Every year they are sent out and cheered on… leaves fall to the ground… across the grey pavements strewn… the news bulletins roll and call… civilians giving money to young men and women in combat fatigues… There are dates… 11/11… 9/11… 7/7… 11/11… 11/11… and onwards… to the cenotaphs and the white halls and houses…Continue reading “100 Word Fiction: ‘…because we never learn…’”
Tag Archives: story
100-Word Fiction: ‘For George W Bush’
“Long after I am gone, when the desert sands have buried the broken towns, the blistered ancient holy buildings, the decayed bodies of ages, and all is dust once more, and rivers have diluted every drop of our blood and washed it to oblivion, and the memory of this history is a forgotten series ofContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘For George W Bush’”
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’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘A Sense of Light’
I woke from a sleep that was dominated by nightmares; or, at least, I began to wake. I think I did. The images of a sleep’s horror were still a storm in my mind, dark thoughts dissolved in the tears that drenched my closed eyes. There, waiting, eyes closed, almost too painful to look. AlmostContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘A Sense of Light’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘Vipera Berus’
There is a way to construct a speech – to put words together, to make people smile or clap or think you’ve said something new or important. You get taught it at management seminars. You just use the same words everyone uses. Swap them around a bit. Don’t worry. Look confident. Don’t take risks. It’sContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘Vipera Berus’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘Your Arms Around Me’
To have your arms around me again. Your arm around my shoulders, resting there a moment. So many things come to mind. The times we have embraced and all of the reasons. Yes, love. Of course, love. We do love. That arm of support. The arm that draws me near, into your reach, to yourContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘Your Arms Around Me’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘The Mountain Tigers’
They have been trailing us for years. We know that. In fact there is little we do not know about their activities because we see everything. They are clumsy. Sometimes when we watch them we pity them in their struggle for understanding. Their cameras and computers are a heavy load in rough terrain, while weContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘The Mountain Tigers’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘How Long I Walked’
Today, as they talked, I again took notes. The records will show I wrote: ‘[I] believe that if the P___ leadership adheres to continuous negotiations, despite the obstacles that are coming up on every side, and if it is serious and determined in its intention to advance towards peace, just as we are serious, thenContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘How Long I Walked’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘I.O.U.’
Aw c’mon, said Joe. Ye’ve got to be kidding me, it was years ago. We had a deal. Ye never said anything at the time. Yeah but Joe that’s just it: I never did say anything. You’ve just assumed something. I never promised anything. Joe shook his head: But Ian, ye just, I mean IContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘I.O.U.’”
MW Bewick 