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’”
Tag Archives: writing
100-Word Fiction: ‘The Essex Lion’
One bank holiday Sunday, a photograph no one actually saw brought a large, unidentified beast to the public’s attention. They called it a lion. It’s roar passed into fable. There had been sightings of something; they found nothing – not with helicopters, zoologists, search parties, calls for witnesses. It was there. But it was notContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘The Essex Lion’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘Pretty’
If she was not amazingly pretty, but pretty, still, and if people always said it. As a kid maybe not, but later, and then oh when people said it lots. But it is what people thought and there she stood and just did not know what to do when people said it. It was notContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘Pretty’”
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”
100-Word Fiction: ‘This Is a Possible Fiction’
Demands were made to sack them. If they excercised their legal rights, employers should be able to ensure workers had no job on their return: strikes should become illegal. The show must go on. So, shunt private cars from the roads, disrupt public services and tell the citizens to walk. Call for an exodus –Continue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘This Is a Possible Fiction’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘I Chase Bicycles’
There is something in human nature, I heard it said, that is disruptive. We favour the underdog, laugh too loud, stare too long, make stupid remarks. We are drawn to sarcasm, cynicism and hypocrisy. We tell little lies, become brave and boastful or lazy and stubborn. We accelerate too fast, brake too late, take theContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘I Chase Bicycles’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘A Crossing (4)’
All is quiet. A little girl runs out into the street. She is smiling but her eyes say something different. From somewhere a man is shouting her name. Then a woman shouts it too. But she is looking at me, on the other side of the street. She stops, then steps towards me. The voicesContinue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘A Crossing (4)’”
100-Word Fiction: ‘A Crossing (3)’
No. There is a tightening in my chest. Something is wrong. My brother’s frail arm disappears into the dark. I step back and pin myself to the wall. Some voices are shouting from the rooftops – then a whistling sound, like a mechanical scream – it comes. The billowing dust – three streets away –Continue reading “100-Word Fiction: ‘A Crossing (3)’”
MW Bewick 