We were reading in bed after another busy day. My wife was disappointed: “We’re growing apart. I thought this course would help us!”
I looked up from my book on oration. “Refusing to deny the opposite would make me a liar.”
She switched off the light and started to cry.
Evert Asberg lives and works in Europe.
Micah the mole had always wanted to fly.
One day, he climbed a tree and jumped. For a full second, he was dropping through the air like a dead bird. It was exhilarating, then very painful.
He told his friends he’d do it again, but they knew he was lying.
Jim the Space Rabbit had always wondered what Mars was like.
One day, he flew his space rocket to Mars. He got out and looked around for a bit. It was cold and dry.
He told his friends he’d found diamonds and met aliens, but they knew he was lying.
This story was based on a title suggested by Al Gore.
Butterscotch the cat had always wondered what butterscotch tasted like.
One day, he snuck outside and ran to the candy store. When the storekeeper wasn’t looking, he swiped a butterscotch candy. It was sticky and gross.
He told his friends he had loved it, but they knew he was lying.
This story was based on a title suggested by Medea Ginger Hertz.
Bollenhall is not a nice place. It is hot, dry, and boring. Very few tourists go there on vacation.
Most of Bollenhall’s residents leave when they reach adulthood. The mayor passed a “free cake on Thursdays” bylaw to convince people to stay.
Bollenhall’s residents are hot, dry, bored, and fat.
This story was based on the prompt “but there’s cake” at TypeTrigger. Read other writers’ responses here.
I’ve changed the settings for the “Popular Settings” widget in the sidebar so it only shows stories from the past three months (90 days) now.
Previously, it showed stories posted within the last year. I want to see a bit more turnover, so people get exposed to more recent stories and don’t just see the same high-rated stories in the sidebar constantly. Those stories will still be at the top of the lists on the Top Stories page, which is not time-limited, so this doesn’t make your ratings any less meaningful.
Thank you to everyone who rates stories. It’s a great way to get feedback from you, and I really appreciate it. The Top Stories page is the second-most popular page on the site, after the home page, of course, so your ratings really count on helping new and old readers alike find the best stories to read from FiftyWordStories.com’s large archive.
Klug the caveman grunted happily. Yes, he thought. I’ve got it!
The sand in front of him was littered with physics equations, signifying a lifetime of theoretical contemplation. He’d discovered the mathematical basis of both teleportation and time travel!
Now he just needed a few millenia to invent the equipment.
This story was based on a title suggested by @abapicalTaenia, through his preorder of Feel-Good.
As the hot sun descended, frightened by the rising of the cold blue moon, I stumbled on a root and fell headlong into nightmare.
Within myself, I chased and fled, pursuing sanity and evading madness.
I grasped sanity’s skirt. She pulled away, saying, “Your daughter is dead.”
Madness ensnared me.
This story was based on a title suggested by @KittyCatalyst.
Anna was once again berating the office printer. Her list of irritations was well into double figures by 11 AM. The printer finally kicked out the presentation and Anna went back to her claustrophobic cubical.
The printer sighed. “No ‘thank you’ again. Maybe tomorrow I just won’t turn on at all!”
Amy who lives in a black hole training to be an apple, but it’s all coming out pear shaped. Luckily she has her helper dog, Ellie, to munch on the worms. Read her blog at www.Blind-Style.com.
Hailey looked concernedly into Kimmy’s watery eyes and said, “You look as sad as a koala bear with strep throat.”
Kimmy coughed and winced.
Hailey reached up into the eucalyptus tree and took Kimmy in her arms. The ailing marsupial snuggled up.
This was why Hailey had become a veterinarian.