I am four years old, returning home from grocery shopping with my father, when I realize I’ve left my imaginary friend, Betty, back at the store.
My dad, so patient and kind, drives me back there, where we greet Betty on the sidewalk and he offers her a ride home.
M. Elaine Moore is a North Carolina-based fiction writer and poet. She has completed one novel and is at work on another. She has had several poems published both in online journals and in print.
She chose him.
I think what hurt most was that she didn’t choose me. I have nothing against the guy. In fact, I’m happy for him.
But why not me?
Did I use the wrong words? Did I smell funny?
Whatever her reason, I’ll recover. The world holds many puppies.
“Where have you been?” they demanded, leaning out of their windows in pajamas and nightgowns. “Did you get lost? Did you think it was funny?”
They hadn’t seen the moon in over a week!
Moon peeked over the horizon at her dearly beloved, the sun, and hid a contented blush.
“Darling Cynthia, please give me just one more chance!”
“Why should I settle for an imperfect suitor?” sniffed Cynthia. “You answered a question wrong!”
“I’ll change my answer! I’ll change anything! Just tell me how!”
Cynthia considered. “Fine, one more chance. After all, I am the fairest of them all.”
This story is based on a title suggested by @Sir_Oddington.
Rammy won the 2011 Valentine’s Day contest with the following entry:
Of course they look alike; they’re sisters.
Coincidentally, I met them on Valentine’s Day and immediately fell in love, and now they live with me.
It was through a want ad: “New in town. Looking for friends, a litter box, and meow mix.”
I named my kittens Always and Forever.
Rammy Meyerowitz is a Puzzle Person and a Cultural Marginal, as well as a jewish atheist and a secular humanist.
Daniel earned runner up honours in the Valentine’s Day contest with this story:
I am a robot in love with a human.
One day she walked past.
“Level of fine: incalculable.”
She be like, “Oh please, honey, you a robot.”
I said, “Be my Valentine, and I will love you always and forever.”
“I’ll pass.”
I pinched her booty and she left me.
Daniel Watson graduated from Florida State University last April with a degree in English creative writing and philosophy. He now lives in Greenville, South Carolina, where he is a project proposal editor for a corporation called Fluor.
Editor’s Note: For the best experience, try reading this story out loud to someone while doing character voices!
Derek’s story earned second runner up in the 50WS Valentine’s Day contest:
“Do you love me?”
They were young, and she laughed. “Zero. Computers can’t love, silly.”
Eons passed. They were alone, together. As entropy drained the last drops of energy in the universe, he strained to ask the question one last time.
“Do you love me?”
“One. Always and forever.”
Derek Mullanari is a teenager who enjoys writing science fiction.
FiftyWordStories.com is holding a Valentine’s Day contest. Here’s the scoop: send in your Valentine’s Day-themed fifty-word story, based on the prompt given below, and you could win a copy of the Fifty-Word Stories: Volume One ebook!
The rules are as follows:
Stories will be judged on their overall quality and creativity, and on how well they use the provided prompts. Make every word count, and think unconventionally: I want to smile, sigh, laugh, or have some other kind of emotional reaction.
The three best stories, as judged by myself, will be posted to the site on February 14, 2011, and the writer of the best story will receive the Fifty-Word Stories: Volume One ebook bundle (containing all three available file formats) via email.
Send your entries to tim@fiftywordstories.com, with “Valentine’s Day Contest” in the subject area. Include the story, a title, and a brief biography (one or two sentences) in the body of your email. Limit three entered stories per person. Entries close on February 11, 2011, at 11:59 PM Pacific time.
If you don’t have a lot of spending money lying around, this could be your chance to get your (electronic) hands on over five thousand words of microfiction. So get writing!
She had a burning but unrequited love. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, so she transformed herself into a microorganism and crawled up his intestines.
She discovered some deep fried fig newtons in there, which intensified her affections.
She lived in his heart until he died.
Based on a title suggested by Dan Hingston via Facebook.
The care-free matador brought work home with him, dodging bulls by night and sidestepping commitments and responsibilities by day.
The stolid yodeler brought work home with her, bellowing music by day and shouting judgments and criticisms by night.
He reminded her of a song.
She reminded him of a cow.
This story is based on a title created by my sister, Lisa, while playing a microfiction party game that I will share via this site at some point in the future.