You’ll be the away team captain this week, the teacher shouted. Nick stepped out of the line-up and turned to face the other boys. He started to shake. Choose goalies first, then a good striker, then a midfielder – defenders last. Finally only two boys remained to be picked. One was a big scowling ladContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘Captain’”
Tag Archives: literature
100-Word Fiction: ‘There Is a Moment’
Maybe there is a moment when you shudder and feel a touch more dislocated from the world and even yourself. As if the axis of everything had just been tilted to a slightly more precarious degree. Waves of repressed memory. Cracks found in the waking day. Roads broken. A moment when you are shaken intoContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘There Is a Moment’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘The Whistleblower’
It had rained all morning and the rain had turned to sleet and then snow. There was a bitter wind too and, earlier than they should, Anne’s colleagues left work and headed to the pub. Anne had decided to go on record and reveal the big secret. She knew precisely what the fallout would be.Continue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘The Whistleblower’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘The Villagers’
They were out into the heat and dust again. There was no road to speak of, not even really a track, just a formless and infinite middle distance of barren land that stretched onwards and onwards, with no horizon visible in the haze of the afternoon sun. All the villagers were standing outside their mudContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘The Villagers’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘The Ballad of John and Wayne’
It was better when we were all innocent, said John, folding up the newspaper: These days everyone knows too much – finds out too much. Secrets were once off bounds. Now we are suspicious. The world is a hall of mirrors. We search for glimpses of people, but where they really are we can’t beContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘The Ballad of John and Wayne’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘He Left For Work’
Before he left the house, after kissing his wife goodbye, he turned to the mirror and smiled, stretching his lips wide so that he showed his teeth. He liked to set off for work confident and, seeing for himself that satisfying glint in his eye, felt rather proud. When he was convinced that the worldContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘He Left For Work’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘I Do Not Wish’
I do not wish to speak ill of life while I see her drying her hair and the coffee tastes so good. Outside the sky is winter-cold but clear and the buildings go up and up, all across the city. Last night, when we left the cinema and crossed the river, watching the tourist bargesContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘I Do Not Wish’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘We Will/Not’
We will prevail We will not back down We will be judged We will not judge We will be hated We will not hate We will tolerate We will not be tolerated We will watch as others take up arms We will not lift a finger We will love others While others will not loveContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘We Will/Not’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘See You!’
They can see through your clothes. Christ. They see your bollocks and everything – all beamed to security in high definition. Every pimple, every crease of your kecks. And your lass, they’ll look at her too. Long and lingering. And the kiddies. It’s not right. There’s nothing we can do though. They want to knowContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘See You!’”
100-Word Fiction: My Name Is Tony
My name is Tony. I come from a family of actors, shipyard workers and grocers. My father worked as a tax inspector and became a law lecturer at one of the country’s most esteemed universities. I studied law too and graduated with a second class degree. But I always had higher ambitions. I have faith,Continue reading “100-Word Fiction: My Name Is Tony”
MW Bewick 