What's for Dinner?

Asalia House

The children looked at their plates, disappointed.

“Can’t we have something different for a change?”

“Be grateful, there’s food on the table,” replied the headmistress.

Some of the kids sulked, others refused to eat. When lunch ended, most of the food went back to the kitchen, untouched.

“What should I do with this?” asked the head cook.

“Give it to the dogs. There’s no room in the fridge. And when you go by the cemetery later today, don’t bring the hands. The kids don’t like seeing fingers floating in the soup. Oh, well, at least the dogs will be happy.”

100 Word Stories

Flight

Tierra de Fuego

Cramped in their seats, no one moved. No one could move. The flights had become sheer torture. The number of seats increased but no one complained because the prices were irresistible. When the row started at the back, no one gave it much thought. It was only understandable. When the frantic voice of the stewardess asked people to remain seated, no one reacted. When a clearly tense captain announced an emergency landing, most were relieved. When the emergency crews arrived, the biggest piece to be found was the size of a handbag. Dirt cheap, said the flight advertisement. So true.

100 Word Stories

At the Builder’s Brewery Art Festival

For the second year, I was invited by the Builder's Brewery in Second Life to donate a piece of my writing to be auctioned for Relay For Life (RFL). I have chosen a poem I wrote a long time ago that still today moves me for the seed of hope it conveys, "Peace Returns".

If you can, do bid on it. All proceedings will go to the American Cancer Society. The bidding can be done between May 21st and May 28th. To go to the location of the Art Auction, click here.

The Art Auction is one amongst many events taking place throughout the week. For more information, click here. For the Builder's Brewery RFL Art Auction Shopping Guide, click here.

Thank you for helping! <3

Out of my Brain

Innsmouth

The roads were littered with metal scraps. The food was scarce. No one dared say a word. The real problem was none of this; it was the compulsory pea-sized contraption. Then, they went back home and all the brains on Earth were placed in suspended mode, our bio energy being sucked away, long-distance. When they returned for a check-up, I was part of the test sample. I hid, and jabbed my eye to get them out of my brain. I lost an eye but they never saw me again. More have done it too. We’ll get Earth back, one day.

100 Word Stories

Cave

Octoberville

The growling coming from the cave was nothing compared to the fear they shared of ghosts. Emily, however, had a deep rooted curiosity about entities of a parallel dimension. The problem was that these entities enjoyed playing tricks on their mortal counterparts. One was imitating voices and that growling was exceptionally realistic indeed. When they stepped inside the cave to take a picture of the ghost, the flash showed them, for a fraction of a second, the chilling white teeth of a huge black bear. “Oh, so ghosts don’t exist after all,” said Emily disappointed with the insignificant furry problem.

100 Word Stories

Think of a Number

Octoberville

“He slept for a thousand years,” read Mrs. Thomson. “And when he woke up,” she continued, hoping to keep the class quiet. “He…”

That’s when Peter stood up.

“Why did he sleep that long?”

The kids looked at him.

“I don’t understand.”

The quiet class quickly turned into a mob of loud kids.

“Children, the story isn't over yet,” protested Mrs. Thomson. It was hopeless.

Twenty years went by and Mrs. Thomson received a letter.

“I think I understand why he slept for a thousand years. I wish I could do the same.

Signed,

Peter, in for a life sentence.”

100 Word Stories

Camp NaNoWriMo Goal Reached!

And here it is, the moment to bask in the fact that I have reached the goal I had established for myself. 10.000 words in 30 days and a few more chapters done.

I'm now only a few chapters away from (finally) finishing The Unspoken Footnote.

The next step is to finish the novel and to start revising it during the upcoming CampNaNoWriMo in July.

The Camp at my writers' community in Milk Wood will be up and running till then and I'll continue to host the 500 Word Snatches to give everyone who'd like to join me a bit of a push, 30 minutes/500 words at a time!

I'm Sorry

NeverlandX

A whisper, barely a murmur, caught his attention that night.

He squinted, adjusting to the darkness of the alley. A few steps and he heard it again.

“Who’s there?”

No one replied.

The murmur became a lament, loud and mournful.

He followed the sound as he stepped into the shadows.

Suddenly, he saw the shiny blade coming from the right and instinctively turned around.

That grin, he recognized her.

“I’m sorry,” he yelled in despair, trying to save himself. “I’m sorry.”

But it was too late.

“I’m not,” she replied, grinning as she did back then while he raped her.

100 Word Stories

Dumb Line

Collins Land

When staring at a line of people, it’s often difficult to spot who the dumb ones are.

