The 100 Word Stories Podcast

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number Two Hundred and Fifty-One, 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 “Marbles”

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

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Dave

“Marbles,” I shook his shoulder.

Marbles took a lot of roids when he played ball. So much that the bigger he got the smaller his junk became. Marbles eventually lost his contract, lost his girlfriend and wife and spent a year in Corcoran Prison for attempted murder. – Not only will roids take your manhood but your common sense.

“Marbles, wake up!”

My employer invested a lot of money in this behemoth. It’s time to settle the books.

“I’m up, I’m up,” he groaned and mumbled.

I just hate to kill a man while he is sleeping.

Xerxes

“It looks like his mouth is full of bubbles, Sarge.”

Sure enough, in amongst the foam and froth were a number of perfectly round spheres which threw points of light around the room if you hit them just right with the beam from the flashlight.

Of course they couldn’t be bubbles, bubbles wouldn’t last long and these were like fixtures, a kind of disco ball of disease coming out of the man’s mouth.

The tiny glass orbs reflected the light amazingly well from the alcoholic bath that had been his stomach contents.

I guess you shouldn’t mix marbles and tequila.

What is this crap?

I don’t know but it certainly is full.

Have you been to the island?

Yes, and I’ve sat in the tree, where there are chairs made of bone.

I’ve stood, behind a chair, nearly naked, while his words rang out from everywhere and nowhere at once.

One time there was no voice, so he magically created a river of bytes on which to listen. He called it a stream, but I’m sure it flowed like a mighty torrent through the ether from point to point.

Is that a story?

No, but it is 100 words, tom.

Tom

Thomas Bruce was truly one of the most unprofitable thieves in history. As ambassador to the Ottoman Empire he managed to get permission to remove 17 sections from the temple of Athena over an 11 year period. He paid £74,240 to ship them to England and only got £35,000 from the British Government. He lost 2 million dollar in the deal. Parties in Britain have pledge over the decades to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece but last time I checked they were still in the British Museum. Whatever party that does send them back will be losing their marbles.

Boomer Bob

I bent forward and his eyes met mine.

He was trying everything to psyche me out; but I was going to take aim and put him out of my misery.

There was nothing he could do and I knew I couldn’t miss.

I could feel it. I had him busted to right and he knew it.

In the slightest of movements it was over.

I had taken my shot and won the game of taws.

He had lost!

Then he went berserk screaming he had lost all his marbles.

Look what I won!

Zackman

As a boy I wondered about the marvels of the modern world? I remember being very impressed
with the State Capital Building in Saint Paul and would wander around it and take tours often. I
bet tax payers were really mad about paying for several different types of marble but since it has
lasted about a 100 years maybe it was a good investment. My father worked at the Highway
Building which was at the other end of a pedestrian tunnel to the Capital Building. Boy me was
more fascinated with the tunnel than the marble dome or the monuments.

Congress had decided on a trial program in which all the political squabbling is settled by
playing marbles because of heavy contributions form the marble industry. Halliburton even
tried to get in on the action and started producing marbles but congress decided to only buy
from American companies but told Halliburton it could ask the government of Dubai because
congress’ decisions are far too important to be influenced by foreign companies. This signaled
to the American public that just the thought of marbles was already influencing better decision
making providing we stop re-electing candidates who have lost all their marbles

Michael S.

Noon news story:

Marble control groups are up in arms today following the continued violence associated with the use of these deadly projectiles.

Witnesses at the scene saw a man reach inside his pouch of marbles, load his sling and repeatedly hurl them at his victims.

Later, groups from both sides of the argument clashed in bloody protests.

Those against the right to own marbles were looking for a politician to blame and a company to sue for the behavior today.

Those for, calling for personal responsibility, felt the person to blame was in custody.

More news at 10.

Chris

My name’s Tom. I don’t have many friends, because I said that I know
an ogre. I don’t know the ogre that well because I can’t speak his
language. But I know one thing about him – he really likes marbles. He
even helped me get better at it so that I could win against a bully
named Tray!

Anyway, I went to school, as usual, and decided to bring the ogre with
me so that hopefully, people would stop calling me a liar. I waited
until recess and played marbles against Tray as usual…

…but, this time I finally won.

Steven

The astronomer’s voice rolled out. “The Earth is a small blue marble
hanging in space, surrounded by billions and billions of stars.”

