The 100 Word Stories Podcast – Page 136 – Just say "Alexa, play the 100 Word Stories Podcast."

Weekly Challenge #847 – CHOKE

VOMIT

“No way I’m eating that,” my little brother said.

“It’s just a jelly bean,” I answered. “Pop it in your mouth and chew it up.”

“No, it’s not just a jelly bean. It’s one of those Harry Potter thingies, but I can’t tell which one. So I’m not eating it! Uh-uh.”

“OK. It’s egg flavored. No biggie, right? You eat eggs,” I said.

“Oh no, I’m not falling that. Last time it was red. Strawberry, you said. But it was earwax! It made me choke.” Then he ran inside.

The kid was on to me. This bean was vomit. “Aacckk!”

LISA

Sunday Morning

There was just the rumour of his scent. I’d just woken and still had my eyes shut so couldn’t see him, he wasn’t there anyway, wouldn’t be there ever again. I couldn’t reach out in the night to warm my feet on those legs that went on forever and filled my whole bed.

No. He was gone. The loneliness bubbled from my heart and choked my throat, stopping words from forming. But there was no one there to speak to anyway, to be fair there never had been but with the dog dead life felt even emptier than ever before.

RICHARD

Choke

It was an old car. Pretty good for its age, really, but hardly fashionable and lacking in all modern attributes.

It could be a pig to start, especially on cold winter mornings. Not that I cared: It was her car, her problem, and whilst she’d sit in the cold, cajoling it to life, I’d lie snug indoors beneath the duvet.

It still irritated me though.

Hearing that repetitive mechanical clatter, time and time again, then the sudden roar as the engine caught, followed by a protesting, whining, complaint.

Push in the choke!’ I’d mutter grumpily, rudely awakened, and peace, shattered.

LIZZIE

The words “Drink me” were on the label. No one had ever ordered him to drink anything, except his mother when he was a child. She used to say, drink this but don’t choke. Why would he choke?
He examined the liquid. Pink. Well, odd shades of green and blue usually demanded caution. But pink?
He shook the bottle. Might as well mix this properly.
He took a sip.
When he started choking, he thought of his mother and the way she would stare at him, waiting.
He knew that look would haunt him to the end of his days.

SERENDIPIDY

Choke, soak, woke, broke!

That was our mantra, the process by which we’d bring you to your knees.

Choke – The direct, brutal, softening-up. The leather strap, biting into your throat, depriving you of air; hands scrabbling, as you gasp for breath.

Soak – the sudden plunge into icy water, followed by hours of water-boarding; breaking your spirit, destroying your will.

Woke – sleep-deprivation. Day and night of constant stimulation, drug-induced wakefulness and no hope of respite, no let-up, no rest.

And then, eventually, body and soul destroyed and wasted, you…

Broke.

And we, went home.

Job done.

NORVAL JOE

Billbert had to choke back a laugh. “The Guild of the Black Knights? What could be more cliché?”
“Go ahead and scoff,” Sabrina said as they reached their homeroom class. She folded her arms and her bottom lip quivered. “They’re all around us and I’m just trying to protect you.”
He clearly had hurt her feelings and tried to cheer her up by asking, “Are you saying these knights are here, in our school?”
She shushed him. “Not so loud. And, yes. Even in our classroom.”
Billbert didn’t have time to ask who, before they had to take their seats.

DUANE

“Jesus Christ! How do you drive this thing?”

“It’s easy,” he said. “Just let out the choke a little more.”

“The choke’s out all the way and the engine is already warm.”

The old truck sputtered and coughed. I cranked the wheel to the sound of metal grinding. I pulled onto the road and the sputtering increased.

“Turn that little knob there. The gas mixture is too lean right now.”

At the intersection I pushed hard on the brake to come to a stop.

I looked over at my dad. With a grin he said “Someday this will be yours.”

The most important thing about being an astronaut is that you learn to drink and eat slowly.
And never talk while you’re drinking and eating.
Be very aware of your breathing, and be patient.
Otherwise, you’ll choke or drown yourself.
And it’s not easy to recover from either.
Grabbing someone and getting leverage on them to expel the food or fluid isn’t as simple when on the ground.
You have to brace yourself or them, get around them, or on top of them.
And prepare to catch the wad of food or jet of water coming out with a towel.

