Throne

Whispering Wind

The Christmas tent was located at the perfect snowy forest clearing.

Happy children lined up to see Santa.

The ice throne, however, started to melt quickly. Santa shifted in his seat.

The children looked at him, their eyes bulging.

“Who turned the cooling machine off,” yelled someone at the back.

All the kids looked in horror when Santa crashed to the floor.

All, but one. He looked at Santa and said "You're a disgrace."

Santa couldn't believe the cheekiness. "And you're a... a..."

"Thrones are for those who deserve them," said the kid, walking away as if he were royalty.

100 Word Stories

Broken

Winter Moon

No one looked at her, sprawled on the floor, holding a bottle of beer, one of many, too many.

Everyone walked away, tiptoeing over her legs to avoid stepping on her.

Nothing mattered anymore, she thought in her drunken stupor.

Everything was part of the past, her success, her laughter, her happiness.

She belonged nowhere. Just nowhere. It was over.

Fragmented thoughts of everywhere she had been crossed her mind. The countries, the cities, gallery after gallery, so many she had forgotten most, the media, photographs and interviews.

She sneered. Autographs...

To think she worried about autographs...

Broken, so broken.

100 Word Stories

The F-word

Tierra de Fuego

Never say the F-word, her mother had told her when she was a child.

The day she boarded that plane, the prospective of enjoying two carefree weeks in the sun was all she could think about.

Halfway through the flight, a storm hit the plane. She felt like saying the F-word often, especially when the plane started diving uncontrollably. But she didn't.

When the pilot managed to control the plane again and they landed safely, she stepped out of the plane, calmly and composed, raised her arms and yelled FUCK YOU! Then she looked up and smiled "Oops! Sorry, Mom!"

100 Word Stories

Sassy

Collins Land

The waves drowned the sound of a phone ringing. It rang for a minute. Then, it stopped. Later in the day, it rang again. The waves sloshed softly in the background.

The police sent search parties, geared up in white protective suits. They quarantined the small town, but the buildings were empty.

Then, the phone rang one last time. A policeman answered.

“Find them, I dare you. And find me too,” the voice cackled with laughter.

They did find them.

Years later, the waves returned to the shore what belonged on the shore.

They never found the cackling voice though.

100 Word Stories

Coma

Hazardous

The stage was set. The jury was ready, the music chosen.

He still felt the taste of her mouth.

He cast a furtive glance at her. She ignored him.

They danced. And they won.

He still felt her body pressed against his.

The applause died down as they waved to the audience.

And she hurried away.

He could still feel the shape of her hand in his.

The recollection of her smile was vague though, so vague.

She was now a body fallen into a deep slumber.

The stage was set. The jury was ready. 

But there was no music.

100 Word Stories

NaNoWriMo 2019

Rebellious NaNoWriMo month concluded with success. The hype was not as intense as when I write new material, but the goal was to get some revising done. That was achieved.

Option

Milk Wood

"No," shouted the elderly lady, forking up a luscious pumpkin pie.

"Yes," replied another.

The living-room of the Club was packed. All the ladies talked at the same time, tea cups held in a precarious fashion.

Suddenly, the door bell rang...

The rest of that night was spent at the police station where an important decision was made.

No more meetings after a night out at the local pub. The neighbors were such twats.

That was actually the word they wrote on a piece of paper, when they got back, and glued it to the neighbors' door, chuckling like teenagers.

100 Word Stories

Who Cares?

Whispering Wind

The chair faced a big wooden crate. Fragile. Fragile could mean a lot of things, he thought. Glass. He sat down and leaned forward. Rare wine. He sat back. Do not open it, they said. He stared at it and pondered. He wanted to open it... Porcelain. He tilted his head and tried to read the label. It was wet and blurry. "Screw them..." He stood up and opened the crate. It was filled with ideas, special ones too. The crate was filled with books, something extremely rare those days. He sneaked one out and closed the crate again, smiling.

100 Word Stories

Boom

Home

Boom, and the moon was gone. No one believed it could happen, but it did. The so-called brotherly neighbors from next door, meaning the next galaxy or wherever they came from, threatened to do it and everyone laughed, not a care in the world. Then, it happened. Those damn little green jerks. Ever since they moved in with all that scientific progress, new ideas, new concepts, new gadgets, life was a lot more complicated. That resonant boom was only outmatched by the roaring sound of space ships exploding as they left Earth. Oops! "Should we prepare for war?" someone asked.

100 Word Stories

Heart

Milk Wood

The regulars at the bar took sneaky glances at the blonde woman who had just walked in. Her long hair swayed as she conquered the room, an aura of certainty about her. The tight turtleneck made her perky breasts tease risky thoughts into everyone's minds. She pulled up a chair and sat down, facing the room, her feet up on the table in front of her. Wasn't it such a pleasant little coincidence that the chair had a heart on its back? She smiled. Everyone smiled back. A few waved with enthusiasm. No one knew she had the chainsaw ready.

100 Word Stories

NaNoWriMo 2019

The annual writing frenzy starts in a couple of days!

I was tempted to start a new story... again... But I have been working so much on revising - learning how to do it, getting motivated to do it and actually doing it... albeit slowly - that I've decided I would honor my efforts and keep working on my Work In Progress.

As a result, and for the first time since 2013 when I started taking part in the NaNoWriMo, I will be a Rebel.

