Entries for the Micro Fiction Challenge 2022 and Drabble Activity 2024. |
Short stories of 100 words exactly, written for the Micro Fiction Challenge, 2022, the Drabble Activity 2024, plus a few for my own benefit. |
Unexpected Visit “Say, declare yourself, that go sneaking in the darkness of night upon my humble campfire.” Fidelius stood resolute, having been raised to alertness by the cracking of a twig in the gloom. “No need for guarded words,” came the answering voice. “‘Tis I, Sinistrius, that seeks you here. Nature teaches beasts to know their friends, and we are surely higher than beasts.” Fidelius stepped forward, arms wide to greet his friend, all his fears at rest. Sinistrius appeared in the firelight, sword raised in hand, and drove the blade into Fidelius’ chest. “And some are lower,” said the dying Fidelius. Word count: 100 For Drabble Activity 2024, Week 4 Prompt: Use a quote (or quotes) from William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, or Jane Austen (highlight the quote/s in bold). Quote selected from Coriolanus by William Shakespeare. |
Excuses, Excuses “I wanted to see you, Jenkins, because your latest essay is way below par.” “In what way, sir?” “It’s full of grammatical errors and misspellings.” “I know, sir.” “Well, why didn’t you correct them if you knew they were wrong?” “It’s what you asked for, sir.” “What do you mean? There’s no way I asked for such sloppy work.” “Well, you did, sir. In a way.” “In what way?” “You asked us to write about an event from a journalist’s point of view. I chose to be working for the Daily News. And you know how badly they write, sir.” Word count: 100 For Drabble Activity 2024, Week 3 Prompt: Dialogue only, between two people (a duologue) – teacher & student. Note: It will be evident from the setting and the exchange that I haven’t seen the inside of a school for many a long decade. I have had to base the story in the time of my own schooldays as a result, and we can take it that it’s an historical drama as well as a drabble, therefore. |
Choconut’s Conjuring Trick It was at Lilli’s Lunch Party that Maryann’s Monkey studied the agenda to see what was next. It was time for the entertainments and the first was to be Choconut’s Conjuring Trick. The Monkey loved magic and he settled to wait with anticipation. Then Choconut appeared on stage and announced that she was going to tell a story. This one would consist of only a hundred words, even though everyone had a hand in it. “That’s impossible,” shouted the Monkey. But they counted all the words and they came to exactly one hundred. Count them if you don’t believe me. Word count: 100 For Muffy’s Mischievous Challenge, May, 2024 Prompt: Choconut’s Conjuring Trick. |
Lornda’s Leaf I was wandering through the gardens and courtyards of WDC the other day, when I spied Lornda staring intensely at a pile of autumn leaves. “What are you looking for?” I asked. “I need a leaf,” she replied. “And I just can’t find the right one. I’ve sorted through all these and none are quite what I need.” Somehow I knew what she meant. I reached out and plucked a green leaf from a nearby tree and handed it to her. “That’s it exactly!” she said. “How did you know?” “I figured you needed to turn over a new leaf.” Word count: 100 For Muffy’s Mischievous Challenges, May 2024 Prompt: Lornda’s Leaf. |
Space Rapture ‘The thing is,’ thought Aubrey, ‘why did they still put astrodomes in spaceships after they’d found out about star rapture? It didn’t make sense, now that they knew that any astronaut spending time looking at the stars would inevitably become raptured, and unable to tear himself away from the sight. ‘Even if the crew hauled the stricken one down, he never recovered and would be back in the astrodome at the first opportunity. Why not remove all windows and rely upon video screens to provide visual confirmation of navigation?’ Aubrey sighed, shook his head, and kept staring into deep space. Word count: 100 For Drabble Activity 2024, Week 2 Prompt: Story to be horror, fantasy or science fiction. |
Bad News for Elna “I’m sorry, Elna, but the decision has been made. The library has to be modernised.” Elna could not help thinking that he did not look very sorry. In fact, her boss, Blair, seemed rather smug to be announcing such news. “I understand,” said Elna meekly. “So you know it means you will be replaced?” “Of course,” replied Elna. “Will I be reassigned?” “I believe there’s an opening in records. You’d be ideal for that.” “When will I be moving?” “The human will take a week to acclimatise. Then you’d need a name change from Electronic Librarian Natural Access, of course.” Word count: 100 For Drabble Activity 2024 Week 1 Prompt: Librarian. |