Cat's Pajamas

 

Misali

"The Cat's Pajamas" was the name of the play. It involved a man pretending to play the piano on a rock plateau surrounded by water while the audience tried to reach him. They had to climb over rocks, slide on their butts, dodge rolling boulders, till they reached the water level. Most were taken to hospital with broken limbs. Several ended up in the morgue. And one managed to overcome all the hurdles. He got a certificate with a neat little stamp and a ribbon. Was there any music, the media asked. Ahm, nope, none whatsoever. Just wackos, many wackos.

100 Word Stories

Now and Then

 

Misali

It happened now and then. The music started. The dancing ensued. The portable record player sang in tune. She sat there, at the party, looking at strangers, acquaintances and lovers. What were the odds... All four of them, chatting, oblivious to the invisible link that connected them, enjoying their beers and cracking jokes. A fun night out. Each one of them added something to her empty life. So, she collected them. And she hid. "Had too much to drink, be right back." The trail of tears sounded pretty much like the record player, playing those tunes, one tear after another.

100 Word Stories

Pebbles, Shiny and Footlights

Mirai Melody

 

Pebbles, Shiny, and Footlights decided to order a birthday cake from the local store. They had tried to bake one. However, that didn't work out well. Let's just say that a burned down kitchen was a small portion of the problem. So, they ordered the cake, their angelic little faces looking up at the store owner. And they waited. And they waited some more. They became restless. Where's the kitchen, they asked. Long story short, Pebbles, Shiny and Footlights ended up in jail for burning down the whole block. Talk about an upgrade, minus the birthday cake, they said, chuckling.

100 Word Stories

Red Wine

Mirai Melody

 

He looked at the menu.

"Any red wine?"

The waiter shrugged.

"Any pizza?"

The waiter opened his eyes wide.

"Pizza?!" The waiter shook his head. "Here, Japanese food. If you want pizza, go to Italy."

"How rude. I'll just use my phone translator."

He fired up the app and pointed the phone at the menu.

"Lots of dishes. Oh, wait a sec. Waiter!"

The waiter got back.

"Four bodies for 130 yen?!"

The waiter sighed.

"Yes, the other three are in the freezer. We're just waiting for a fourth one."

That's when he decided to tiptoe out of there asap.

100 Word Stories

Camp NaNoWriMo

 

(Tentative Cover and Title)

Goal: Brainstorm and research characters and setting for NaNoWriMo (in November).
Word count: 40k = 40 hours of work.

I've reached my goal today. I have my cast and my setting.

Screen

Mirai Melody

 

She had just left everything behind. Her home, her family, her friends, her job, her money. She needed money. Desperately. As she walked through the cobbled streets of the old town, people stared at her, a sense of strangeness brewing their uncertainty. A multitude of colorful flower pots decorated their open windows and their doorsteps. And here she was, black clothes, black eye-shadow, black nail polish. She carried a bag full of books and nothing but doubts on her mind. She smiled. Perhaps this place could become a home. Someone smiled back. Yes, this place could definitely become a home.

100 Word Stories

Sponsor

 

Mirai Melody

The old millionaire had been poisoned 3 times. Two when eating puffer fish (was the chef in on it?), and another when his wife tried to get his money. Yes, he was still married to her. There was no point in wasting a perfectly good wife. She loved shrimp. So, she should have plenty of it. When the police called, he asked "did she eat the shrimp?". That was a strange question, they said. He replied "why? is she still alive?". They didn't arrest him because the cops always ate for free in his restaurants and besides, he was Yakuza.

100 Word Stories

Crystal Clear

 

Goatswood

Crystal was a cow. She was content with her simple bucolic life. When aliens appeared near the creek, she decided to investigate. "Cheers," she mooed. The aliens got startled and, in a panic, hid behind a rock. "What's up?" But they just stared at her. "Moo?" Nothing. "Ok, well, nice to meet you guys." And she trotted away. Later, when the aliens snuck up on her with a syringe, she went "Oh, no, you won't! It's bad enough you're poking around." That seemed like a pretty clear statement. But the aliens were confused. Poke? Around? Semantics, semantics are a bitch!

100 Word Stories

Spread

 

Goastwood

Spread the news, folks, only one train a week from Monday onwards. Yes, I know. It's a pain, but it's out of my hands. Top branch has decided and I follow their orders, that's all. No, Mr. Peters, I get no extra time off. I still have to be here at the station. Of course, Mrs. Lemon, but don't be so bitter. Sorry, I couldn't help it! And I see you, young Thomas, I see you. No more fun trips to the city ladies no more. Oh, that was a secret, was it? My sincere apologies. Well, now everyone knows.

100 Word Stories

Plain

Goatswood

 

"Plain and simple. No more bickering, you hear?"

The kids nodded.

"We're going to enjoy the trip to the sea."

The kids nodded.

"And get rid of that right now."

The kids chuckled.

"Don't you chuckle, now."

The kids nodded and took the chewing-gums from their mouths.

"This is not going to be easy..."

The train arrived and the nanny got distracted for just a split second.

A few minutes later, while looking for the tickets, she found... the gums, in her pocket.

