An old man sat in his wheelchair, a tartan rug over his legs and a pile of crimson poppies in his lap. The breeze blew but there was little hair on his head left to ruffle. His expression was immovable. He looked at the photographer and waited to feel the flash light his skin. TheContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘An Old Man’”
Tag Archives: MW Bewick
100-Word Fiction: ‘Text Message’
Yesterday had ended in thunderstorms but now it was hot again – the sky grey and full with moisture. At the bottom of the stairs was a dead rat. The doctor scarcely noticed it as he passed by on his way to work. He walked briskly, nodding to the man from the council who wasContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘Text Message’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘Enduring Freedom’
The date: October 7, 2001. The place: a landlocked country. The aims: to locate a man; to bring men to trial; to remove a regime. Aerial bombardments followed. Then came the tanks and troops. The date: July 13 , 2009. The website stated: ‘Estimates of the number of civilians killed vary widely and must beContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘Enduring Freedom’”
100-word fiction: ‘He Rides Bicycles’
He was a machine, that’s what people said. So powerful – and everything tested, tuned, synchronised. They said he was in perfect shape. He said it was all about the timing: it was in the mind, not the legs. You looked at him and wondered what thoughts went through his head as he crossed theContinue reading “100-word fiction: ‘He Rides Bicycles’”
100-word fiction: ‘Breaking News’
He’s dead. On a business trip and just out of the shower, a dark haired man stopped drying himself. A newsreader squinted into the autocue and stumbled over some words. At a music festival, a hungover girl sat up quickly and poked her head out of her tent. In his bedroom, a teenage boy doingContinue reading “100-word fiction: ‘Breaking News’”
100-word fiction: ‘Those Eyes’
It was for the country, not any individual. He was a friend not an enemy. He was on holiday not business. She did not want money she wanted help for a personal project. He was a political ally not a friend. It was not a closed enquiry, it was open and transparent. It was notContinue reading “100-word fiction: ‘Those Eyes’”
100-word fiction: ‘They Came From China’
It was hot in the sun and there was no shade. Seven years passed while unspeakable horrors continued to occur. The men were interrogated, brutalised and brainwashed, caged half way round the world from their families whom they would never be able to see again. They had become a problem for the authorities. No countryContinue reading “100-word fiction: ‘They Came From China’”
100-word fiction: ‘What People Want’
“People are scared. This is what I know. People are scared for so many different reasons. People think they deserve so much. They tell you so, saying they are good people and hard-working. People want to feel protected. They will confide this. They say they need protecting from all kinds of enemy and hardship. PeopleContinue reading “100-word fiction: ‘What People Want’”
100-word fiction: ’34 Years’
The radio said the missile tests were a direct threat. There was rhetoric too: the nations of the free world would not stand idly by. In the street, a man shouted to neighbours that the sunshine was set to last. A couple were watering the pot plants in their garden. They’d now been married forContinue reading “100-word fiction: ’34 Years’”
100-word fiction: ‘On the Attack’
They were on the attack; shots rained in. Soon each side would assess the casualties, know who was defeated. It had all been going on too long; it felt senseless, stupid. Days ago he had felt optimistic but now reports were coming through on the radio about yet another loss. He wanted it to beContinue reading “100-word fiction: ‘On the Attack’”
MW Bewick 