A young lieutenant sat with his back against a stone wall and his shirt front soaked through with blood. He was bare-headed, and looked about fifteen. He stared up at Gunther. “Lights,” he whispered.
Something like that. [Read more…] about Lights
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Forever Hold Your Peace
Tony shuddered when the tinkling started. He sat in a sparsely populated corner of the hall, far from the head table, closer to the keg, drinking beer out of a plastic cup. As the tinkling grew in volume, Tony kept his eyes on the wet rings his cup had made in the paper tablecloth. A cheer arose. He knew she was kissing him, and the thought ate him alive. It’s your own damn fault, he told himself. You had your chance to speak. What is there to do now?
After a minute, he got up and headed for the door.
I wrote this story for the 100 Word Challenge #342 at Velvet Verbosity.
A Couple Days from Cheyenne
A couple days from Cheyenne, out of food and luck, we follow the shallow river. In late afternoon, a lone, dappled horse grazes on the far bank.
“It’s a wild horse,” George says. “I’d eat horse.”
I have the rifle. It’s an easy shot.
“Go ahead,” George whispers. “Before he spooks.”
I take aim. The horse lifts its head and looks across the river at us. George and I stand still in the shadows, hardly breathing. I start to squeeze the trigger. It isn’t right. I know it isn’t right. We’re almost to Cheyenne, and a long way from starving.
I wrote this story for the 100 Word Challenge #341 at Velvet Verbosity.
Two Boys, a Girl, and a Fire
Paul and I drew water from the lake in plastic buckets and dumped it on the coals. Steam rolled skyward. From her perch on a nearby log, Susie clapped. Paul lifted his bucket as if to throw water on her. “Don’t you dare!” Susie darted away across the sand as he chased her with the empty bucket.
I guess that was when I knew. So it was no big surprise when she let him walk her home.
I carried the buckets back to the cottage. Behind me, on the beach, hope like some great bird flapped off into the night.
I wrote this story for the 100 Word Challenge #340 at Velvet Verbosity.
Shots Fired, Garden View Apartments
As she parked near her building, Gina saw a man’s form swaying in the shadows. It was the same guy. She was sure of it.
The book said to call it in. Gina liked the book, but not for this. Instead, she drew her nine-millimeter.
In a second, she was out of the car. Air-conditioners hummed. Crickets sang. Gina stepped forward, the automatic by her thigh.
“Pretty stupid, stalking a cop.”
“Stalking?” The voice was soft, almost feminine.
“Yeah, stalking. What would you call it?”
“Haunting, perhaps?”
The shadow lunged.
Gina crouched and fired three rounds into a potted shrub.
I wrote this story for the 100 Word Challenge #339 at Velvet Verbosity.
You Need to Rework Your Story
“What happened to your ear?”
“I was maimed by love.”
“What?”
“I blame Janis Joplin.”
“What?”
“Let’s get another round.”
“Sure.”
“You buy? I’m short.” [Read more…] about You Need to Rework Your Story