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Fridays are the days I post one or two “drabble“, the 100-word stories that test your ability to convey an entire story idea in an extremely brief format.  Feel free to join in and write your own 100 word stories on Fridays, and tag them with “friday drabble”.  Link to them in the comments and/or on Twitter with the hashtag #fridaydrabble.

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Funny Business

When Jeremy was 7, his grandfather told him “laughter is the best medicine.” Jeremy, being seven, believed him. When his sister got the chicken pox, he tickled her mercilessly. He only succeeded in catching it himself, but he wasn’t dissuaded.

When Jeremy was 17, he made an old widow laugh until tears streamed from her eyes. She thanked Jeremy for helping her come to terms with her husband’s death.

When Jeremy was 47, he successfully distilled the giggles into liquid form. Ten years later, his concentrated chuckles proved successful in curing AIDS.

Jeremy laughed all the way to the bank.

Fridays are the days I post one or two “drabble“, the 100-word stories that test your ability to convey an entire story idea in an extremely brief format.  Feel free to join in and write your own 100 word stories on Fridays, and tag them with “friday drabble”.  Link to them in the comments and/or on Twitter with the hashtag #fridaydrabble.

ALSO! Some of the drabble I am writing are part of the 100 Word Stories Podcast Weekly Challenge! Because of this, I will also post an audio recording of my reading of any challenge submissions.  Hope you enjoy!

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My Summer Vacation
by Billy Jenkins

My summer vacation was neat. All 20 of my aunts and uncles came to stay with us. They were mad because they couldn’t live in their houses nomore. Uncle Steve said “Those goshdarn aliens should be shot back into space where they came from”. Momma told him “Hush”. Aunt Verna wanted to stay with us when everyone else caught the shuttle to New Montana, but she ended up going anyway. Mom and Dad and Janey went too, so now it’s just me and Xyzzybrax*CK living at my house. That’s ok with me.

The End

Fridays are the days I post one or two “drabble“, the 100-word stories that test your ability to convey an entire story idea in an extremely brief format.  Feel free to join in and write your own 100 word stories on Fridays, and tag them with “friday drabble”.  Link to them in the comments and/or on Twitter with the hashtag #fridaydrabble.

ALSO! Some of the drabble I am writing are part of the 100 Word Stories Podcast Weekly Challenge! Because of this, I will also post an audio recording of my reading of any challenge submissions.  Hope you enjoy!

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Note – I had some fun with sound effects on this recording.  It was my first time playing with Audacity for something like this.  Let me know if you like it and if I should try to do something similar for future recordings!

All For the Want of a Horseshoe Nail

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Richard rushed across the room to his typewriter. Rolling in a sheet of clean white paper, he mumbled to himself as his fingers flew over the keys. His muse was in full force today, and he could feel this, his first novel, would be his masterpie-

*clunk*

With a cry, he pulled apart jammed keys, sobbing as one letter’s head cracked cleanly off its rod. He tried to continue anyway:

“.ucius .amed .achrymose .abradors .ackadaisica..y”

It was no use. He ripped the paper free and buried his head in his arms.

For want of an “l”, the debut was lost.

Fridays are the days I post one or two “drabble“, the 100-word stories that test your ability to convey an entire story idea in an extremely brief format.  Feel free to join in and write your own 100 word stories on Fridays, and tag them with “friday drabble”.  Link to them in the comments and/or on Twitter with the hashtag #fridaydrabble.

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Slip of the Tongue

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“WHAT did you just say?” Charlene asked, interrupting John mid-response.

John mentally reviewed what he had said and blushed.  He fidgeted on the couch, staring at his hands, the floor, anywhere to avoid eye contact with his visibly irate girlfriend.

“What I meant is- Um, I mean- Well, I was just saying-” he stammered.

“You want to watch what you say next, honey.  You’re already in the danger zone.  What comes out of your mouth is going to seal your fate.”

John forced himself to meet her angry stare. “Uh, I’m really sorry?”

“You’re STILL sleeping on the couch tonight.”

Today, I learned that the term for a 100 word story is a “drabble” (not to be confused with comic strip or the novelist). The term comes from Monty Python’s 1971 Big Red Book. In this book, “Drabble” was a word game where the first participant to write a novel wins. In order to make the game possible in the real world, it was agreed that 100 words would suffice.

I thought it would be fun (and a good writing exercise) to try to do a weekly drabble attempt or two. Since Friday’s usually the day I feel the least desire to get any writing done, I figured it would be a good day to schedule my weekly drabble attempt.  Feel free to join in and write your own 100 word stories on Fridays and tag them with “friday drabble”.  Link to them in the comments and/or on Twitter with the hashtag #fridaydrabble. Let’s see if we can get a following going!

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“Welcome to Hell,” a voice growled from behind his back. Still groggy from the blow to his head, Mike didn’t even attempt to turn around. His brain sloshed inside his skull with every minute movement, causing him to retch and collapse onto the hard packed dirt floor. The next blow arrived unseen and he descended into the depths of unconsciousness.

The lights snicked on, and he started peeling off the adhesive patches affixed to his forehead, scalp, and neck. “Damn, that was hardcore!” he told his friends, each anxiously awaiting their turn. “I’m only porting happy memories from now on.”

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I’ve always been a bookworm, but back in middle school, it was really pronounced.

In fact, it got me into trouble on more than a few occasions.

The most memorable time was in middle school, when the class bully was picking on me for reading The Hobbit during lunch.

I studiously ignored his insults and shoulder prodding. Finally, my temper grew short, I closed the tome, and swinging it like a tennis racket, slapped him silly upside his head.

I don’t know if the pen is mightier than the sword, but a good hardcover book can definitely pack a wallop!