A Happy Story

Il Nido

Sneezy Tom went to the bookshelf and picked up a book.

“Wanna hear a story?”

Grumpy Doc nodded.

“But read a happy story.”

“Doc, what's a happy story?”

Grumpy Doc turned to look at him, frowning.

“Something that ends well.”

“Then I have to grab another book. This won't do.”

With the second book in hand, Sneezy Tom started reading.

“... and the two lived happily ever after, her head chopped off and stored in a jar.”

“That's happy?!”

“Yes, my wife drives me crazy. It's a shame I can't do this...”

100 Word Stories

(Pick Two Prompts: Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Dopey, Bashful, Sneezy)

Pizza

Enoshima

“This looks awful. Are you sure they have pizza here?”

“Yeah.”

“How did you find this place? There's no one else here.”

“I got an email. They sent me an 80%-off coupon.”

“80%?? Let's go. Now.”

“Why?!”

“Haven't you heard of the 80% club? They'll shrink your brain by 80%.”

“What?”

It was too late. The doors closed.

The next morning, they were found barely alive.

The number of these cases had been growing lately. No one knew how it was done, but everyone knew the consequences.

Discount coupons can be hazardous.

100 Word Stories

Organ

Westdell

When we arrived for dinner at the neighbors, a man was playing a song on an old pipe organ. One of the notes was off-key, but he played on. When the host invited us to go outside, I was happy to escape that torture. The problems started when she explained that they needed meat and that they took some of his organs . I was shocked, and was about to ask how he could even play when I felt a sharp blow to the back of my neck. Officer, do you think this scar is what I suspect it is?

100 Word Stories

Fly

Sopor Aeternum

“The photo's really bad. Where's this?!”

“I don't know. But this is where the hot air balloon is.”

“I can see that... Do you have any other irrelevant information to volunteer?!”

“There's a lighthouse on the photo.”

“I can see that too... What else?”

“Nothing... Except those red leaves.”

“Special leaves?”

“No. They're quite common.”

“Then, we have nothing.”

“Nope.”

“Why did you bring me this photo then?”

“Because at the back someone wrote the coordinates.”

“And you waited this long to tell me that?”

“I just hate negative people.”

100 Word Stories

Mr. Caramel

Matanzas

Mr. Caramel was surely the one who knew more about everyone else. He noticed every single detail regarding the neighborhood and memorized it thoroughly.

Mr. Caramel could hear his wife chatting languidly with Mr. Granite, that Mr. Granite...

Mr. Caramel decided, right there and then, that he wasn't going to do anything but enjoy the warm hours of a lazy afternoon. He slowly stretched his neck towards the sun. 

If Mrs. Caramel wanted to eat, she could go prepare things herself... or ask Mr. Granite. 

He stood on the pole and closed his eyes. Mr. Caramel was a proud seagull.

100 Word Stories

(Prompt Pick Two: Granite, Pertinent, Record, Surely, Tag, Bridge, Proud, Detective,Tarp, Caramel)

Camping

Magical Farm

“It's cold and I don't even like camping.” And Annie slammed the door behind her.

Why did Annie have the final word about everything, thought Paula.

A pair of curious eyes looked inside the house.

Why couldn't they go camping in the winter? They just needed a few extra sweaters. And besides, Paula really wanted to see that stag again.

When she turned around, he was there. She didn't dare to move. They looked at each other. And that's how the word camping took on a completely different meaning, as the stag came back for a visit every day.

100 Word Stories

Weak

Black Kite

“My stomach is weak,” she said, a tray filled with amazing food looking back at her.

At the restaurant, they were used to her moaning. But she ended up gobbling it all down.

One day, they dared her to cook. She hesitated, but she wasn't one to run away from a challenge.

When the insurance company showed up, it was impossible to identify where the kitchen was, and it was nearly absurd to even attempt to tread through the barrier of debris by the front door.

That's when they heard, “My stomach is weak and now my leg hurts...”

100 Word Stories

Vibration

Dark Moon

The vibration was stronger as the herd approached. They continued to sleep under the giant plant.

The bamboos muttered a strange song, the thumping making it grow more and more intense. They didn't wake up. They slept on, immersed in their dreams, their huge ears flipping back and forth as if they were awake.

The symbols on the stone became bright, dancing to the rhythm of the bamboo song.

The herd trotted past them and didn't even noticed they were there.

They opened their eyes slowly. The bamboo became silent and the stone went to sleep under the giant plant.

100 Word Stories

Hardly

Salt Water

Matt winced. He adjusted his glasses and looked at the huge sign. “Gone Fishing”.

And off he went!

Everything was fine until the neighbor kid noticed he never brought back any fish.

“I ate them.”

The kid wasn't convinced, but Matt didn't mind.

In his pocket, he had three gold nuggets. He placed them carefully in the box he hid under the floor planks. He needed a new box. This one was full.

When the kid sneaked inside the house to see what was inside the box, he found a lot of yellowish pebbles.

Matt really needed new glasses!

100 Word Stories

Sunny Shift

Winter Sweet

The angel sat on the bench. The sunny day was coming to an end as was his shift. However, he had failed, so he couldn't understand why he felt so happy. The elderly woman he was supposed to watch over had been hit by a car. The obnoxious teen had jumped in the pool and broken a leg. Even that damn dog someone had placed in his list as a prank had bitten the nosy neighbor. And yet, he felt happy. That's when he noticed some of the feathers of his wings were taking on an unusual tint of red.

