Rights

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The Legislature voted down the gay marriage bill for the third time in a year, and the governor said he’d just as soon sign a bill that allowed gays to fly.
So, as an April Fool’s joke, the legislature passed that bill. Unanimously.
The governor called a press conference and, in front of a dozen reporters, signed it.
And as he looked out over the assembled group, he noticed a few people rising from their chairs into the air.
Alarmed, he held on to the podium, knuckles white against the wood.
But his feet would not stay on the ground.

Bottlecaps

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Joe has a trash can full of bottlecaps behind the bar. He calls it his collection.
No corkboards or anything. Just a can full of bottlecaps.
“I just collect them,” he says, pulling another beer from the tap.
“From where?” I ask. “You just keep beer on tap, no bottles or cans. And you’ve never gone anywhere but up and down those stairs to your apartment.”
Joe looked at the trash can and scratched his head. “Beats me,” he said. “I guess this makes it valuable or something.”
He handed me the beer and tossed another cap into his collection.

The Stairs

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Lily warned me not to go down to the basement.
But I needed something from down there.
We live on four, so I went down the five flights of stairs and…
Locked. Forgot the key.
So, I went back up six flights of stairs and…
Six?
If I went up six, I should be on…
Wait. Hold on.
I went back down again, down five flights of stairs, and stood at the basement door.
Then I carefully counted each flight of stairs up.
Six.
“Somethings wrong,” I said.
“I told you not to go down to the basement,” muttered Lily.

The Talking Sword

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The swordsman tested all the swords in the store, but when he picked up the talking sword, he was greatly impressed.
“I have no equal, no opponent can defeat me,” it said.
The fighter took a few lunges and swings.
Good balance, nice edge.
I like this sword.
He bought it.
Three days later, the swordsman was crawling out of a cave, bloodied and battered, sword in hand.
“They were kobolds, Sword,” he groaned. “I could beat them barehanded.”
“My expertise is in debate, not combat,” said the sword.
It swore as it clattered against the rocks in the cave.

Weekly Challenge #185 – Mystery Ingredient

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Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Eighty-Five, where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic.
The topic this week was… was…. um…
It’s Halloween!
The excellent theme music is by Guy David.
VOTING

Which stories were the best this week?
Steven
Zachmann
Norval Joe
Justin
TJ
Lance
Laeianna
JRadimus
Planet Z
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com


Go ahead and listen to them and then vote for your favorites (multiple selections are allowed):


Steven

One. Take one candlestick. Combine with the brain of your ex-lover at
high speed. In the library.
Two. Wipe fingerprints from fixtures and door handles for thirty seconds.
Three. Use two cups of the victim’s blood to write radical slogans for
a religion you do not follow on the walls.
Four. Place body in bathtub filled with sulfuric acid. Allow to
steep until soft..
Five. Knead C4 around support pillars of home. Place detonators.
Six. Exit, then detonate. Allow all ingredients to cook until fire
and police departments arrive.
Seven. Watch TV anchors speculate about your identity.
Serves one.

Zachmann

Kory smiles and offers Justin a piece of cake fresh from the oven made with a recipe he got from DAVe. Jusin says “This looks like a standard spice cake. Is it?” “Yes, with a special mystery ingredient. It is surprisingly good” replies Kory. “My son brought some to school and his friends love it.” Kory pours Justin a glass of milk. They each eat a piece of cake. Justin’s face turns read. Then Justin grabs the one gallon milk jug and drinks all the milk. Justin asks “Just what is the mystery ingredient?” “Didn’t I tell you? Habanerro Peppers”

Norval Joe

A bunch of us kids got crazy my junior year in high school. We dicided we all wanted super powers. Someone came up with the idea of hanging out in the cooling tower of the old nuclear plant.
The police showed up before I could climb in.
My dad worked for KFC. When he found out what we tried to do, he said I could use the mustery ingredient from the secret eleven herbs and spices. He said it would make me fly.
It’s disappointing.
All my friends died from radiation poisoning. I wake up everyday at sunrise and crow.

Justin

Although airship travel is slow and relaxed, but no one wants a long wait to
eat. I have to make quality food at a reasonable pace. I can’t cook fresh to
order at the slow speed it takes to get that special, perfect taste. I have
a secret, though. I can cook food quickly, but still get compliments on the
exquisite flavor of the food. How do I do it? Well, let me tell you. I add a
special ingredient; I spritz on sloth sweat. It’s rare and expensive, but
it’s the best way to get that slow cooked flavor!

TJ

Part of a compilation, you say, slipping into our
midst in an incognito fashion? Such as might slink along sub rosa without
anybody noticing? That is our task, to suss out this addition? How curiously
quaint, and quaintly curious. Or, failing that, a thing can, in unusual
situations, simply find it’s out of bounds, strict and uncompromising though
such might loom. Can your imagination fathom my fabrication? What’s missing
thus far in this randomly circuitous jazz – apart from a common nonconsonant
which, for kicks, I’m not using in this discussion. What a luxury, had I not
run out of it!

