Category Archives: Amusing

ADRIAN L COOK: Five Seconds

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Thomas reached across the gear shift, searching for his brother’s hand, as mangled shreds of guardrail accompanied their descent.

The five-second drop opened up into a lifetime of memory.

Campouts. Christmases. Dallas Cowboys games.

So what if Jimmy’d slept with his wife?

Thomas regretted his decision five seconds too late.

Dr. Adrian L. Cook is a humanities professor at Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, TX. He is also a semi-pro musician, specializing in the electric washboard. He lives with his wife — children’s book author Cristee Cook — their two kiddos, their pancake-colored dog, and lots and lots of books.

KERRI JESMER: Mama’s Boy

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

“Don’t you think it’s time you finish this project up?”

“I’ll get to it, don’t worry.”

“Well the smell is taking hold of the whole house. I’d do it myself, but I worry a piece will come off if I try to move it.”

“It’s just a dead body, Ma.”

Born in Germany, Kerri was raised on the Eastern plains of Colorado. She currently lives in Utah. Although new to short story writing, she has been writing for many years. She mentored her daughter’s writing groups in both middle school and high school years.

DAVID McTIGUE: Rage

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

Raymond shifted uncomfortably in his armchair as Suzanne raged at him.

“I don’t know why I bother here. I asked you to do one thing, and you forgot. You’re pathetic!”

She left the room, slamming the door.

Raymond shifted uncomfortably in his armchair and switched his hearing aid back on.

David McTigue lives in Liverpool UK, and enjoys reading, crosswords, music, concert going, cooking, and of course writing. Several of his short stories, poems, and crosswords have been published in various magazines and anthologies.

JOHN H DROMEY: The Inside Story, or Everyone’s a Critic

Amusing, Puns and Wordplay, Submissions, , , ,

“How’d you find your runaway goat?”

“We simply followed his spoor.”

“How’d you know it was his?”

“Before he left, Billy ate a magazine with one of your stories in it.”

“How’d that help?”

“Billy found some of your prose was indigestible. You could say he left a toilet-paper trail.”

John H. Dromey has some hundred-word stories (four new, one reprint) in WORLDS: A Science Fiction Microfiction Anthology (Dark Drabbles Book 1) (Black Hare Press, 2019).

SCOTT LUPER: Reward if Found

Adventure, Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Olivia awoke to a charred hole above her bed and a small, adorably demonic winged creature, which fidgeted with excitement on her chest.

Olivia petted its oily red hide and mimicked its playful chirps, as she noted the iron collar’s inscription: IF YOU’RE READING THIS, IT’S TOO LATE. I’M SORRY.

Scott is an Amazon best-selling author and short story writer. He lives and works in Texas with his wife, their two boys, and a pair of ridiculous Great Pyrenees pups. This is Scott’s third piece on 50-Word Stories. You can connect with Scott and find links to his work at amazon.com/author/scottluper.

ROBERTA BEACH JACOBSON: Long Gone

Amusing, Artistic, Puns and Wordplay, Submissions, , ,

I logged out and fled my cubicle
so find yourself another IT guy, boss
’cause I’m rebooting my system

Time for me to start a new session
open a new window
and reset my password in a warmer climate
as I back up the files and folders of my life

Roberta Beach Jacobson is a humorist from Iowa.

JOHN B SINCLAIR: The Warnings

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Our peaceful mission
which commenced in Roswell in 1947
is complete.

Agents infiltrated the planet on periodic visits
successfully morphing into intelligent life forms to deliver our survival doctrine.

Warnings of the dangers of pollution, climate change, and chemical toxicity
were ignored

Mission conclusion:
Earthlings will destroy their own planet

John B. Sinclair is a much-travelled Scot who has now returned to Scotland, where he enjoys freelance writing on a variety of subjects.

GERALDINE McCARTHY: TV Dinner

Amusing, Submissions, Touching, , , ,

Old Harold buys a fish tank on his birthday. Fills it with guppies and mollies, hardy breeds. Throws in the odd fish flake. Changes the water on Saturdays. It’s good to be needed.

The fish swim and swirl, dive and stare.

Tiddles is mesmerised. Now he has his own TV.

Geraldine McCarthy doesn’t own any pets. You can find her on Facebook.

RON. LAVALETTE: Fine Point

Amusing, Submissions, , , , ,

It wasn’t until his third unsuccessful attempt to get something—anything—worthwhile onto paper that he realized he’d been using the wrong pen. Somehow, a 0.7 had made it into his pocket along with his favored 1.0 and he’d been accidentally selecting it, thus guaranteeing his dissatisfaction with the outcome.

Ron. Lavalette has been widely published in both print and pixel forms. His first chapbook, Fallen Away, is now available from Finishing Line Press, and a reasonable sample of his work can be found at EGGS OVER TOKYO.

LIS BOQUETE: A Life Unlived

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

I just wanted to make it big, be useful, go clubbing, to the beach, take photos of all of those things, maybe call 9-1-1 sometime.

I’m an iPhone! A must-have gadget! I deserve an owner who uses me properly.

Sure, I’m user-friendly, but…

With grandma, I’m nothing but a paperweight.

Lis Boquete is a student of English as a foreign language, born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is a book lover and is currently studying to become a sworn translator.