100 Word Stories

(Prompt Pick Two: Fail, Globe, Sunny, Wee, Shift, Well, Butter, Wilco, Grass)

Water

Black Kite

Bubble, bubble, water, water. The bubbly drip drip sound around her made her close her eyes. The armchair had been placed in the middle of the pond just where the water was shallow enough. She looked around and saw no one. Bubble, bubble, drip drip, water, water. No rain, no fountain, just the drip drip sound of something bubbling inside her. And the water glittered with hesitations and dreams, none of hers, of course. She was very practical. She just sat there, in the middle of that pond, where the water was shallow enough, and dripped dripped her soul away.

100 Word Stories

Braided

Apassionatta

She sat out in the garden, holding her long braid defiantly. She had chopped it off.

The people in the tavern looked at the strange woman.

The fact that she was sitting there intrigued everyone. Everyone except the owner of the tavern. He knew. He had almost strangled her with that braid when...

He walked outside and everyone witnessed in horror how, in a split second, she wrapped the braid around his neck and knocked him to the floor, snapping his neck before anyone could do anything.

She braided the rope they placed around her neck a few days later.

100 Word Stories

Generally

Forgotten City

The lighthouse keeper stared at the horizon. Five lines. The sea was unusually calm and it was bitter cold. His mind wandered back to that day. The sea wasn't calm then and it wasn't cold but he felt it at the back of his neck like a knife. The body was out there. He knew exactly where. Five years ago. Each year, on that day, he would stand up there. He didn't know how. He never noticed when. But he knew she came from the sea to carve another line on his arm, a reminder of what he had done.

100 Word Stories

The Brothers, the Tower and No Elephant

 Island of Lost Dreams

The brothers had a reputation that preceded them wherever they went. The day they decided to steal the gold statue of an elephant, they came up with a plan and managed to sneak inside the king's tower. The problem was, they couldn't find the damn elephant anywhere. They climbed all the way to the top in pitch black darkness. Exhausted, they sat down for a few seconds. No elephant, but the view was magnificent. They decided to watch the sunrise before resuming the search. Suddenly, evil laughter interrupted the dreamy moment. Watching the sunrise was lovely. Free flying was not.

100 Word Stories

Grab a Bag...

Cadenza

Grab a bag and fill it with stars, one by one. One star for each day you've made it. One star for each doubt you've overcome. One star for each moment of loneliness, for each step you've taken. Grab a bag and fill it with dreams, one by one. One dream for each tomorrow, for each smile, for each doubt you've left behind. And when you open that bag, you won't know which are the stars and which the dreams. While you carried them around, they talked and they smiled. They knew they would be free, as free as fireflies.

100 Word Stories

If Only I Had...

Pixel Dreams

If only I had a moment, one single moment...

I would close my eyes and listen to the languid swooshing of the old windmill.

I would be a seagull for a moment, one single moment, and feel the wind under my wings.

I would sway softly in a soothing flight of sheer weightlessness. I would be suspended in mid-air.

And I would forget everything. I would forget time. I would forget pain. I would forget the struggle.

I would just fly in a motionless sense of abandonment.

I would close my eyes and listen to that one single effortless moment.

100 Word Stories

Why Not?

Apassionata

“Why not the head first?” asked Paulie.

“That's not the way we do it,” replied the boss.

“Why not?”

“Because. Go grab the leg for me and shut up.”

Paulie crossed the yard, grabbed the leg from a bucket, and dragged it back.

“Here.” And he dumped the leg on the kitchen table.

“Hey. Remember the arm.”

The acid would do wonders, but last time he had to deal with an arm, it flipped in such an odd way he didn't sleep for a whole damn week.

“Why not the head...?”

“Paulie...”

100 Word Stories

Look Away, Please

Bridgetown

A crowd gathered near the collapsed bridge. The front part of the truck was stuck on one side of the bridge, the back on the other.

“Icy pavement?”

Heads shook.

“Where's the driver?”

They checked security cams, interviewed witnesses, searched the truck. Nothing.

“So, no one was driving the truck?”

Elsewhere, monitors showed live images from the accident.

A man adjusted the noose around the woman's neck.

“Let's get this tighter.”

She didn't last long.

The man smiled. Improving his obsolete technological skills opened up a whole new world of possibilities. They would never catch him.

100 Word Stories

(Pick Two: Corner, Tiger, Tie, Please, Encountered, Obsolete, Winter, Webcam)

Smartypants

Water Reserve

"Pathetic idea. This won't work. Plants need water," said the moody Professor.

However, Peter was determined.

He tweaked the genetic code for months. Then, he finally made it. The plant grew without the need for any assistance. People just had to place it in a large pot and leave it be.

Peter also programmed the plant to identify the Professor who is now, let's say, part of the said plant.

The downside of this story is that the plant is always in a bad mood, the roots throwing the soil out of the pot. Good thing, it's in slow motion.

100 Word Stories

Involved

Venexia

The café was busy.

From the street, it looked like they were moving in furniture. In fact, they were smuggling antiques.

When the fire destroyed the café, the police arrested two local thugs on an anonymous tip. They swore they hadn't done it.

From across the street, the owners of the restaurant observed the commotion with satisfaction.

Their business was safe again.

And no one had to be buried in the cellar, which was becoming very crowded.

The last thing they wanted was for the police to snoop around.

"And for us, it's back to the pots and pans, boys."

100 Word Stories

(My story wasn't published this week, because I forgot to send it over...
But do check everyone else's stories. They are very good.)