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Friday Drabble

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!

Looking For Work

Looking for Work

“And why, Mr….”

“Loki”

“Yes, Mr. Loki. Why do you think you'd be suitable for the Demigod position?”

“Well, I have plenty of deity experience from my last place of employment.”

“Yes, about that – it says here in your letter of recommendation that you were… a bit of a troublemaker?”

“Well, I pulled a couple practical jokes, but I wouldn't call that making trouble…”

“Yes, I see. And do you have anything that would prevent you from starting as early as next week?”

“Only Ragnarok.”

“Okay, thank you very much for your time, Mr. Loki. We’ll be in touch.”

Like a Candle in the Wind

Like a Candle in the Wind

They called him the Human Torch. He was like something out of comic books. Flames crawled all over his flesh, and little yellow and red tongues licked at his hair, but never ignited so much as a single strand.

They remember how he had to sleep on a ceramic bed, and left charred footprints in his wake.

They remember how he kept the local nursing home residents alive when the Blizzard of 2042 knocked out power for three weeks.

But then the CIA discovered he was an arsonist, and guilty of murder. And quietly, surreptitiously, the Human Torch got snuffed.

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Friday Drabble

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!

"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."

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!

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