Skip to content

50-Word Stories

Brand new bite-sized fiction every weekday!

  • About
  • News
  • Stories
    • Top Stories
    • Adventurous Stories
    • Amusing Stories
    • Artistic Stories
    • Odd Stories
    • Poetry
    • Puns and Wordplay
    • Touching Stories
  • Submissions
  • Hall of Fame
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS

CALEB FITTING: Intimate

December 26, 2017Adventure, SubmissionsCaleb Fitting, irony, relationship, science fictionTim

Lydia dropped off Hannah at her dad’s place, a rocky walk from home. She enjoyed the trek. They both did. The bubble helmet radios picked up every single word. Every breath floated into mother’s and daughter’s ears.

It was intimate, unlike with her ex-husband, the only other human on Titan.


Caleb resides in Arkansas where he plays beach volleyball.

  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
Leave a comment

STORY OF THE WEEK: December 24

December 24, 2017NewsTim

The story of the week for December 18 to 22 is…

The Cruelest Part by Dave Novak

  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
Leave a comment

ALANNA DONALDSON: Lucky

December 22, 2017Amusing, Artistic, SubmissionsAlanna Donaldson, embellishment, funny, gossip, rumorsTim

When Mrs Brain’s dog bit off her thumb, the whole village soon heard about it.

As the rumours spread, the thumb became all five fingers, which in turn became her hand.

In this way, the village devoured more of Mrs Brain than Lucky had ever done, or hoped to do.


Alanna writes short stories and flash fiction and works in publishing in Oxfordshire. She can be found on Twitter at @alannamadeleine.

  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
View all 5 comments

PENNY SENANARONG: Heartless

December 22, 2017Artistic, Submissionsheart, humanity, love, metaphor, Penny SananarongTim

A void sits in between his rib cages; he lacks the beating bit of flesh that makes humans human. So, she fills the emptiness with memories of overgrown moss and poisonous flowers, along with false promises of eternity.

It is the closest thing to her heart that she can give.


Penny Senanarong is currently an A-Level student who grew up in the bustling city of Bangkok. Although Thai is her mother tongue, the world of English language and literature fascinates her, and she wishes to be a part of it through writing fiction.

  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
Leave a comment

VIV BURGESS: Frequent Flyer

December 22, 2017Amusing, Submissionsfunny, Santa Claus, Viv BurgessTim

After years of business suppers, his wife put him on a diet. The benefits were obvious. The uniform was looser and his delivery route was quicker. He could go in and out of buildings faster and travel lighter.

But refusing client generosity proved difficult. He never could resist mince pies.


Viv Burgess is aware that he also likes cookies or biscuits but on a diet he should really only eat the carrots.

  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
Leave a comment

CHELSEA ROBERTS: The Saucers

December 21, 2017Amusing, Artistic, Submissionsaliens, Chelsea Roberts, Earth, environment, science fictionTim

The saucers appeared at 12:15 pm on Feast Day, when we celebrate victory over body shaming and our collective morbid obesity.

The saucers searched for intelligent life, abundant natural resources or a population able to power their work force back home.

The saucers left at 12:16 pm on Feast Day.


Chelsea Roberts on most days can be found writing essays and short stories at pastpaperanswers.com.

  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
One comment so far

JOSÉ JAIME PÉREZ: Someone Different From the World

December 21, 2017Submissions, Touchingbeauty, José Jaime Perez, love, relationshipTim

He was lost in thought again. Someone took over his mind, someone with a heart able to enjoy every single moment as if everything was special.

He stared at her and she smiled back happily, unaware of her own uniqueness. That ignorance, he pondered, was also part of her beauty.


José Jaime is from Spain and is studying at university.

  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
Leave a comment

DAVE NOVAK: The Cruelest Part

December 20, 2017Artistic, Submissions, Top Storieschild, Dave Novak, heartbreak, loss, moving on, parent, rememberingTim

She told me that the cruelest part of it all, after it was over and she was finally allowed to leave the hospital and come home again, was that they had taken the crib away without even telling her.

They pretended like it had never been there to begin with.


Dave Novak works in a fairly serious office that sends him to strange and mysterious places throughout New Jersey. Whenever he feels like being more or less serious, he writes. You can check out his works and thoughts at dumbstupidfakestories.wordpress.com.

  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
View all 2 comments

ISRAELA MARGALIT: Found and Lost

December 20, 2017Amusing, Artistic, Submissionsadvice, aspiration, dreams, funny, irony, Israela MargalitTim

After an extensive search I found a great piano tuner. He showed me pictures of his paintings. I said he was very talented and he should be working on his art rather than tune pianos. Two years later he took my advice and now I don’t have a piano tuner.


Israela Margalit is a playwright, television writer, concert pianist, recording artist, and recently a published author of short fiction and creative nonfiction, with awards or honors in all categories.

  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
One comment so far

ROBERTA BEACH JACOBSON: Childhood

December 19, 2017Submissions, Touchingchild, heartbreak, loss, parent, Roberta Beach JacobsonTim

I filled sacks with too-snug jeans and sweaters; my closet was finally getting uncluttered.

A fellow donor at the charity shop drivethrough extracted a train set and scooter from her van. I helped her with a dirt bike.

“They grow up so fast,” I commented.

“Tommy had leukemia,” she replied.


Roberta tried retiring, but it didn’t work.

  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
View all 2 comments

Posts navigation

← Older posts
Newer posts →

News

2025 Story of the Year
The winner is… Paul D’Arcy!

Story of the Week/Month/Year
Think you’ve written something worthy of the Top Stories page? Send it in and you could win a monthly cash prize!

Subscribe via Email

Popular Stories (Past Month)

  • LAURA NAGLE: A Vowel ( 20 )
  • BETHANY BRUNO: Lawn Ornament ( 18 )
  • JOANNA NORLAND: A Swarm of Aunts Converged On Our Family Picnic ( 17 )
  • ALYSON FLOYD: Sticky Fingers ( 16 )
  • PAUL D'ARCY: The Cache We Carry ( 16 )
  • SARAH SORENSEN: Leo Season ( 14 )
  • CAROL HUEBSCH REEVES: Wondering ( 14 )
  • KATHERINE ROSE BRAUN: Sunday Special ( 14 )
  • BARB UDODOW: Toes ( 13 )
  • JOHN OLAFSEN: Nothing Remains ( 13 )
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Proudly powered by WordPress