Tag Archives: drabble

Flowers and Rust

flower car

PHOTO PROMPT © Fleur Lind

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

Things like the “flower Datsun” weren’t all that unusual, but people seemed to make a big deal over them.

“There’s worse ways to repurpose your old rig.”

He paused on his walk to regard the object. No doubt someone’s attempt at art or maybe a commentary on the environment.

“Plants are wilting and the chassis is rusting. Can’t really help the latter, but if you’re going to keep plants…”

He knocked on the door of the house belonging to the Datsun. No one answered but the hose was right there.

Jerry started spraying down the pots in the engine compartment.

Continue reading →

One Last Look

old city

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

Mo lagged behind the tour group being escorted into Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter. He’d been here hundreds of times over the past ten years but decided he needed to take one last look.

Decades of Islamic terrorism had escalated into war. Netanyahu finally ordered the IDF to excise Hamas from Gaza. It wouldn’t be enough. Soon even the Americans would turn against them.

He would travel back in time as Moshe ben Isaiah, the only name Shaul would understand. Moses had to save the life of the Apostle to the goyim and stop twenty centuries of Anti-Semitic hate before it began.

Continue reading →

Water Me

green jug

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

Ken wasn’t getting any younger or thinner, so every morning took himself out for a walk. Fall had arrived, and he enjoyed strolling in brisk weather.

Then it turned weird.

“Hey, Buddy. Stop a second.”

He was walking past the tennis court. The green watering jug marked Ken’s halfway point. He stopped walking and looked around.

“Who said that?”

“Me, the plant. Gee, you’re dense. I’ve been hanging my jug out here every day but you don’t take the hint.”

“A talking plant?

“I need a little more water before the hibernation thing kicks in. Be a pal, will you?”

Continue reading →

We Won!

light

PHOTO PROMPT © David Stewart

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

“The light! We won! The Violet Party won!”

The ballots had been counted throughout the night while the faithful of both parties waited patiently. Then in the pre-dawn chill, the verdict was pronounced. The Violet Party, fighting for Democracy, safety, knowledge, and love had won.

The filthy “yellows” crawled off tails-between-legs. The righteous “violets” cheered wildly in the streets.

Violet One made her expected victory announcement from the high window. “We are victorious. You may be at ease. Go to your jobs secure that we, your servants, shall make all of the difficult decisions. Your only duty is to obey.”

Continue reading →

“Pocket SciFi: Drabble Contest One” is Now Available!

pocket

Cover art for the anthology “Pocket SciFi: Drabble Contest One”

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

“Pocket SciFi: Drabble Contest One” is now available from Amazon both in Kindle and paperback formats. This is a unique publication from Starry Eyed Press in that it came to life as a drabble contest.

A drabble is a complete story that is told in exactly 100 words. You might think that writing such a story would be difficult, but with a bit of practice, it can be done.

For instance, every week, I participate in a fiction writing challenge at Rochelle Wisoff-Fields Addicted to Purple. She sends out emails every Wednesday for her “Friday Fictioneers” challenge, asking anyone who wants to participate to craft a poem or short story no more than 100 words long (also see this blog as mine are available here weekly).

It can be less, but I like to make it into a drabble challenge.

Continue reading →

Among the Living

green door

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

Halloween, the Day of the Dead all blurred together for Eddie. It stretched from last Tuesday to early Monday morning. The deal he made was better than he expected. Sure, he died. Cancer was a relentless enemy and the reaper was always at his shoulder. But every year for a week he returned to life, free of haunting the house with the green door.

He didn’t realize how depressing life would become. Eddie died on V-J day, September 2, 1945. Right before he passed, they told him we’d won. They didn’t say how much they’d lose almost eighty years later.

Continue reading →

The Year of Alan

lisa snow

PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

The first snow. Alan was around ninety. He felt relatively robust, needing only a cane to walk. He cherished this path. He ran down it when he was three in January to build his only snowman.

It was here he had his first kiss in March and was married in April. May was the time for their only child, but by then, Jean knew the truth.

Little Dianna was only six months but he could have been be her great-great grandfather. He was born in January and would die in December. The seasons of his life were but one year.

Continue reading →

Lights and Life

lights

PHOTO PROMPT © Liz Young

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

“It’s about time you showed up.” Constanzie tried to sound annoyed but she was too happy to see them. She expected to search throughout this section of the galaxy for them, but they were hiding on the first planet she visited.

“My husband’s going to be very happy I found you. He’s been examining the fossils you’ve left behind for years.” Con thought wistfully about the quirky xeno-paleontologist she’d fallen in love with. “He’ll win a Nobel.”

Standing in the remote grassy field, she adjusted her recorder. “This won’t hurt a bit. I just need to take a few readings.”

Continue reading →

The Yellow Shed

shed

PHOTO PROMPT © Rowena Curtin

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

It had been a long time since Jack had been to Sunset Beach. The ugly yellow paint the caretaker put on the shed two summers ago was already flaking off.

Jack pulled the key out of his pocket and inserted it in the lock. Anyone watching wouldn’t notice, but a series of biometric tests were run to make sure he was part of the Calderone family.

A telltale click told him he passed. Jack slipped inside and closed the door behind him.

So, they wanted a war. Fine. He had all the weapons here he would need to end it.

Continue reading →

The Name

yarn

PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

Griffith hated “blipping” into random places, especially late at night, but that was how the quest worked. This yarn shop wasn’t an unanticipated destination. The next clue was here. In fact (he quickly counted the words he already had) this should be the last one. Then he could assemble The Name.

This had been centuries in coming. Once he puzzled out The Name and said it out loud, He would come and the world would be safe. But where was it hidden?

“Please don’t hurt me.” The woman crouching in the corner was a beautiful last word for The Name.

Continue reading →