Sometimes, they just look dumb. Other times, they hide it under a layer of apparent effectiveness. Phones are now especially useful for that; people look like they have extremely busy lives, doing extremely important things.

When the newest computer game came out, hacker John X watched the line of people standing at the entrance of the store, waiting impatiently for the doors to open, and he was sure of one thing. They were all dumb, no exceptions. Their eagerness would be their downfall.

100 Word Stories

(Prompt: Pick two - Dumb, Hacked, Cherry, Drunk, Cage, Line, Hammer, Wolves)

Debate

MOSP

The two sides presented their arguments in a very civilized manner. There were no interruptions. The audience clapped in unison after each speaker. The moderator smiled content with how everything was going. During the break, a man sitting at the back stood up and started yelling something about kiss, and everyone thought he meant the band. He was rapidly removed by security much to the perplexity of those sitting on the right side of the aisle. Those on the left side snickered. At the end, viewers voted. The numbers were clear. The vampires won and it was a bloody mess.

100 Word Stories

Library

Octoberville

The books shook on the shelves. At first, they got slightly roughed up. Then, the earthquake became stronger and they all ended up on the floor. Somehow, the Classics got mixed with the Sci-Fi which generated a rather electrifying commotion. The Gothics insisted on moving to the Horror section because they had a few relatives there. And the Mystery hardbacks sulked when they were temporarily lodged with the Crime paperbacks. The only ones thrilled with the uproar were the Erotica books. They had grown tired of being ostracized for years in the stuffy corner at the back of the library.

100 Word Stories

Camp NaNoWriMo 2016 Participant

Camp NaNoWriMo started in 2011. It took place in July and August. In 2012, it moved to June and August to finally settle for April and July since 2013.

2013 was the year I started taking part in the NaNoWriMo, actually. I had heard about Camp, but the hubbahubba was far less intense, so I never really considered taking up the challenge.

However, as it always happens when you belong to a community of writers, I heard about others' experiences and was rather curious to check deeper into the possible advantages of Camp NaNoWriMo.

Cabins

An interesting feature it offers is the fact that we belong to a cabin. A cabin is composed of 11 writers and the communication channel allows for a much closer support than what we have with the general list of contacts at the NaNoWriMo.

I'm happy to say that, for the first time, The Virtual Writers community has its own cabin at the Camp NaNoWriMo website and I'm thrilled to have been invited to join it.

Plus, there is an added element of fun in this endeavor. Milk Wood has a real camp. Well, virtually real! I'll refrain from explaining too much because Katjamez has done it already and much better than I would. So, for a comprehensive look into Milk Wood's virtual camp site, do check KatJamez's wonderful blog post here. 

Screenshot from Kat's blog post

Tip: Check the rest of the blog too! In her blog Mirror Rim, Seeking the Muse, Kat wrote a series of posts titled Camp Survival Kit that I find particularly insightful.

Establishing Goals

Another engaging feature of Camp NaNoWriMo is the fact that we can not only establish our own goals but also choose the type of project we would like to work on, meaning, the challenge is not confined to the limits of fiction/non-fiction writing. As a matter of fact, many participants revise/edit or take on non-noveling projects such as writing scripts.

Tip: To determine how to establish word count for editing/research and scrips/graphic novels, click here. For the FAQs, click here.

Adjusting The Needs to the Challenge

The whole idea of the NaNoWriMo challenge is to push people to write, to encourage them to be productive in whichever project they might embrace.

Having accomplished the 50.000-word mark last November (and having surpassed it largely by almost 10.000 words) I didn't, however, manage to finish the novel. The Unspoken Footnote became a far lengthier text than I had first anticipated.

Long story short, it's time to finally tackle the last few chapters (seven) and finish the darn thing! I have established a goal of 10.000 words, 334 word per day.

Considering that I host the morning Snatches at Milk Wood, and that each session lasts 30 minutes having a goal of 500 words, I think this is totally doable. As a matter of fact, I do think I'll write more than the 10K, but I prefer to be conservative and reach the goal. Real Life does tend to throw a few unexpected obstacles my way every now and then.

Tip: The 500 Word Snatches I host take place Mon-Fri at 2am SLT (10am PRT/UK) and Sat 12noon SLT (8pm PRT/UK). On week days, we have two 30-minute sessions and on Saturdays we have one. For more information on other schedules, click here.

Sooooo!

Here I go. A new adventure begins tomorrow. Yep, I'll just follow the squirrels!

