100 Words a Day 171, 36 Plots 8/36

The army from the north surged over the wall, overwhelming the defenders and taking the castle. With that, their victory was complete.

The men whispered in dark corners, fostering rebellion where they could, led by the one they called the Hidden Son. They said he was the last offspring of the late king, fighting to reclaim his stolen throne.

In the shadowed crevasses the rebellion grew, hidden from the light cast by the forces of the Shining King, who tried to expose their traitorous machinations. Those they caught were staked out under the hot sun, allowed to die of exposure.

100 Words a Day 170, 36 Plots 7/36

Jimmy slipped out of bed after his mother was asleep. He stole out of the house, car keys in hand. Having learned from previous attempts, he put the car in neutral and pushed it to the edge of the driveway.

Sufficiently distant from his mother’s sharp ears, he started the car and started his night.

It didn’t last long. He rather quickly crashed into a tree. His mother arrived before the second squad car, and she wasn’t happy.

“Are you okay?” she asked, terror in her voice.

“He seems fine, ma’am,” the officer said.

Her demeanor shifted quickly after that.

100 Words a Day 169, 36 Plots 6/36

Two weeks into freshman year and Steve already had a girlfriend, Stephanie.

Man, was she smokin’, definitely the hottest girl in the school.

“I can’t believe it!” Steve said to himself, “after years of languishing as the nerd! Nice guys do finish last I guess.

There was a spring in his step as he walked down the hall. Katie waved as he passed.

“Hey Steve,” she said, shifting her feet uneasily.

“What’s up Katie?”

“Um, well Steve. Stephanie wanted me to tell you things aren’t working out.”

Steve was crestfallen, then he saw Stephanie walking down the hall with Jack

100 Words a Day 168, 36 Plots 5/36

She was on the lam. She couldn’t stay. No one would understand what happened.

Her boyfriend had come home drunk and violent, which had never happened before. He tried to attack her and she defended herself, not intending to kill him. But no one would believe her. They would hold her past against her. So she ran.

They caught her outside of Reno. After sitting for what felt like forever, she almost decided to make a run for it. But when the officer returned from the patrol car, he told her the neighbor had seen it and helped clear her.

100 Words a Day 167, 36 Plots 4/36

There were three brothers, but only one candy bar.

The youngest grabbed it and ran towards his room.

“Hey!” the middle brother shouted, “that one’s mine.”

The others leapt up in pursuit.

Their mother ignored the pounding feet, focusing instead on making lunch.

The older brothers caught their younger brother before he was able to close the bedroom door.

“That’s our middle brother’s candy bar. You had the last one.” The oldest said.

“Yeah,” the middle brother said, tears coming to his eyes.

“I should get an extra one!”

The older brother hit the younger and took the candy back.

100 Words a Day 166, 36 Plots 3/36

“…Is innocent.”

Frank left the courtroom smiling, but his eyes smirked at Julia. She narrowed her eyes as he walked away, silently swearing vengeance.

She didn’t have to wait long.

Frank got drunk with his friends to celebrate and decided to take a piss in an alley on the way home. That’s where Julia caught up with him.

He felt a hot pain as the knife slipped into his right kidney and felt his legs go weak. Soft hands helped him to the ground and he heard a whisper in his ear: “This is for Christopher” before everything went black.

100 Words a Day 165, 36 Plots 2/36

It was boisterous at Tuck’s. Someone bumped me from behind, spilling my drink on the large man next to me.

“Hey, what’s the big idea?” The man responded with sodden belligerence and a shove.

“What’s your problem? It was an accident.” I responded, trying to keep my ire in check.

“What’s your problem?” he shot back.

“Woah, man,” I said, raising my palms, “it was an accident.”

“I’ll make you look like an accident.”

“Is there a problem?” An enormous man asked, glaring at the drunk.

“I was just leaving,” the man said after seeing the size of the bouncer.

100 Words a Day 164, 36 Plots 1/36

The magistrate and the accused appeared before the aging king.

“Sire, this man is responsible for the attempt on your life.”

“I did no such,” the rest of the prisoner’s words were silenced by a cuff by one of the guards.

The old man looked on with rheumy eyes, unmoving.

The king’s advisor materialized from the shadows. He shared a knowing glance with the magistrate and leaned towards the king, whispering in the man’s wizened ear.

After a moment, the king nodded and spoke, everyone bent forward to hear, “remove the assassin.”

“At once,” the magistrate bowed with a smile.

100 Words a Day 163

The stitching was almost complete. He watched passively as his familiar prepared to sew the last of the monster’s flesh to the stump that had been his left hand.

The small homunculus, which had started out as a cat, was unusually adroit. He’d grafted a pair of monkey arms to the beast’s shoulders and used his sorcerous knowledge to enhance their dexterity even further.

Now that it could assist him in the more delicate portions of his work, it made life much easier and he had finally been able to upgrade his own hands so as to be more suitable.

