Choking from the tree pollen and the blanket of smog that had blown in from across the sea and the dust that had risen from the roads after the fires of the previous week. The atmosphere was unbreathable. Slowly jogging through the drag of streets from west to east was a chore for the chest.Continue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘The Suffocating City’”
Tag Archives: word
100-Word Fiction: ‘The Elected Time of Year’
I can’t explain it in any other terms, she said, waving her hands in front of her and gesturing at the trees. I can’t read the papers any more. I can’t watch TV. I know what’s coming. It’s like this every time. Whoever wins out, it will be the same. We’ve still a month toContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘The Elected Time of Year’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘Plenty’
Trains backing up into Surrey and the onslaught of the crush at the barriers. A roadside reek of last night’s piss and the morning’s nicotine and bleach. A man laughs into his hand. A woman switches to flats. The freesheets are a coconut shy. Two shots please. I like my coffee very strong. I couldn’tContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘Plenty’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘The Disappeared’
With one small bag and no note he became the next of the disappeared. He was seventeen. They searched for him on maps but the maps were empty and sand covered them. They searched for him across websites but found only redacted rhetoric. He was gone. And he was gone before he was gone. TheContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘The Disappeared’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘A Week in Pictures’
He stands in the empty doorway of his roofless house. Inside is only landfill. The storm has passed. * They drive the sheep up to the mountains where they graze through the summer. The blizzard continues. * They came to the streets to protest about land reforms and were met by police. The water cannonsContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘A Week in Pictures’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘The Daffodil Girl’
She is the daffodil girl with the golden hair. She is here in the spring, telling us to slip off our winter coats. She is warmth and smiles, turning her face to the sun and the coming summer. She brings tales of childhood and hopes for the year ahead. I sometimes think the garden growsContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘The Daffodil Girl’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘After the tide’
People say it’s the smell you try to hold on to. The smell of a person. Clothes. Blankets. Cushions. After they’ve gone. Of course this is true. I’ve lived through it. What’s less noted is the way voices come and go. The first time I realised I could no longer wholly recall your voice, afterContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘After the tide’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘Night Shifts’
Dreaming of Cairo, so I thought, and I was on some concrete balcony at the edge of the desert, with the city in the distance, illuminated by explosions – and the death-rattle of guns and screaming missiles echoed across the void between me and… them. I peered harder and saw that the explosions were fireworks,Continue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘Night Shifts’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘The Gyre’
I looked at the silver mud along the banks of the river. A month ago it was filled with birds. You could see them scurrying even at night. Now they have gone. The seasons are changing and the mud is becoming bare. The gulls’ heads are taking on their summer colour. It’s as if theContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘The Gyre’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘Darja [4]’
Get the fucking stretcher –––– here now! Get it here! Blood is pouring from –––– left of the child’s leg. Med-tent is 200 metres and watch the air – the shrapnel – it is so full. A glance, quickly, buildings at street end are rubble. Patches of street have turned red. Six bodies – roughContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘Darja [4]’”
MW Bewick 