The kids laughed and laughed, and thought that this would be a great trip to the sea.

100 Word Stories

Shark

 

Goastwood

He thought he was the big shark in the business, but his tobacco brand was not selling. We kept playing the part. We kept nodding like nodding dogs at the mercy of a car's twists and turns. It made him happy and we wanted him happy. Or did we? When he died, the company was dismantled. Finally, no more debt. What we didn't know was that he had a stash of millions hidden in a vault at home. The will kept us all from getting those millions. The sneaky bastard... Even after dying, the shark managed to kick our butts.

100 Word Stories

Blood is Thicker Than Water

 

Goatswood

"There's an issue... The whole village drank water from the creek. No one said blood was thicker than water anymore. Brothers attacked brothers, fathers ambushed mothers, grandparents turned on neighbors."

"Neighbors?"

" Yes. That was the only exception."

"Ahm..."

"I know. We went a bit overboard."

"Do you realize that now we won't get the grant? We will never be able to convince them that proverbs are our way in."

"Yes, well, but that was a bit of a silly idea in the first place. Humans are insane. Let's try that other planet with the little green men."

"Why? Oh, why?!"

100 Word Stories

Voices!

 

Whispering Wind

The guy stole my headset, and then the gun magically appeared in my hand and I just had to shoot. I knew the detective wasn't buying my loony bin strategy... My lawyer told me to shut up, but I just had to talk. And I went on and on about voices, lots of voices "can't you hear them?!". My lawyer said "shut up" again, but I just had to keep talking. In court, my lawyer turned to me and said "Voices?! Did you hear my voice??" And then I was given life. Perhaps I should write a book about voices!

100Word Stories

All Our Tomorrows

 

Tatty Soup

We gathered by the fire. Questions and more questions. One wanted this, the other that. And we all shared our fears and our hopes. There was laughing, crying, and yelling too. Not many believed we would make it out there. We all shook our head. We all chuckled. We knew. They didn't. We would make it! When the nurse came with the pills for the evening, we all agreed not to take them. The nurse said, take the pills, come on. And... I stood there alone. The others ran and hid in the darkest corners of my mind. The cowards.

100 Word Stories

Still

 

Roche

The train station was still there. The door was locked. I peered through the window but couldn't see anything. The bike was rotting away at the usual place. The windsock was still flapping on the rusty pole. Back then I didn't understand why the station master wanted that windsock up there. Trains don't run on wind. The old station master would smile and say that the birds needed to know. But I never saw any birds. The station master would smile again and say, you don't? Look. And point to the sky. He saw birds, and that made me smile.

100 Word Stories

Outsider

 

Misali

The family and the outsider. The mother, the father, the brother, the sister. A family like so many. The hugs and the smiles. The praises and the photos. A family like any other. Everyone smiled. Everyone thought, what a wonderful family. So loving, so caring. The kids look so happy. Except for the outsider. She was not happy. Why do you always have to frown for the photos? Why can't you be quiet? Why can't you be more like your sister? Why do we even bother? The outsider was never hugged or praised... or loved. The outsider was her daughter.

100 Word Stories

One, two, three...

 

Milk Wood

One, two, three, something… The numbers got jumbled in his head. He wanted to call her. He never understood why she had left. He was a caring husband. He yelled at her sometimes, true, but it was just to toughen her up. He always bought her flowers afterwards. The ungrateful would make a face and walk away. Two, three, something... No. He still loved her. But she abandoned him when he needed her the most. That punch was... Well, but she talked back. Three, one... He kept trying to remember it, not knowing that she had long changed her number.

100 Word Stories

Train

 

Saltwater

Train the mind, train the body. Row, row, row. And that was the deal. Resurface after a downfall. Get up and walk, get up and run. Go, go, go. But he didn't want to go, go, go. He didn't want to get up and he definitely didn't want to resurface.

He didn't mind the rowing, though. After rowing away for hours, he landed at a beach. Nice. Seagulls in the background. He could get used to this, he thought, until his coach showed up. How...?

"GPS, my son, GPS. Why do you think I gave you that gadgety little watch?"

100 Word Stories

Total Security

 

Nostalgia by Cicca

The security unit monitored the whole house. Total Security, stated the ad. But the resident cat hated it. When the security unit started growling, the owners thought they were doomed. Killed by a security unit. The horror. Well, the unit was just bored. Eventually, the feline and the unit struck up a friendship when the unit started purring. The cat thought that was rather amusing. But then the security unit was fired for being too noisy. So, the cat made a big fuss. Long story short, the unit stayed. Cats rule. If they want total security, they get total security.

100 Word Stories

Values

 

Goastwood

Comfort and quality. The true values of a traditional railroad company. And then there was Herbert, the old man who was the new employee. He made everyone's lives as difficult as possible. When he kicked a passenger's... backside... out of the train for complaining about everything, everyone was horrified. Why wasn't he fired immediately? And then, they received a letter. He owned the company and gave all employees a share of it. And he did so, because he realized that dealing with the public was a pain in the... Comfort and quality, yes. But also respect for the staff. There!

100 Word Stories