There was a flickering on the screen: a small dot heading towards the mainland. Intelligence said the dot came from Africa, but intelligence wasn’t everything. The dot was uncontactable – recognised signals were not received. Codes failed. Some said it was coming as part of a deal, a contra agreement with certain military or governmentContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘For the Rest of the World’”
Tag Archives: fast fiction
100-Word Fiction: Gone, but
Johnny had grown to love that old dog. After the yapping stopped, when it was no longer such a keen and overbearing puppy, when its occasional mistimed bark seemed endearing, some kind of grudging trust had been formed between them. Then, the dog went missing. Rumours were that another snarling hound chased it straight outContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: Gone, but”
100-Word Fiction: ‘The Caterpillar’
It is high summer and through the oldest of urban gardens crawls the caterpillar. Which way will it turn today? It approaches a crowd of city kids, tucking into falafel and hummus. It watches them a while: a mixed, raggle-taggle bunch with hungry eyes, holding their lunch proudly, guardedly, as if it were civilisation itselfContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘The Caterpillar’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘When It Changes, It Changes Quickly’
It’s not that I used to believe you and that now I don’t. Or that I thought you were amusing whereas now you infuriate me. I never thought you spoke the truth. It was clear that everything you did was a sham. Maybe you helped pass the time, or maybe I thought… what did IContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘When It Changes, It Changes Quickly’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘I Knew You’
I knew you for a while but not for as long as before, or after. Oh, the after, it goes on. Each summer the sunflowers and the roads. Rains in the North and the heat of the South. Mountains rise and rise. Summer. We shared those of course – a handful, a decade, just. TalkingContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘I Knew You’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘So I Got My Head Kicked In, But I Was Asking For It (Redux version)
So I went to this dodgy pub and at the bar this fella gives me grief. But I chat to him then we’re having a laugh and he buys me a pint. Later I’m with my mates and he keeps looking over. At closing time he starts chatting again, pissed. I don’t want any aggroContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘So I Got My Head Kicked In, But I Was Asking For It (Redux version)”
100-Word Fiction: ‘Horses’
Horses, statuesque and all in line. Black coats, chestnut and white. Lush manes and tails. Snorting horses standing tall. A sight to behold. A historical site. Black riders, yellow vests, black helmets. Fluorescent yellow. A bright flash across a grey street, the muddle of a crowded square, seen from a helicopter, a camera on aContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘Horses’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘We Went For a Pizza’
I’m not a racist, Said the waiter. It’s just I think That you won’t pay. I know your sort; I’ve seen your kind before. Your kind? Your kind? You know what I mean. With your clothes And your hair And the way that you are. You’re not to be trusted; That’s what I think. IContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘We Went For a Pizza’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘New Dress’
Eschewing the flamboyant (critics said “grotesque and overindulgent”) designs of the previous decade, the new couturier at the fashion house picked up his scissors and set to work. He had chosen a heavy material and was mulling over words: sackcloth? Too pious. Workwear? Blandly utilitarian. He sighed and snipped – and snipped until a small,Continue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘New Dress’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘A Family’
Did I even wear spectacles when I began all this? My hair was thicker, definitely: brown, remember? Now it is thinned and grey. It needs to be cropped short. I was slim then too, though I didn’t think so at the time. Out of shape is what I said. I looked at myself; looked atContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘A Family’”
MW Bewick 