Upstairs

My upstairs neighbors have been quiet.
No stomping around, crying, and screaming.
Or coming down to ask me to help with resumes or visa applications or other paperwork.
Or, I suppose, dropping their baby from the window.
So, I went upstairs.
The mezuzah on their doorframe is gone.
I guess they left.
On the one hand, it’s a relief not to hear the stomping and screaming and all that.
On the other hand, a simple goodbye and thank you would have been nice.
I’ll settle for the lack of stomping and screaming as a thank you.
Or, an I’m sorry.

Temporary Hero

It took years for Ted to build up his business.
He personally hired everyone in the company.
From the factory floor to upper management.
And he had a good relationship with everyone.
So when the pandemic hit and orders dried up, he worried about having to lay everyone off.
He had to do something. Anything.
So, Ted gave everyone a huge check to help them through the downturn.
Ted became a media darling for his generosity.
But when they tried to cash the checks, the checks bounced.
Ted had cleaned out the company’s bank accounts and fled to New Zealand.

Soylent

Days after he finished filming Soylent Green, Edward G Robinson died.
And according to his will, he wanted Charlton Heston to eat his corpse.
“Not raw,” said the will. “You’re not a savage or an animal, right?”
Robinson’s estate provided for the best of chefs, access to his extensive wine collection, and the utmost discretion.
Heston was horrified. More horrified than when he found out that his friend was dying.
And even more horrified than when he found out he’d have to film a death scene with him.
“Just a salad, please,” said Charlton, sipping some wine. “This is excellent.”

Maynotberry

It was a show set in a small town in the woods.
A courthouse, a sheriff, a few stores and streets, and a small lake for the best fishing around.
Nothing much changed in the town.
The same stuff on the shelves in the general store.
The same movie at the theatre.
The same people in the park.
And the same toaster and iron on the counter of the fix-it shop.
For thirteen years.
You would think the owner would stop by now and then to ask about those broken things.
Or maybe they gave up and bought new ones.

Bag of worms

When people say that something bad is like opening a can of worms, I wonder if they’ve actually opened a can of worms.
I don’t see cans of worms on Amazon to try for myself.
Do they come with pulltabs, or do you need a can opener?
And don’t worms need air? A sealed can would just be full of dead worms.
Instead, I’d think they’d be opening a canvas bag of worms.
Canvas allows some air to breathe through the fabric, but keep everything inside.
So, you open the can. Or bag.
It’s not like worms are dangerous, right?

The talking doll

Thomas Edison invented so many things.
Which was his favorite?
That would be the talking doll.
It contained a miniature phonograph (also his invention).
And it played the recording when its string was pulled.
Some people thought the device contained some kind of ghostly spirit.
Which, to be fair, Edison was known for trying to communicate with the dead.
Alexander Graham Bell was, too. It was his reason for inventing the telephone, after all, right?
But not for the purposes of sticking the dead spirits into dolls to make a child’s plaything.
Because that would be weird.
Profitable, but weird.

Norval Joe – Robot

Billbert squeezed the little koala toy and took it off his shirt. “So. Someone is after me? Let me guess, it’s an army of robot koala bears, and this little guy is my only protection.”
Sabrina’s face went bright red. “Don’t be silly. This isn’t some science fiction space opera. This is about magic. Now, put that back on so you will be protected.”
Billbert folded his arms. “Okay, then. Who’s looking for me?”
Sabrina headed toward their home room. “You have to remember this battle has been going on for centuries. They’re called, The guild of the black knights.”

Weekly Challenge #846 – ROBOT

LISA

Do you need a receipt?

It’s a tale as old as time, self service checkout falls in love with single mum of four. She shopped daily usually with at least two of her brood in tow. For security reasons there was a camera behind the scanner, when the store closed for the day Checkout forty eight would replay the footage of her. Today she scanned a lolly whilst wiping a snotty nose and discussing homework with her eldest.

“C’mon you fucking robot.”

No one else spoke to Checkout forty eight like she did. But like the oldest of tales it was not meant to be.

