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Good news! I’m flying home today to take up residence again in North Carolina! My “3 month assignment” is finally complete after approximately 15 months up in Minnesota.  Right now it looks like I’ll finally be able to sleep in my own bed and kiss my wife and kids goodnight every night, and do so for the foreseeable future!  Hooray!

This also means that I’ll be having a little more free time to post, which should mean I’m doing more than slinging up drabble every week.  I’ve volunteered to help write some posts for the Scifi Media Group that Budd founded, and I’ve already got some lined up for that (coming soon to a blogspot near you).  Of course, I’m planning on spending a lot of time with my family, too, so even though I’ll be writing more, I might ease back into the posting so not as to overwhelm myself and end up in the same spot I was after NaBloPoMo a couple of years back (where I posted for 30 days straight, and then only had 5 posts in the 2 months following thereafter).

So without further ado, here’s this week’s drabble, in honor of Banned Books Week.

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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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A Slippery Slope

First books were banned, then schools, then education in general.

Soon followed prohibitions concerning consumption of green vegetables, bathing, newspapers (and news reporting in general), public displays of affection, and regimented exercise.  People were at a loss with what to do with all their free time when employment was banned.

But the final straw, which incited rebellion and the eventual downfall of the empire, was the proclamation banning “girls and their cooties”.

Years later, looking back, the historians all agreed that it had been a monumentally bad idea to allow the child-emperor to dictate law according to his 8-year-old whims.

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Getting back into the whole writing thing again – I’m actually on a plane as this gets posted but once I have a little more time I’ll get a few other posts up that I’ve been working on.

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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Breaking the Laws of Physics

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

That was basic physics.  Even high school students knew it.  Felix, the biggest nerd in town, definitely knew it.  But every rule has exceptions; every law is made to be broken.

So that Thursday, when the school bully made his usual attempts to humiliate and terrorize Felix (wedgies, toilet swirlies, and petty thefts of lunch money), Felix didn’t react like a victim.  Hands trembling, he cocked the hammer of his grandfather’s borrowed pistol, aimed the barrel, and fired.

All the teachers said Felix was going places.  How right they were.

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.”