Wednesday is bin day, the day a specially designed vehicle collects detritus from a week’s living for its journey to the landfill site.
Sunday, a different specially designed vehicle collects cargo for its journey. Friends and relatives watch as a life’s living is lowered into the earth at another site.
Chris lives in Qualicum Beach, British Columbia. He is retired and having fun writing. He has just published his first book, “Fifty More or Less”.
“Fly like eagle and run without tiring,” the chieftain promised her. He was also an ordained priest and owner of the grocery store in the village.
She came in to buy rice and corn oil but the shelves were picked clean. Not that it mattered; the dollar was worthless anyway.
John Szamosi is a wordsmith and peace activist who has published several short stories, satire, and poems in print and online magazines.
Two weeks after it happened, Mr. Ludlow dragged countless bags to the curb, and my wife and I watched from across the street as children-vultures descended upon them, tearing through the black plastic, spilling the cheerful-colored toys across the lawn.
An hour later the street was empty.
I felt sick.
Tim Boiteau is a Writers of the Future winner and author of two novels, most recently ILTDAY. Find more at timboiteau.wordpress.com.
This time, he vowed, he would get it just right. This time he would follow the recipe to the letter. No substituting. No improvising. He would bake her the best birthday cake ever. The ingredients were mixed, the batter poured. He smiled with satisfaction. That’s when the oven caught fire.
Nick Young is a retired award-winning CBS News Correspondent. In addition to 50-Word Stories, his writing has appeared in more than thirty publications including the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, The Garland Lake Review, The Best of CaféLit 11 and Vols. I and II of the Writer Shed Stories anthologies. His first novel, “Deadline”, was published in September. He lives outside Chicago.
Was it the morphine that made my mother smile for the first time in years?
“Do you see Johnny?” she asked.
“Mom, your brother died years ago.”
“But he’s here,” she said, closing her eyes forever.
“Strange, right?” I asked the nurse.
“No, someday someone will come for you, too.”
Bud is a disabled veteran who writes short stories and flash fiction.
“You may begin… now,” the teacher said.
My mind focuses on blood types not elements. O+. B-. Incompatible. Kidneys had to match. The doctor said we’d have to act quickly if a donor emerged. I hoped it’d be an old one.
“Time’s up! Pencils down.”
I hadn’t even begun yet.
Aisha Yansane is 9th grade student from Philadelphia. This is the beginning of her creative writing journey. Find her on Instagram at @amourraisha.
The road stretched on into the night, a mournful song on the radio. The car’s driver was alone. Beside him sat a full bottle and a cabin reservation for two. He focused not on the song, the full bottle, or the empty car. His sad eyes focused on the road.
Robert Trueblood is an amateur writer, professional bookkeeper, GM, and possible Vampire from Alberta, Canada.
He stares at the blank page, trying to think of the perfect first line. Once that’s down, the rest will flow. A masterpiece will be unleashed.
There will be acclaim, awards, royalties. Appearances at literary festivals
He stares at the blank page, for fifty years now, squinting more and more.
Brian Maycock’s short fiction has appeared in Planet Paragraph, 101 Words and The Drabble. He lives in Scotland.
The story of the week for December 25 to 29 is…
Cutting Edge by KHOP Möricke
Ever since man walked the earth these things have remained the same: the sea, the clouds, the winds, the sun, the moon. The cold, the heat, the rain. The days, the running years, the hunger, the thirst, the you, the me. And the cutting edge of a really sharp knife.
KHOP Möricke is just living along in the Netherlands. In 2012, KHOP published a book titled 50 easy pieces.