“Stand away, American!”
“If my intentions were hostile,” growled the warrior, “your staff would not avail you, Wizard.”
“My kind must be careful,” said Sir McDonald. “In your land, I might wake up a slave.”
Abraham Lincoln gripped his sword. “That is why my country goes to war with itself.”
Historical fantasy is weird. But you should check out the Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card if you like that kind of thing.
Kittens! Kittens everywhere!
It was terrifying. Mortifying. A nightmare.
She stifled a scream. Then she stifled a yawn.
The warm, cuddly kitten bodies, like a soft, purring blanket, lulled her, despite her best efforts, off to sleep. And as she slept, she dreamed about the tigers that ate her mom.
It was comfortable in his bed, so he decided to stay there.
It was still comfortable the next day, because it was so soft.
It was still comfortable the next week, because it was so warm.
It was still comfortable the next month, because he couldn’t feel anything at all.
Crankfurt the Crocodile was a very good wallower. Sometimes he wallowed in the mud. Sometimes he wallowed in the swamp. Sometimes he even wallowed in the dust.
At the Mammal Wallowing Championships, Crankfurt was disqualified because of his decidedly non-mammalian crocodility. That was where he learned to wallow in despair.
Mandy gasped in delight. “It’s like I always dreamed! But how did you…?”
Travis grinned. “Let’s just say I owe the zookeeper a very complicated favor! Care for a ride?”
Mandy blushed. “I’d love one.”
By sunset’s glow, he drove the duck-drawn carriage down the meandering path to her heart.
This story was based on a prompt from @awesomejeka.
The kayak rolled with the swelling of the ocean. Its lifeless occupant had stories to tell; the forensics officer in the nearby boat was certain of that.
An eruption of bubbles at the rear of the boat wasn’t a loud enough warning to prevent him from becoming the second victim.
This story was based on a prompt from @brucerytel.
Johnny blamed the milkman.
“Why would the milkman steal the last jug of milk out of our fridge?” said mom. “He has so much of his own in his truck!”
“He’s greedy. He wants it all for himself.”
“Honey, that’s–”
“GIVE ME ALL YOUR MILK!!” cried the Malevolent Milkman. “NOW!!”
Mark your calendar; it’s finally time!
The first new fifty-word story since February 22 is scheduled to go live this Monday, July 5, and there will be a new story every weekday after that. My goal is to complete another year of stories.
In the first year of fifty-word stories, I posted a story every day of the week. This time I’m going to restrict the stories to Monday to Friday. The reason for this is that I found myself burning out a bit as the months went on, and a couple of days each week to recharge my creative juices will help me avoid that.
The site has undergone a couple of changes, as well. The most notable changes are the addition of the ability to share and comment on stories via Facebook and Twitter as well as a new navigation bar to make different parts of the site easier to access. I’m also adjusting the way stories are classified and categorized, so that you can find what you want to read without having to read through the entire archive.
Finally, the FiftyWordStories.com book continues to move forward. I have to finalize the cover, make a few changes to the order of the stories and the way they’re divided into chapters, and take a look at a proof copy, but I’m reasonably confident that the book will be ready for ordering by the end of the month.
Let me know what you think of the changes! I’m excited about the new stories, and I hope you are, too.
FiftyWordStories.com is diving further into Web 2.0!
I’ve added some new functionality to the site, so that readers can now post comments using their Facebook or Twitter accounts, and can “Like” posts using their Facebook profiles, as well. Hopefully this will make it easier for people to get involved with the site and share it with friends.
Let me know what you think of the new features and functions in a comment.
A fifty-word stories book is on its way!
After taking a few months away from this site (a little longer than I had planned or expected, actually), I’m finally buckling down and assembling my favourite stories into a book. I plan to make the book available in a variety of ways, both in print and digitally.
I don’t have pricing details yet, or a date, or even a final title, but I’m working on figuring out that information, and I’ll share it as soon as I know.
I do know that there will be close to 150 stories in the book, and I’m looking at ways of including bonus content in various forms to make it worthwhile for people who have been reading my stories since the site started.
If you have any questions about the book, or any thoughts or suggestions, please leave a comment!