Wish me luck! *wink*

The Singapore Cleanup

Hazardous

“Where are we?” asked Penny.

The small boat slid through the narrow strips of water.

“I thought…”

“I know, love,” replied Miles.

Unexpectedly, a bend in the canal revealed a boathouse called Singapore. It was deserted.

“Ok. This is unacceptable,” Penny shouted. “Not only do we not travel to Singapore but we have to wait?! We are professionals!”

Suddenly, a sharp sting hit the side of her head. She was gone immediately.

The boat driver then turned his attention to Miles.

“The invitation did say Singapore, last stop.”

Miles tried to go for his gun, but it was too late.

100 Word Stories (Prompt: Singapore)

King

Wilanow Palace and Gardens

The kids made fun of Bernie whenever he said “I’m a King.”

What he meant was he belonged to the old local King family, although he wasn't called “King”.

Bernie was, however, proud of his heritage and no one would convince him otherwise.

Fresh out of College, a distant cousin called Harold King introduced him to the right people.

When Bernie came back for his high-school reunion, the kids sure didn't make fun of him when he said “I’m a king!”

He had married into a European royal family and had become king, only in title, but still a king.

100 Word Stories

Guide

Octoberville

“We better throw it in the garbage,” complained Tim infuriated.

“I’ll fix it,” said Paul.

“We've been here for ages, Paul.”

Paul rolled his eyes and continued to work.

“Forget about it, I tell you.”

“I will fix it.”

This continued for a few hours, Paul getting more and more aggravated.

Suddenly, the thing started purring.

“See,” said Paul triumphantly.

“But it’s making an odd noise...”

Paul closed his eyes for a second, gave the thing a swift jerk and swung it at Tim.

What a shame, he hadn't followed Tim’s words and thrown the damn saw in the garbage.

100 Word Stories

Ring

Avatar Games

Silver with a red stone, thought Marcus. She liked red.

The shopkeeper was extremely friendly, however none of the rings appealed to Marcus. He wanted something different.

“Well,” said the man. “I have one here that is very special. It’ll make her young and beautiful forever. But it comes with a special price too.”

“What’s the price? I’ll pay.”

When he left the store, five of his fingers and an ear were gone.

He should’ve noticed those small jars on the shelf behind the counter. It turned out the man was a collector of body art, as he put it.

100 Word Stories

Leap

Beleza

“Just leave that. We can’t take anything.”

The two ran outside to join the mass of people hurrying down the street.

The military crammed as many as they could in their vehicles before speeding away.

“Hop in,” he said, dragging her towards one of the trucks.

She shook her head.

 “We are going to die if we stay.”

She pulled her sleeve up, and a blue light popped up.

“I am like them.”

He was speechless. Then he stretched out his arm. “To be with you.”

She injected him.

They never looked like humans again, but they were still together.

100 Word Stories

Valentine's Day Special

Santaurio

The beach was deserted.

They sat close together and held hands.

It was done.

“The casket is lovely, isn’t it?” she whispered.

He agreed.

The incoming tide threatened to reach them.
He looked at his hand. He could still feel the stickiness.

“I can’t believe my husband is gone. Aren’t you happy?”

He looked at the horizon. He wasn’t that sure anymore.

“Do you love me?” she purred.

Eventually, he’d have to spend money on a second casket; already he could see that coming.

Resenting her clinginess, he vowed never to celebrate Valentine’s Day again. It was too damn expensive.

100 Word Stories

The Love Game

Octoberville

Final Prize – Laura.

Location Card – Lake.

Number Card – 1.

One good deed and Frank would move up to the next level.

When he arrived at the lake, he saw an alien fighting helplessly to stay afloat, sinking in the water every now and then.

Should he do something? Or just watch the tragedy unfold?

To think that he had made fun of the guy who got the #10… Helping ten old ladies cross the street seemed easy enough.

What should he do? Laura or revenge?

Half an hour later, Frank took off.

Laura would have to wait.

Next card.

100 Word Stories (Prompt: Love)

Stranger

WinterMoon

“I’m sorry,” said the stranger before hanging up.

She was perplexed. Probably a wrong number, but still… a bit creepy.

When she turned off the light, she didn't notice the slight creaking of the entrance door and a shadow walking towards her bed. Drowsy, she only felt a slight sting on her neck.

No one ever saw her again.

The only thing they found was a card on her nightstand saying “Gone”.

She would come back, years later. She too would call someone to say “I’m sorry”. That was the price to be free. And she had to pay it.

100 Word Stories