KERRY J DONOVAN: The Sink Hole

Adventure, Submissions, , ,

How do I get out of this?

Stuck in a sinkhole. Middle of the desert, broken leg, no water.

Great, I’m screwed.

Thirty-six hours and I’ve screamed myself hoarse.

Come on. You said you liked puzzles. Solve this one!

…A flash-flood has me treading water. For six hours.

I’m saved?

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Kerry spent most of his life in the UK, and now lives in Brittany with his long-suffering wife of thirty-six years. He has three children, three grandchildren, and no pets. Kerry has recently released The DCI Jones Casebook: Ellis Flynn, available on Kindle from Amazon US or Amazon UK. A paperback will be available soon.

POLL: How Often Should 50WS Post Stories Going Forward?

News

As we head into a new year of 50WS, I’m exploring some different options for ways to improve the site. For a long time we’ve been sharing one story per day, every weekday, but I’m open to other arrangements. We spent a few weeks posting two stories every weekday, and that seemed to go over well. There are other options, too.

I’d love to hear what you, as readers, would prefer. Please vote on the poll below, and leave comments to tell me what you think!

[poll id=”3″]

Thanks for an awesome 2013, everyone, and here’s to an even better 2014!

HARRY DEMAREST: The First Amphibian

Artistic, Submissions, ,

Pesca slithered onto the mud and gasped for breath. He was the first. He foresaw it all.

His children and descendents would become Reptiles, mammals, primates, and hominids. Civilization, weapons, and war would follow, and then nuclear annihilation.

Pesca slithered back into the water. He would be the last amphibian.

Harry Demarest has retired after careers encompassing scientific research, teaching at a university, software development, web application development, and voter database compilation and distribution. He is now spending his time with his grandchildren and writing memoirs and short stories.

LINDA NATHANIEL: Discosaurs

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Being vertically challenged, the Stegosaurus always received jealous, icy stares whenever limbo music played.  The anger was immediate from the other gangly dinosaurs.  Any prehistoric disco dance became a cauldron for sweaty ego and unresolved envy.

Often conflict would ensue until the Diplodocus enacted its customary diplomacy.  Disco demanded dignity.

Linda Nathaniel is a teacher and playwright who has had poems published in both Hemispheres.

 

CONNELL WAYNE REGNER and TIM SEVENHUYSEN: The Christmas Toll

Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

He said he hadn’t drunk too much
Said he drove better with a few
We needn’t be worried about such ‘n’ such
At Christmas, he said, he always came through.

Now we never hear him joke
But we remember those words he spoke

And we always miss him at Christmas

Connell Wayne Regner wrote the first draft of this story as a dismayed reaction to the Christmas “toll” on the roads in his neck of the woods. Tim helped to polish the poem into its current form. From both, have a safe and happy Christmas and New Year.

Connell has requested that this story not be rated, out of respect for its message.

JOHN B. SINCLAIR: Resolute

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

Last year, his annual business trip left him exhausted.

“You’re overweight,” said his wife, and the little ones nodded.

“No pain, no gain,” he resolved.

This Christmas Eve, after a strict twelve month diet, a slimmer, faster Santa will whiz round the world to deliver his gifts in record time.

John B Sinclair is a much-travelled Scot who has now returned to Scotland, where he enjoys freelance writing on a variety of subjects.

ELIZABETH ARCHER: The Seventeenth Day

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

On the seventeenth day of Christmas, he got the bills. What in the heck had she been thinking? Five golden rings? Calling birds? The poultry was a good investment. The party for the local lords and ladies had been fun. Excellent pipers.

Smiling, she served him stewed partridge with pears.

Elizabeth Archer writes poetry, flash, and short stories. She drinks too much coffee.

LS SHARROW: Marital Discord, Cro-Magnon Style

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

He woke, swaddled in mammoth fur. Where she? Fire stoked, he rushed to cave’s gaping hole.

Footsteps in snow. Shivering, he saw her below. What Woman doing?

He snorted: “Hey! ME hunter! YOU gatherer.”

Her club swinging over dead beast, she retorted: “He standing on stuff me wanted to gather!”

L.S. Sharrow has been a storyteller most of her life, and has had pieces published in The Chicago Renaissance Court 2012 Anthology, as well as several fiction websites. She lives in Chicago, where she is currently working on a collection of short stories.

CRAIG HOLZSCHUH: Nathan

Odd, Submissions, Touching, ,

Holding the balloon bouquet to his left hand, Nathan scans a paper which reads, “Thomas Allen Fitzgerald, three years old, car crash.“

Covering his pale skull with his hood he sighs, “I sure hope Tommy likes these.”

Nathan solemnly lifts a scythe from his car’s trunk and heads to work.

Craig has been published on fiftywordstories.com as well as in The Labyrinth. He can be reached via Facebook and has a WordPress blog that is sorely underused.

JOHN B. SINCLAIR: Interior Design BC

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Joe Ugg had everything a caveman desired: a wife, two children, a cave, and a wheel.

However, the news of an addition to the family meant the need to upsize quickly.

Sadly, he struggled to sell his home, as the children’s scribbling on the cave walls was impossible to remove.

John B Sinclair is a much-travelled Scot who has now returned to Scotland, where he enjoys freelance writing on a variety of subjects.