100 Words a Day 162

“Shields are down!”

Galin was thrown against the instrument panel by the blast.

“Thanks, Peaches!” he called angrily to his copilot who was seated next to him, “I hadn’t noticed.”

A succession of blasts rocked the ship, setting off numerous alarms. The cockpit became something resembling a chance music concert performed by an orchestra composed of pinball wizards on their best machines.

“Damn it! That sounds like a hull breach.”

Indeed it was; they felt a brief sucking sensation as the atmosphere vacated the ship, before the atmosphere retention door fell into place.

“At least nothing will be on fire.”

100 Words a Day 161

After placing the last box on the truck he took a final walk through the apartment. His footfalls echoed off the white walls. The empty surfaces bled memories. The fresh coat of paint could hide the stains, but never erase what happened. After finishing, he closed the door and dropped the key through the mail slot.

He closed the truck and took one last look, full of sorrow. He pulled himself into the driver’s seat and started the engine. As he drove away it struck him as cliché that he was trying to put distance between himself and what happened.

100 Words a Day 160

It was an old guitar, battered from use and abuse, that lay in the corner. He picked it up with a loving hand and ran his hand along its dented and chipped body, like tracing a lover’s back. He strummed the strings once. It hadn’t lost its tuning despite not being used for some time.

He sat down and began to play a number of songs older than he was. It hurt his fingers and he had trouble singing along; age and a lack of practice were robbing him of his skill.

He put the guitar back feeling much better.

100 Words a Day 159

He walked up to the billionaire’s son after casually snapping the man’s neck.

“You see, kid. Real power is control of death and pain. The more people you can give those two things to, the more power you have. Don’t believe me? Remember what Bane did to the rich guy? That’s power.

Your father, he thought he had power. He had money and influence, but that’s really just a substitute for violence, like an effigy in Plato’s cave. I’m the one with the power here. All those people he had between him and me, what good did they do him?”

100 Words a Day 158

They could hear the big cat prowling outside the fence. They tracked its movements through the darkness by the angry growling that would occasionally issue forth from the pitch black. These would be accompanied by sudden tremors through the fence as the cat looked for a weak spot.

Everyone was on alert, but not worried. It was common for cats to prowl around the village at night, that’s why they had a wall. Rarely, one would get in and the men would kill it. They thought tonight was like no other. Then they heard the second growl, and the third.

100 Words a Day 157

It was dusty in Madrid that day. The summer sun beat down on the man, who hurried despite the heat. There wasn’t another soul in sight. Everyone was home eating lunch and doing their best to stay cool. A few people saw him from their windows and wondered what would drive someone to be out in this heat.

It was urgency that drove him from the cool shade of his small apartment. He had to get to the bookstore before the strange men. He turned down calle de los libreros and froze, seeing several figures loitering around the store, waiting.

100 Words a Day 156

The bare bulb cast a harsh light. The pair could hear the robbers ransacking the store, falling furniture and shattering glass, as they huddled locked in the closet.

They had initially clutched each other, fearing for their lives, but relaxed once the robbers left.

After a long silence, he said:

“So, pretty strange day, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” she responded with a short laugh.

They lapsed again into silence, neither really sure what to say.

“Hey,” he said, shifting awkwardly. “This might not be the best time to ask, but you wanna get a drink when we get out?”

100 Words a Day 155

The children did their best to be silent and still as they huddled under the floorboards. Above them they could hear the footsteps. The bestial men did their best to tread lightly, but all it accomplished was to make the boards creak longer as they paced their way through the small house, searching for the children.

They endured it with noiseless fear, hoping that none of the savage raiders would look under the carpet and find the trapdoor in their inexorable search for victims.

“We need to sneak out,” one of the children whispered to the eldest.

“Shhh, they’ll hear.”

100 Words a Day 154

Captain Blood is the tale of Peter Blood, an Irish doctor driven to piracy after being wrongfully convicted of treason in a sham trial. One he escapes slavery in Barbados, Blood uses his iron charisma and honorable nature to assemble a crew, becoming a swashbuckling terror on the high seas. He engages in daring raids throughout the Caribbean, trades cannon fire with the Spanish armada, and duels the wicked captain Levasseur. Through it all he retains his noble character, in hopes that one day he might find redemption in the eyes of Arabella Bishop, the niece of his arch nemesis.

100 Words a Day 153

“Well, what do you make of it?” The well-dressed magistrate asked his servant.

The skinny man removed his hands from the gaping wound with ease born of familiarity. This wasn’t the first corpse he’d handled.

“A blade, master, however it is one I do not know.”

“Hm,” the magistrate mused, pulling at his short goatee. “A brutal murder, an unknown bladed weapon, and the last people to see the deceased claim he was arguing with his rival.”

It was all a little too neat, suspicious. He knew who would have been blamed had he not been passing through the town.

100 Words a Day 152

They were hiding in the closet, desperately clamping their hands over their mouths to keep themselves from screaming. The storm made the old house creak; they strained to hear over the sound.