I aim to follow the guideline of 30 minutes of work being the equivalent to 500 words of writing.

To win NaNoWriMo, you must write at least 50k words. This means I am looking at 50 hours of revising throughout the month and about 2 hours each day.

As always, the Virtual Writers, the writing community I belong to in Second Life, will meet daily at Milk Wood. We will also have a large number of workshops and resources to help everyone along this crazy adventure!

“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs

and developing our wings on the way down.”

Kurt Vonnegut

Tool

Asalia House

"Useless," said Reggie.

“It's good for our plans,” said Ronnie.

“The tractor's rusty.”

“No, look.”

And Ronnie grabbed a rusty wrench.

“And what is that?”

“Reggie, please. I have no clue.”

Reggie sighed.

"You're so negative. We'll lift it in the air and everyone will be horrified."

"I bet they will and we'll have a concussion too."

"Ghosts don't have concussions, silly."

"Really?"

Reggie grabbed a random part of the tractor and threw it at Ronnie's head.

Meanwhile, a few meters away, the farmer and his son were watching, amused.

"They are at it again! They should get a life!"

100 Word Stories

Sturdy

Sands of Time

The cave hideout stank of bacon. Whoever was there had cooked himself a hearty meal.

The treasure, however, had to be moved.

He tiptoed inside. A lamp sat by the side of the entrance and lit the way.

When he reached the spot, he shoved a few chests aside.

“It's not here.” In a frenzy, he dug through the sand. “It's not here.”

That's when a sturdy little man waltzed in.

"You want the cave? You can have it. I bought myself a new crib." And he waltzed away.

Throwing a pebble at his head didn't do a thing, unfortunately.

100 Word Stories

Smutty

France Portnawak

“So, here is where he writes his smutty books.”

“He writes smutty books, the vicar?!”

“You didn't know?!”

“No!”

Silence took over the whole room. They crossed their arms in sync and tilted their heads.

“The desk is huge.”

“It is.”

More silence ensued.

"I wonder how long it would take to destroy it?"

"A few minutes?"

They nodded.

"We need to find a creaky window."

"Boring."

"So... What then?"

Silence.

"OK, grab his books. We can read them out loud during mass."

And the two glided on to the next room, sneering. This Halloween promised to be great fun.

100 Word Stories

Diary

Whispering Wind

The page of her diary stared back at her, empty, looking for comfort. The meltdown drained her energy and got a hold of her willingness to fight back. The diary would always bring her some comfort. Not today. The past would never change and she was too tired to change the present so her future could make more sense. Smile, she thought. And what she saw was a distorted and pathetic face. Don't smile. It's better. Just keep calm. She took a deep breath and sat back. The page of her diary stared back at her, empty, looking for comfort.

100 Word Stories

(void, intertwine, den, get, fudged, meltdown, Tan)

Net

Wintersweet

No one had ever seen such a gigantic bug. The Mayor met with the police to come up with a plan. There was panic in town. And then came the models. The bug's wings flapped and flapped, creating a swoosh that made every aspiring model in town shake their manes. The others looked perplexed. The town was on the verge of collapse and they struck poses? Suddenly, the bug flapped its wings faster and everyone ran for shelter. Well, not the models. The bug flapped away, while the models waved their arms in the air. No one saw them again!

100 Word Stories

Void

Wintermoon

“Tell us a story.”

They shifted in their seats. The idea was to listen to stories at the beach, not tell stories, people thought.

“Just any story.”

People tiptoed away.

The host waited. It was such a nice day.

“Come, have a seat here.”

Everyone left except for a little girl.

“Do you have a story to tell?”

The little kid nodded and pointed at a scar on her chest. It was huge.

She smiled and said "But I still have my heart in here!"

"That's a great story," said the host, thinking it was all worth it after all.

100 Word Stories

Dresser

Wintersweet

"This is not a dresser. It's a cupboard."

The seller tried to convince her that it was a dresser, a modern dresser, a modern looking dresser. The seller talked a lot. He also smiled a lot. No, he sneered. That made her uncomfortable. He tried to convince her that the shelf standing next to the supposed dresser belonged to the package although it looked completely different. In fact, it wasn't a shelf at all. It was a coat rack.

She didn't appreciate being tricked.

It was difficult to stuff all the pieces of the seller inside his stupid modern dresser.

100 Word Stories

Furrow

Home

Something was different. She could feel it. She turned the pages slowly, trying to figure out what was going on. She couldn't see any difference, but she knew something had changed. Then, suddenly, she turned to page 22 and there it was. A whole paragraph was different. It had nothing to do with the rest of the story. She frowned. She turned to page 23. Everything looked fine. She turned back to page 22. The paragraph was gone. She slammed the book shut and put it back on the shelf. The writing demons were out again. And so it started.

100 Word Stories

Halfway

Octoberville

The priest stared at a silent room packed with anxious people. Suddenly, a truck arrived. Three men, heavily armed, entered the room. Halfway through the aisle, one of them raised his gun and fired a totally unnecessary warning shot. The crowd remained in silence. “Everybody out.” They stood up and walked quietly. “Where are you taking them?” asked the priest. “None of your business.” When the crowd got to the truck, the three men had disappeared. The priest drove the vehicle down a ravine a few miles away. They had bought some time to run and now they had guns.

100 Word Stories