“Bobby, when does your wife get back from her four-week holiday in Paris?”
“In three days. Sunday.”
“Well, can I recommend you do some tidying up around your house?”
“No way! If I do that, the risk is that she’ll walk in and say, ‘You’ve had a woman in here.'”
Barry O’Farrell is an actor living in Brisbane,Australia. Barry’s other stories have appeared in Cyclamens & Swords, A Story In 100 Words and here at 50 Word Stories.
“What would you like for your birthday, honey?”
“Nothing.”
It took me decades to comprehensively understand her answer.
“Get off your butt, use your imagination, innovate, and window shop until you find a gift, an awe-inspiring and unusual gift, to surprise and delight me.”
This is the meaning of “nothing.”
Barry O’Farrell is an actor living in Brisbane, Australia. Barry’s stories may also be found in Cyclamens & Swords, A Story In 100 Words, and of course here at 50-Word Stories.
My assignment is writing a lipogram excluding the letter ‘e’.
First frustration, followed by my head hurts. I lack the discipline, perhaps the vocabulary.
I would rather be at the dentist having a tooth pulled.
Inspired, I use a pair of pliers to excise the ‘e’ key from my keyboard.
Barry O’Farrell is an actor living in Brisbane, Australia. Barry’s stories can be found at Cyclamens and Swords, A Story In 100 Words, and here at 50 Word Stories.
When Facebook crashed for 14 hours, 911 was inundated with calls from millions of panic-stricken people. This was an emergency on an unprecedented, incomprehensible scale.
Their lives came to a complete, instant standstill. All they lived for had been taken away from them.
Thank God I am not a screenager.
Other stories by Barry O’Farrell appear in Cyclamens & Swords, A Story In 100 Words and of course here at 50 Word Stories.
I believe in vampires. I never used to but then, one day, I filed for divorce. I saw my wife turn into a blood-sucking member of the undead, right before my eyes.
We have been divorced many years, yet she still phones me to ask for money.
Oh yes, vampires.
Barry O’Farrell had a 950-word sci-fi story published in the December issue of Cyclamens & Swords.
The promotion to name our giraffe is going terrifically well. The enthusiasm and excitement generated amongst the general public is way above our expectation.
In fact, the only promotion I can think of which has been more successful was the very first one we ran to help name our unicorn.
Barry O’Farrell is an actor living in Brisbane, Australia. More of his work can be found in Cyclamens & Swords and A Story In 100 Words.
I stroll past a group of local girls idly gossiping in the street.
One of them deliberately walks up behind me and pulls out the neck of my new sweater, exposing the label.
“It’s crap,” she calls loudly to the others. “He’s wearing crap.”
This is my introduction to labels.
Barry O’Farrell is an actor living in Brisbane, Australia. He is enjoying the challenge of writing microfiction. More of his work can be found at A Story In 100 Words.
Since Jasper’s grandfather cleared land illegally to establish the farm, title couldn’t be issued.
Three generations continuously cleared land.
When an Environment Department auditor showed up to measure the clearance, Jasper shot the official dead.
Today the Environment Court seized the farm, causing Jasper more grief than his life sentence.
Barry O’Farrell is an actor living in Brisbane, Australia. He is enjoying the challenge of microfiction, with other stories appearing in A Story In 100 Words.
“Look at my engagement ring, Granddad.”
“You are betrothed.”
“Happily.”
“You have pledged your troth.”
“Joyously.”
“You should’ve consulted me first. I’ve been engaged five times.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Once in grade 1… Twice in grade 2, again in grade 3, and finally when I was 27, to your lovely grandmother.”
Barry O’Farrell is an actor living in Brisbane, Australia. He’s enjoying the challenge of writing in 50 words.
Lily is 19, and already well known to police.
Calmly, Detective Carew sits beside her. Gently, he takes one of her now-bare arms, turns it over, and examines the new needle tracks.
“You’ve fallen off the wagon. You’re using again.”
“No… I haven’t.”
“What are these?”
She whispers, “Demons’ footsteps.”
Barry O’Farrell is an actor living in Brisbane, Australia. He is enjoying the challenge of writing in 50 words.