He thought he heard the bedroom door open and froze, seizing her by the arm as he did so. She gave a yelp as his nails dug into her arm.

He stared desperately at where he thought she stood, frozen in the darkness.

The two listened intently, doing their best not to breathe.

The noise of the house continued to hide the shadowy man’s movements through the house.

100 Words a Day 151

He looked at the statue of Don Quixote. He felt a kinship with Cervantes’ famous character. Don Quixote was a man who espoused ideals that were not only outdated, but probably never really existed.

He was the same. He strived to be noble and stand up for the things he believed in. It was often at odds with the way reality worked, which always left him a little sad, lamenting the state of things.

Like Alonso Quejano, his head was filled with made up stories, but don’t we tell stories of greatness to remind ourselves that we can be great?

100 Words a Day 150

As his head cleared, the sounds of the alarms penetrated the haze the crash had left him in. He held up his hand, shielding his eyes from the flashing lights. Struggling, he eventually found the release for his crash webbing.

He stumbled out of his chair, bracing himself against the instrument panel, and staggered towards the twin bridge doors, which were slightly ajar, tripping over the lose components that littered the floor.

Bodies and body parts littered his route and he did his best to not only to avoid the fluids, but to avoid thinking about what the fluids were.

100 Words a Day 149

“You know the thing about being a demigod, rather than an actual god?” Ulthor said, casually tossing the flaxen-haired protagonist against the wall, cracking the masonry. “You don’t have great power, so you don’t have great responsibility.”

“You have moderate power,” Ulthor said, approaching the stunned protagonist, “and you know what moderate power gives you?” He paused, waiting to see if his prone enemy would respond. When he didn’t, Ulthor continued:

“It gives you free license to satisfy all the desires of your id. You can throw your ego to the wind without worrying about any consequences. It freakin rocks.”

100 Words a Day 148

“I cannot believe you pay for buffalo wings!” Josh exclaimed. “It is outrageous what they charge for them when you consider how much it costs to make them at home.”

“How much do you pay for a steak out?”

“I don’t know, depends on the place. No more than twenty dollars.”

“And that same steak costs you twelve dollars in the store, no?”

“I suppose.”

“So this steak, which comes with fries, and maybe something else, they can put it on your plate and make a profit for eight dollars over the cost of the meat?”

“What’s your point, dude?”

100 Words a Day 147

“Are you not entertained? Are. You. Not. Entertained? Is this not why you are here?”

“Man, what a badass! He killed everyone!”

“He stole that line from Gladiator.”

“From what?”

“From Gladiator!”

“What’s Gladiator?”

Sigh. “It’s a movie. It’s from before your time.”

“Okay. So what?”

“The main character says that.”

“Says what?”

“Have you not been paying attention this whole conversations? He kills a bunch of guys in a gladiatorial arena, just like that dumb ass, and then he asks the crowd if they are entertained.”

“Wait, so that guy stole that from the guy in some movie?”

“Yes!”

100 Words a Day 146

“Who is it?” someone said on the other side of the door.

“My name’s Clark. I live next door.”

The door opened, revealing a woman with ice blue eyes and a river of silvery hair. “Can I help you?” she asked.

“I live next door. I just came over to introduce myself. My door is always open if you need anything,” he said, a hint of a grin visible on his face.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she replied, flashing him an alluring smile, echoed in her eyes.

“Hopefully I’ll see you around.”

“Maybe, if you play your cards right.”

100 Words a Day 145

She had seen him running in front of the bulls earlier. He was cute and she had the corrida as an opener, so she made her way through the cluttered bar and touched him on the shoulder.

“Is this seat taken?” she asked, smiling.

“No, help yourself,” he replied making room.

“How was the Running of the Bulls?” she asked him, “I saw you running in it.”

“Exhilarating,” he said, his eyes lighting up. “It was such a high, running in front of the bulls.”

“It looked exciting,” she said.

“It was. I’ll definitely be doing it again next year.

100 Words a Day 144

He casually smashed the abbey door down, one of the benefits of being a demigod was exceptional strength, and entered.

He noted several men prone on the hard packed ground; they had been bracing the door when he smashed it in. He strode past them, towards the men still standing with weapons in their hands. Most held farm implements, but he noted a few quality weapons in their shaking hands.

“Stand down Christians!” his voice boomed, echoing off the thick abbey walls. “I want nothing more than your treasure. Give it to me and I will be on my way.”

100 Words a Day 143

The two teddy bears sat where they had been placed. Their arms were touching and everyone said it looked like they were holding hands. No one knew that was exactly what they were doing.

The bears could neither move nor communicate in a way people could understand. They were each aware of the other’s feelings though. That’s why they were holding hands. Dependent on the whims of their owners to unite them, they cherished any time they spent in each other’s company, knowing it could all end without a moment’s notice.

The two bears sat, staring straight ahead, holding hands.