It is here. Which means it is too late. Who knows whether we could have resisted it? Ten cases of the disease are already local to us. It is in the hedgerows and the woodlands, brought by visitors, carried on the wind. The infection spreads, stains appear, the flesh wilts and limbs crack and split.Continue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘Ash Wednesday’”
Tag Archives: flash
100-Word Fiction: ‘Please Write Me’
100-Word Fiction: ‘On Arriving In the Present’
It was not the 100 million tonne North Atlantic Garbage Patch, which covered hundreds of miles of ocean, that most shocked Jack, a northern pike from Saskatchewan, on arriving in what we term the present. Nor was it that he could hardly catch sight of a cod off the coast of Newfoundland, or that crabsContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘On Arriving In the Present’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘Secessio Plebis’
Out of the city they ran, with great speed and intent, to where the harsh rule of the little Caesars could not shackle them; where usurious debts were not counted and where all trading was banned. Rejoicing, they joined hands and soon found themselves at the foot of a sacred mountain. Climbing it, they, inContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘Secessio Plebis’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘Paparazzi’
They say there aren’t many of us left. We’ve had a bad press, it’s true, camouflaged in the bushes and aiming a telescopic lens at our prey. And the youngsters don’t care, they’d never take it up. They can get all their thrills on the internet – and everyone’s a photographer these days – damnContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘Paparazzi’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘The Market Value’
Traffic is terrible in the market square. Marie Claire goes there to buy vegetables in bulk. There are no fake tomatoes, she says, but so much fake all around. She goes out of town to get her quality cheap goods. Out of town, out of country, out of continent. She eats KFC and flies toContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘The Market Value’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘The Era of Cheap Food May Be Over’
I got a plate full I can tell you, a plate full of hungry mouths to fill, emerging markets in China, India and Brazil. I got 7 kilos of grain making 1 kilo of beef, corn turned into biofuels never nibbled by my teeth. I got poor harvests and lousy weather, farmers’ profit and loss,Continue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘The Era of Cheap Food May Be Over’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘The Park’
These silent totems and the smog only a breath above. The still pond and the watchtower. The giant portakabin canteen empty, dust sticking to its grease, where briefly they came, once visited. The park meadows are left to nature. Not hacked back any more, weeds are growing now. The canal, sludged up, reveals its shoppingContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘The Park’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘Oh But To Read’
Oh but to read was the greatest thing. The bookshop with perfect spines aligned and that subtle weight in her bag as she carried the book home. She was almost nervous, not knowing yet what those pages would give. That smell of paper and ink, type pressed and clear. Paragraphs and paragraphs, indentations, page numbers,Continue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘Oh But To Read’”
100-Word Fiction: Even As the Fireworks
Even as the children danced and eyes were filled with tears of joy; even as hearts swelled with pride; even as the crowds clapped and cheered; even as the plaudits flowed; even as the hyperbole swelled and the superlatives thundered and the fireworks lit up the sky; even as a nation rejoiced; even as theContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: Even As the Fireworks”
MW Bewick 