The word “turnpike” got its name from guardsmen standing at either side of a road and lowering their poleaxes to block the road until a toll was paid or a pass was shown.
These days, the pike has been replaced by a mechanical barrier or by cameras which scan for an electronic toll-paying device and capture the license plate numbers of violators.
Still, somewhere in that tollbooth, there’s a fierce-looking halberd leaning against the wall.
When the machines fail. Society breaks down, and the zombies win.
The tolls must be paid, and they certainly don’t collect themselves.
One brain please.
Author: R.
Hello, Friend!
When I run into a friend I haven’t run into for a very long time, I find myself subconsciously rolling down my sleeves and raising my collar in a misguided attempt to conceal the scars and skin grafts.
Thank heavens I have the sense to always wear gloves, a low-brimmed hat, and sunglasses to block any view of what my thick beard and mustache doesn’t already obscure.
Underneath the layers of clothes, hair, and palm fronds strategically held by my manservant Richard, I ponder how to address this long-lost friend properly.
“Hello,” I shout, tip my hat, and I run.
The Creature
Don’t get me wrong.
I hate the creature as much as anybody else.
If there’s a crowd shouting KILL THE CREATURE! you’ll find me at the head of it.
Far ahead of it.
Running from it.
Yes, I am the creature.
And I hate it. I hate it with a passion.
We draw lots at the city council meeting once a year.
Mine said “YOU ARE THE CREATURE!”
Damn.
I went from chanting KILL THE CREATURE to running as fast as I could, my neighbors in pursuit with torches, pitchforks, and digital cameras for posting the carnage to YouTube later.
How do you write 100 word stories? #100
TRIPLE DIGITES
Many many thanks to all the folk who have listened to this collect. With your help we can end vestiphoia in our life time
This ends my 100 100s and I’ve save the best for last. Stories are dust unless they have a shelf to rest, a place to be. To be surround with a mountain of stories. With out Mr Laurence Simon these tiny bubbles would have long ago lost there rainbow and faded to gray and burst. Take your tales and find them a home. It is not good enough to put the words on the page they have to be seen or in the case of podcasting.isfulofcrap.com they were allowed to be heard. I thank you Laurence and I will be brief
Earbuds
I remember when the Walkman first came out.
They came with cheap foam pads on a flimsy plastic frame to wear.
These broke easily, and, over the years, just got flimsier and cheaper.
I don’t think I ever had a pair that lasted over a week.
Now, they’ve got these fancy silicone earbuds you stick in your ear.
They don’t fall out as easily as the headphones fell off.
I’m told the sound is great with them, but I can’t use them.
I’ve already got hearing aids stuck in there.
From listening to those old cheap flimsy headphones too loud.
How do you write 100 word stories? #99
Many folk with hidden agendas have asked how do you Tom write a 100 word story
Since I have been writing stories in 100 word chucks I find I have been able to reduce all my analytic reporting to that size. Be it troop assessments in Afghanistan or Chilean Copper labor trends everything is 100 words long. Some of these pieces have escaped into the wild and ended up on the desk of the director of the Heritage Foundation. So here I am working for a think tank no make that two think tanks I’m on loan to the Hoover now. If this works out with these guys I might head over to the White House.
Drawing a blank
I’m trying to write a story, but I’m drawing a blank.
I imagine the blank in my mind, standing there, chewing the creativity out of the imaginative part of my brain to pieces.
I send my guards after the blank, and it is captured.
After torturing a confession out of the blank, I have it dragged out into a field.
Its legs and arms are tied to horses, and I ask the blank if it has any last words.
“Nope,” it says. “I’m drawing a blank.”
“Not me,” I say. “I’m drawing and quartering one.”
The horses pull it apart.
Phone Game
I grew up playing Scrabble.
We used to play on a board with little wooden tiles. The board went on a turntable so it could be turned to face each player.
Now, we’re playing Scrabble over our phones.
She plays GAIN, I build on it by adding an A to make it AGAIN.
We go back and forth like this, game to game.
It’s kinda like chess in a way.
Unlike chess, where all the pieces are out in the open, you need to track the tiles secretly for Scrabble to work.
I peek at her phone when she’s asleep.
How do you write 100 word stories? #98
Many folk songs sing out how do you Tom write a 100 word story
I find deadlines as a useful tool to keep me pumping out this dribble. I just take the form to a higher level of absurdity. I tie a fishing line to a Smith and Weston one chambered loaded, spin and start writing. A sword is suspect from the ceiling over my head if the 45 miss fires. A last line prevents the Africa Kill bee from getting out of a box under the desk. Sadly multiple deadlines have limited effect on zombies. Can you please pass that plate of brains, watch out for the trip line under the … sorry.
How do you write 100 word stories? #97
Many folk with Elvis hairdos have asked do you want to be my good luck charm o o o o
But then asked how do you Tom write a 100 word story thank you very much.
We here at the weekly challenge embrace the democratic process. You will note you the voting public chose whomever they feel has risen to the heights of brevity in quality and vote for them on the pole at the site. Sometime they place into the hands of reality challenge authors the opportunity to choose a topic so obscure and archaic it leave we contenders blankly staring at the screen. The writer warrior’s friend in time as those is the flaming silver spear of reference the internet. Take Vestiphoia, actually take it far away and bury it in an unmarked grave.