“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).
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.
She felt as though she was being watched.
Her daughter trapped the bee under a glass. Look Mum, it’s one of them. A drone.
She looked closer, and saw a tiny lens where its face should be, glinting in front of beating iridescent wings.
The world wasn’t like she remembered.
Jen Davies is from Glasgow, Scotland. She designs movie posters for a living and loves stories, pictures, and people. You can see her work at jendavies.co.uk and find her on Twitter at @jendavies.
The story of the week for May 27 to 31 is…
Last of the Lemons by Christine Nedahl
Rheumy eyes viewed the long orchard.
His treasured trees would outlive her, but deprived of care, they too would die.
He’d picked his trees, and her, for the fruit each would bear. He’d loathed her barrenness.
His acid tongue was silent now. For the first time in years, she smiled.
Christine Nedahl is a retired teacher from the Rhondda Valley, South Wales, now living with her husband in Arboleas in the Almanzora Valley, Spain. She enjoys writing about anything and everything, but flash fiction and poetry are currently favourites. She has been published in a number of anthologies and is a member of Writers Abroad. See more at christinenedahl.wordpress.com.
The pebble was perfect—smooth, oval, and just the right weight.
Sally picked it up from where it lay nestled snugly and warm among the other stones on the beach. She skimmed it and counted: “Seven, eight, nine… Not bad.”
The pebble sank into the ocean and started over again.
Patrick Mc Loughlin is an English Language Teacher in Ireland who dabbles in writing. He also dabbles in painting and music and someday hopes to do more than dabble. He lives in the west of Ireland, where it’s hard to concentrate.
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.
I step in something cold, slimy on the kitchen tile.
Gelatin-encased golden suns. Crushed shells.
Gwen is slumped in the corner, rage melted.
I grease up a pan, ignite the burner, scoop up the ruined eggs with a spatula, and toss them into the spitting oil.
Then help her stand.
Tim Boiteau writes and lives near Detroit with his wife and son.
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.
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.