story

Coffee: Available?

I strolled along the street, glancing casually at the signs and boards I had seen a thousand times before. I considered my evening walk a part of my fitness routine. In reality, it was just an excuse to get out of my loud, bickering house.

My phone chimed. Instinctively, I looked at the pop-up notification. “In a shock move, the Government has banned all usage of coffee from tomorrow.”

A steadily rising rumble filled the air. I turned around slowly to watch a stampeding throng rushing towards me.

I glanced again at the cafe board.
It was now or never!

Word Count: 100

Prompt: Friday Fictioneers 29 April 2022

PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz

Implausible Art

The exhibition is supposed to be a forum for us to express and showcase our art.

So, I fail to understand why attendees look at our masterpieces with looks of disbelief.

Is it perhaps the prolific use of neon paints?

Or can it be the optical sublimity of our strokes on paper?

Surely the fault cannot lie with us, if not our illustrations.

Have they never seen mice paint before?

PHOTO PROMPT © Brenda Cox

Prompts –

Friday Fictioneers 7 Jan 2022

Six Sentence Story – Express

Three Things Challenge #834

She Hides

She hides from him – his hungry eyes and itching hands.

She hides silently, waiting for him to come closer.

She hides, but the scars on her back and the bruises on her legs stand exposed

She hides with bated breath, listening closely to his approaching steps.

She hides, as he calls out to her in his sickening, singsong voice.

She hides the blade behind her back, right until the moment he is in range.

The knife plunges deep, penetrating into his shallow soul.

Now, she hides no more.

Word Count: 88

Prompts:

What do you see # 56 – 16 November 2020

Saturday Mix – Opposing Forces, 21 November 2020

thedarknetizen - Visit to the Shrink

Visit to the Shrink

I come from a tribe of head-hunters, so I will never need a shrink.

It’s a paradox, but I believed it to be the truth. That was until the voices in my head began speaking. Just one in the beginning. But soon, nineteen others joined in. I demurred visiting a shrink even when their constant chattering and bickering began drowning out my own thoughts. On some lonely nights I would feel my entire conscious self shoved to the bottom of my mind, the voices taking over completely. For the very first time I felt that I was no longer in control of my own body. I booked an appointment with the shrink at once.

The shrink heard me out patiently, even heard out some of the statements made by the other voices. She asked me to write down the names of the voices, if I knew them. I knew all twenty of them and missed out on none. The shrink read through the list calmly, her index finger tracing a path along the page. She adjusted her glasses as she reread the list. She kept the paper aside, and pulled out her cellphone, tapping away furiously. After a minute of scrolling through it, she stood up from her chair, and stared at me with a look of horror on her face.

So, I did try visiting a shrink. In the end, even her smart little head was not enough. She only added to my troubles. Now I have to deal with twenty one voices, trying to get back at me.

Word Count – 260

Prompts:

Reena’s Exploration Challenge #162

FOWC with Fandango — Paradox

Your Daily Word Prompt – #Demur – #YDWordPrompt November 20, 2020

Three Things Challenge #423

Flash Fiction: Treasures

Beth and Ben stared at the mess lying on grandpa’s bed.

They took one last look inside the wardrobe they had freshly emptied. Dejected, they ran down the stairs to their grandfather. Puffing their cheeks the little twins stood between grandpa and the television.
“Grandpa is a liar,” the two declared in unison.
Grandpa adjusted his spectacles.
“When did I lie?”
The kids led him up to his bedroom. They pointed to the empty wardrobe.
“You said grandma kept her treasures here before going to heaven.”
Grandpa smiled looking at the mess on his bed.

“I never lied. They’re here.”

Word Count: 100

Prompt:

Friday Fictioneers 25th Oct 2019
PHOTO PROMPT © Jean L. Hays

Twittering Tale: Grandma’s Chest

The chest lay untouched.

All us cousins knew we weren’t to go near it. Grandma had made that clear. However, on a boozy night, our curiousity got the better of us. I accepted the dare to open it. There lay grandpa’s corpse, one eye staring at us.

A knife plunged through the other.

Character Count: 280

Prompt:

Twittering Tales #154 – 17 September 2019

Flash Fiction: Dad’s Glasses

Dad was always mysterious.

Mother quarreled with him over his secretive lifestyle. However, he never changed his ways. He would spend hours in our library, buried under piles of books. He never seemed to read them, rather he just skimmed through. Mother had developed a resentment towards books and did not step inside the library, and I simply wasn’t allowed there. One day, while dad was away on a trip, I snuck in. I wore his glasses and began going through his books. It was then I understood his obsession. The glasses highlighted certain words – clues.

To grandpa’s treasure maybe?

Word Count: 100

Prompt: Friday Fictioneers 13th September 2019
PHOTO PROMPT © CEAyr