other leg.

100 Word Stories

Abacus

The Epic Toy Factory

It was night. They were sitting around the fire drinking and exchanging stories of their lives to scare the cold away. Suddenly, they turned to her.

“You’ve been quiet all this time. Tell us a story, a true story,” they asked. She thought for a few moments and then started.

"A while back, a young man I know used to walk up Noble Street coming back from work and always stopped at the window of the bookstore. In a dark forgotten corner of that window sat an abacus. Made of wood, it seemed to call him, to draw him. Many times he felt tempted to go inside the bookstore and ask for its price He wasn’t brave enough to do so though. And the abacus sat there, waiting for him.

Until one day, as he approached the store, he noticed something was wrong. The abacus was gone. In a frantic panic, he walked inside and asked the old man at the counter if the abacus had been sold. The old man said yes; it had been there for such a long time that he had sold it to the first offer he got, a mighty low one too. He was distraught. If only he had summoned enough courage before… Perhaps the abacus would’ve been his. Furious, he decided to walk a different path from then on and forget the darn abacus. It was just an object anyway.

Seven months later, after a rough day at work, he walked home immersed in his thoughts, and without noticing, he walked up that street again. When he realized what happened, he was standing in front of the bookstore looking at the window. Wouldn’t it be amazing if the abacus were suddenly back, he thought.  It wasn’t. The old man standing at the door waved at him. He was in a terrible mood and making small talk with a stranger wasn’t part of his list of priorities, so he prepared to move on but the old man was faster and grabbed his wrist.

“I knew you’d come back,” he said. “Follow me.”

“I… I must go…”

“Come,” the old man waved for him to follow. “I want to show you something.”

Resigned, he crossed the store and walked into a small room at the back. When his eyes got used to the dim light, he saw it.

“Isn’t it amazing?” asked the old man, beaming.

He was speechless.

 “I got it back,” the old man said. “I got it back for you.”

“I don’t understand…”

“I saw your sadness and called the buyer. He really didn’t want this abacus. He was just looking for something to decorate his office and the abacus looked… I believe the word he used was prestigious.” The old man adjusted his position slightly. “But now I want you to have it.”

“I don’t have money… really, I don’t.”

“It’s for you, a gift.” The old man smiled. He had prepared this a long time ago, but the young man had disappeared.

“I don’t understand… Why would you go through so much trouble for a complete stranger?”

“Well, you know that the abacus represents fortune. There are many ways to have fortune. One is obvious, money. I cannot give you that, and then again…” The old man smiled mischievously. “The other is a smile.  I can give you that. And finally, I can also offer you a friend, me!”

The young man was moved. He held the abacus, smiled and hugged the old man, who was as happy as he could possibly be.

Well, finally let me tell you that the young man left his miserable job and took over the bookstore with enthusiasm. The old man now does what he loves doing, sorting through old dusty gems of literature, giving advice on which books people should take and offering a nice cup of coffee to everyone who walks in, encouraging them to sit down for a bit and read something. People love it.

The abacus, well the abacus is still there.  And it will always be there, bringing fortune, in more ways than one can imagine, to all those who walk up that street and go inside that very special bookstore.”

Everyone around the fire remained silent. She could almost hear them think that it must feel good to be offered a smile, a hug and a new life.

Writer's Dash

Masquerade

Venexia

Of faces hidden,

Of dances and secret glances,

Of merry steps and hollow sneers,

Entangled,

Sagacious sibylline.

Mutatis Mutandis.

Let the masquerade begin.

Writer's Dash

Distant

Mare Serenitatis

Roaming the memory of past dreams,

Surfacing the feelings of lost souls.

It’s time, it’s time.

Awakenings,

Awakening,

I’m here.

Roaming awake through time and lost dreams.

Writer's Dash

Unhinged

Rachelville

“There is a giant bunny in the back yard. It’s bigger than the tree.”

Everyone laughed.

“How can it be bigger than the tree? There are no bunnies that big.”

“Well, it is, I tell you.”

They all looked at one another. Peter had always been a bit of a loony and the group of friends was used to his odd observations. There was this one time when he said he had seen a red spaceship fly by, and there was this other time when he swore on his mother’s soul bless her heart that there was an alien wandering in the back yard.

No one believed him, much to his dismay.

“Is the bunny red too?”

Peter turned around and walked away, offended. His said good friends simply did not believe him. He knew what he had seen. And yes, there was a giant bunny sitting in the middle of the yard, which now looked unsurprisingly smallish.

He sat in front of the bunny and examined it for a while. It looked like a statue. It was not moving.

When his friends decided to come outside just to tease him, they could not believe their eyes.

“Whoa! That is one huge bunny!”

“Told ya,” he replied unenthusiastically.

After much discussion about the origin of the intriguing bunny, the owner, even about whether it was some sort of prank, the group sat in silence.

The afternoon came and went, the evening too. Night set in and suddenly a red dot appeared in the horizon.

“Look,” one of Peter’s friends pointed.

The red dot quickly became a spaceship and a red alien stepped out. He touched the giant bunny with a finger and it disappeared.

Peter asked “why?”

The alien replied “unhinged.”

Peter nodded.

“I knew what I had seen.”

The alien went back inside the spaceship and flew away.

The group of friends was speechless. After a few feeble and unsuccessful attempts to express some sort of reaction towards what had happened, everyone walked away slowly. Embarrassed, some looked at Peter and then lowered their eyes to the ground.

When he was finally alone, Peter reached inside the pocket of his shirt and grabbed a tiny bunny. His red eyes flickered. And Peter knew.

Writer's Dash

Flies

Mare Serenitatis

Aim, target locked, shoot. Swoosh. And again. The whole afternoon. That damn tennis ball flew left and right. It was driving the neighbor crazy. Knock, knock. Yes? Can’t you knock it off in there? I’m killing flies. I don’t care; just stop it. Swoosh. Just stop it! Swoosh. Stop the goddamn ball throwing! Silence. The door slid open slowly. Here comes a ball, the neighbor thought, but I’m ready. He focused. A huge fly came through the door… Swoosh. The fly went in the neighbor’s mouth, the ball hit his forehead and the door slammed on his nose. And shot!

100 Word Stories