Lance

Twenty years.
That’s how long it took to decipher the spider-web
handwriting and understand the formula.
I spent ten more scouring the globe for the strange and exotic bits of
plant and animal matter. When I came
home, nearly three years passed as I stared at that damnable smeared blob of
ink before deciding what the last item on the list must be.
Thirty-three years of my life in pursuit of
one goal. It seems like so long, but if
I’m right, if I’ve finally figured out the mystery ingredient, I’ll live
forever. If I’m wrong, then I’ll destroy
the-

Laeianna

Lester jabbed his fork into the mystery meatloaf all schools served. Poke!
Poke! After last Thursday’s helping, Lester asked the counselor about it.
She claimed it had the usual ingredients with a little mystery flavor added
then urged him to concentrate on schoolwork instead. Poke! Poke! Lester
refused, keeping an eye on the kitchen door’s little window into the lunch
lady’s world. Poke! Poke! He worried over the roaches coming from under
the door and hearing the sounds of cat screams emanating from inside. Poke!
Poke! And then there was the odd fact that kitchen assistants kept
disappearing. Poke! Poke!

JRadimus

You mightn’t not believe me now, but we once had the biggest pile o’ money you even done seen. We was the richest family fer six hollers. But now I’ve spent almost all of it tryin’ to figger out my Grand-Pappy’s secret. Y’see, Grand-Pappy brewed him up some special moonshine during the Dry Spell. Folks cottoned to it real powerful-like. Purty soon, he was sellin’ it as quick as he made it. Pa started helpin’ him after he got blinded off’n a bad batch from over the next county. Then he up n’ died without tellin’ us his mystery ingredient.

Planet Z

Batman dragged the battered chef into Arkham and threw him into a cell.
“What’s the name on this one?” the orderly asked.
“He calls himself ‘Mister E. Ingredient’” growled Batman. “The Master Chef Of Crime.”
He responded well to therapy and medication, and rehabilitation went smoothly.
Gotham Four Seasons and The Wyndham expressed an interest in his skills, but the doctors didn’t think he was ready.
“At least let me cook something, to express my gratitude,” said Ingredient.
As the staff and guards vomited blood, the chef straightened his toque, laughed, and walked out the door.

The Dragon Next Door

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My oven is filthy.
It is covered with grime.
But I do not have anything to clean it.
So, I call the dragon who lives next door.
She sticks her head in the window and looks at the oven.
“Disgusting!” she growls.
She takes a deep breath and blows fire all over my kitchen, burning the countertops and toaster and my favorite oven mitts.
“I am so sorry,” she says. “I should have been more careful.”
I hop on her back and we fly to a restaurant, order burgers and shakes, and go hunting for elephants for her to eat.

Dazzleberries and Ookweed

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Grondor admonished his tribe of cave-dwellers: “Lay off the dazzleberries and ookweed.”
He was getting sick and tired of tripping over stoned tribesmen or getting jabbed in the ass with a spear when they’d flip out and hallucinate that he was an elk.
And so, he collected up all the plants he could find, dragged the Firemaker out of his cave, and they set the narcotic bundle aflame.
With a deep sigh of relief, Grondor walked back to the caves.
And saw elk. Dozens of them.
He pulled out his spear and attacked.
His frightened tribe scattered, bleeding and screaming.

2000

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My grandfather owned a wholesale grocery warehouse.
In his office, there was an antique cash register and an adding machine you had to pull the crank to get the numbers out of.
I calculated how old I’d be in the year 2000.
Then I did it for my brother.
And my dad.
And my mother.
When I wanted to do it for my grandfather, he chuckled and said he didn’t think he’d be around for that.
“But, Grampa.”
He was right. Ten years short, seven kinds of cancer ganged up on him.
Nobody knows where that adding machine ended up.

Addict

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I can feel the needle in my arm.
It’s been there for a long time.
I refuse to look at it.
I should take it out, I tell myself.
I can’t remember putting it in.
Did I put it in? Did someone else?
I can’t remember.
What if I take it out for a minute, to prove I can.
Will I be able to put it back in?
I’d better leave it there. It’s there for a reason.
I can’t remember why, but it should stay there.
So I look, and… it’s not there anymore.
I scream GIVE IT BACK!

Seasick

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I don’t like boats.
I get horribly seasick.
I’ve tried drugs, but those seasickness drugs make me even sicker.
So, I stay off of boats.
Recently, I was diagnosed with cancer.
The chemotherapy made me really sick.
So they gave me anti-nausea drugs.
When the treatment was over and the doctors told me they couldn’t do anything else, I didn’t know what to do.
So I got on a boat.
And I felt fine.
“Give me more of those pills,” I said. “Enough to last me.”
So they did. Thirty yellow pills.
And I’ve been on the water ever since.