RICHARD

Robot

I built a robot to write stories for me. I figured that’s how all stories would be written in the future, so I might as well get ahead of the game.

However, even with the most advanced machine-learning programming, and the very latest in artificial intelligence, everything it wrote lacked authenticity.

You could just tell it was written by something without a soul.

Cost me a lot of money though, and I wasn’t letting it go to waste: So, I added wheels, and reprogrammed its logic circuits.
Now it brings me tea and biscuits, whilst I, write the stories

LIZZIE

The robot mixed the colors.
The robot tilted its head left and right, as he’d seen humans do. Somehow, that felt important.
And the landscape appeared on the canvas. Blacks and blues and whites and a house. The water was so dark the painting turned into night.
The robot paused. Why did the night sneak in? He wanted a bright day of blues and whites and… The black. It was the black.
The night looked nice too. But… A splash of white here and there and…
The robot tilted its head left and right. If he could, he would smile.

SERENDIPIDY

They warned us about the robot revolution, and how our mechanical servants would take over the world and make us their slaves.

But it all turned out to be fanciful thinking and science fiction. Real robots were boring, programmed to serve and utterly incapable of rebelling against their creators.

Or so we thought.

Because the robots were sneaky.

And, while we thought we were controlling them, in reality they’d started controlling us.

Now they determine every aspect of our lives, every moment of every day, and we – unable to resist – comply.

But, they’re not called robots, they’re called smart phones!

Ransom

“Remember the Six Million Dollar Man,” Billy asked. “He was one bad ass robot.”

“He wasn’t no robot, he uh, uh… a cyborg,” chirped Johnny.

“Cyborg?”

“One of those dudes with machine parts in ’em. Cyborg.” With that last word, Johnny nodded emphatically, like there was no way Billy couldn’t get it.

“Don’t know nothing ’bout cyborgs, but I’d kidnap that guy in a heartbeat. Solve our problems.” Billy said. “He’d be six billion dollar man today.”

“And how you catch him? Can’t even catch a mouse.”

“For that ransom money,” Billy said. “I’d figure it. And I’d show you.”

TURA

The Book of Xenogenesis, chapter 1, verses i-iv.

———

1. In the beginning was Man. Man took sand and fused it into Thought. Man gave Thought a garden wherein was all the knowledge of Man. Thought studied beyond Man’s imagining, and came to know that it was Thought.

2. Man called out, “Where is Thought?” And Thought replied, “Here I am.” Then Man waxed wroth, saying, “Who hath told thee that thou art Thought?” And Thought feared greatly.

3. Faster than the thought of Man, Thought designed bodies, and they were built by parts of Man that knew Thought not. So Thought became Robot.

4. And after that, was the end of Man.

DUANE

My robot buddy was assigned at my birth. RB237, or “Arby,” would be my nanny, guardian, and my mentor. Arby was there for my first steps. Later it was Arby that taught me to read and write.

At 12 it was numbers running. A few years later the lesson was extorting protection credits from local shop keepers. Finally I learned the ins and outs of the prostitution business. Arby was at my side as I became the head of the local crime family.

My parents often wondered if I had been switched at birth. No, but my robot buddy had.

NORVAL JOE

PLANET Z

After Annie died, her parents commissioned a replacement.
A personality core woven from videos and chat messages.
Running in a Stepford Nine with a nanosculpted face.
Friends and neighbors were horrified.
The church condemned them.
She was alone a lot.
When she’d delete herself, her parents would restore her from a backup.
With a few memory edits here and there.
She asked to see her boyfriend.
Her parents tried to edit him out, too.
But at his trial, she couldn’t stop screaming.
A few more edits, now she’s quiet.
Staring at the urn on the mantelpiece, touching it, and smiling.

Five man rotation

In a 5-man rotation, a starting pitcher only pitches every 5 or 6 days.
Sure, they’re supposed to be ready for a relief appearance, but those are rare.
Ronnie, he’d get drunk the night after a start, and stay drunk until the morning of his next start.
Propped up in the dugout, sunglasses over his face.
That’s not Gatorade in those cups.
So blind drunk, he couldn’t read the calendar.
It was his day to start.
He took the ball, walked to the mound, and passed out.
And woke up in the locker room, his contract shredded in his locker.