Category Archives: Stories

Nuts Are Lame

Chocolate brownies are delightful. But not with nuts in them.

Chewy cookies are delightful. But not with nuts in them.

Insane asylums are delightful. But not with nuts in them.

Exploding fireworks are delightful. But not with nuts in them.

Repetitive statements are delightful. But not with nuts in them.

Unfashionably Late

She’d planned to make the most dramatic appearance of all time, bigger than Blücher at the Battle of Waterloo, bigger than Santa on Christmas Eve, bigger than Uncle Joe at her 18th birthday.

But she was a full day late.

When teleporting onto a moving ship, that’s a significant problem.

The Thirteenth Day of Christmas

On the thirteenth day of Christmas, her true love gave her thirteen feral children.

He intended  to adopt them into a loving, nurturing home, but having been raised from infancy by lions, they were just too far gone.

She ended up with five drummers, two ladies, and a turtle dove.

Spontaneity is the Spice of Love

After being married for thirty years he thought he’d pretty much figured her out, but when she came home with a baby crocodile for Christmas he realized she was as beautifully, wonderfully mysterious to him now as she always had been, which wasn’t much consolation when it ate the dog.

Falcon Midnight and the Treachery

Captain Falcon Midnight activated the intercom. “Ignore the klaxon,” she told the passengers. “It’s faulty wiring.”

“You’re not telling them about the space pirates?” asked first mate Michael Firefist.

“Don’t want them to panic,” said Midnight.

“Fine,” said Firefist, jabbing her with his space taser.

Then he dropped the shields.


Today’s story was based on character names provided by @MisterFiendZero and @danzama.

Monkey Bar Highway

The virus targeted only medical professionals and civil engineers.

No one was left who knew how to figure out why the plague had targeted such a specific population. But that wasn’t the biggest problem: city planning failed, crooked minds prevailed, and before long, the streets were made of monkey bars.

Context and Description: The Core Ingredients of Engaging Narrative

LaRoche leaned over the edge and gazed down on the street below.

There wasn’t even a single car.

That wasn’t unusual, because it was 1723. Louis XV had just attained his majority, and it wouldn’t be long before the Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed.

Then he jumped.

Then he landed.


Today’s fifty-word story was partially inspired by reading Les Miserables, which is a very description-heavy, context-heavy book. Lord of the Rings is another. I love them both.

TIM SEVENHUYSEN: The Door at the End of the Hall

There was a door at the end of the hall.

No one knew where it led. Some said a bathroom. Some said a secret cellar. Some said France.

Only one man claimed to know the secret.

He died in a car accident. No one asked very many questions after that.


This story was based on a title suggested by @C_h_a_s_e_y.