My arm was around my son’s shoulders; this series had inspired me at
his age. But he’d started fidgeting – the first time he had during
the entire series.

“What is it, kiddo?”

His deep brown eyes looked up. “Daddy, are we the shooter? Earth.
Our marble.”

“Of course not,” I said, and guided him to bed.

That night, I lay on the grass looking up and waiting for a giant
green finger to flick us across the universe.

Terazzabyte

Darrel and his brother Darrell were the best Marble playing duo this side of the Missouri.

They couldn’t be beat in this game of skill, accuracy and strength of thumb.

This all came to an end one day when they were abducted by aliens.

Rumor has it that they were experimented on with probes and devices that scrambled their brains.

They were returned to earth but the Aliens kept their bag of marbles.

To this day you can see the boys walking around town with their eyes towards the sky saying.

“We’ve lost our marbles.”

Yes boys, you have.

Justin

Everyone said Grandpa Marsh lost his marbles. He read old tomes and learned the secret knowledge of the eyes of the Old Ones. He used arcane lore to create special eye drops. Then he sailed into the sea, saying he needed to place one drop in each of Cthulhu’s six, dry, sleeping eyes. He chanted polyglot incantations of protection and leaped into the sea and sunk to R’lyeh. I never saw him in the flesh again, but I dreamed of him last March. He gazed at me with dark, empty eye sockets and said “I guess Cthulhu prefers Clear Eyes.”

AM Earley

My dad worked his butt off so my sister and I could go to private school. My classmates were the rich type. Most of the marble in their kitchens were installed by my father. They made fun of me a lot.

Then in second grade dad made me a set of playing marbles from the scraps of marble left over from his job. The kids became jealous, especially when I started making toys out of marble. Then they started buying my toys and jewelry from me.

By our ten year high school reunion, I was the only billionaire in the group.

Danny

The call from his wife was frantic. Their son Johnny had lost his marbles, acting completely crazy. Marco sped home, tires squealing the entire way until jamming the car into park in his driveway. Marco flies through the open front door, scrambles up the staircase to the second floor, running down the hallway towards his son’s room. Before he could get there, Marco’s feet slips out from under him, and he hits the floor so hard he could hear the snap of his collarbone on impact. Moments later, Johnny comes running out of his room, “Daddy! Daddy! You found my marbles!”

Guy David

The man with the marble eyes stared at the little guy and squinted. There was no other way to end it. One of them had to die. The referee started counting slowly. Their hand shot off for their well groomed weapons. The woman in question stared at the spectacle in satisfaction, happy with her mischief, but the two combatants paid no attention, both too wrapped up in her spell. As the referee reached the number 10, both of them drew at the speed of lightning. Only one of them fell to his death. So came the end of the midget.

Norval Joe

“Admiral,” the astrogator said from her seat in front of a spherical holographic console. “The invasionary force is in place.” “Good,” the admiral said and gazed at the brilliant wash of stars visible through the transparent dome of the space ship. “We will begin the assault on these pitiful creatures on my mark.” At his command thousands of ships blasted from their hiding place behind the moon, flashed through the earth’s atmosphere and pounded into the surface. Jimmy rushed out of his house at the strange sound and exclaimed to his brother, “Hey, Mikey. You left your marbles out here.”

TJ

Marbles are a little like poker. You bring your marbles and other kids
bring theirs and then as the game continues, if the other kids are
better players, they win your marbles, and get to keep them. This
wasn’t explained to me very well, I’m afraid. Tyler won most of the
time. We played until the only marble I had left was my shooter. If
that’s what’s meant by losing one’s marbles, then that’s what I
did. But since he wanted it so bad, I gave it to him — at pretty high
speed at the back of his head. THWACK!

Planet Z

When I was ten, I was banned from the Galleria.

They had an ice rink there and it was open to the two floors above.

Curling teams practiced there. For Christmas, they’d put a tree in the middle.

I’d buy a Coke, go to the top balcony, and use the ice chips with my slingshot to peg the skaters.

Unlike marbles, the ice would shatter into nothing. No evidence.

Well, there was the slingshot in my back pocket. And me shouting GOTCHA! and BINGO! when I hit somebody.

Now I’m older. I know better.

And I’ve got a sniper rifle.