100 Words a Day 529

Using a C-step he got behind the last attacker, holding the man’s sword up with the crook of one of his Deerhorn Knife, and stabbed the man’s kidney with the blade of his other knife. The man grunted in pain before collapsing.

Feng let his hands fall to his sides and stood panting, the bodies of the bandits surrounding him. He wasn’t sure if they were dead, but they were incapacitated. As the adrenaline ceased to course his veins and his training faded back to the recesses of his mind, the enormity of his first kills made him shake uncontrollably.

100 Words a Day 528

“First, drizzle the olive oil on a plate. Then add salt and any other seasonings; I prefer garlic and onion salt and pimentòn. Heat the pan on high. While it’s heating, put the steak on the plate and then rub it with the olive oil and such, ensuring an even coating. Then use the steak to scrap any leftover oil into the pan before popping the steak on. If the pan is sufficiently hot, the steak will sizzle. Turn the steak over once it has charred. After a few more minutes, cut it open and check if it’s cooked enough.”

100 Words a Day 527

“Got any weekend plans?” Josie asked Felix.

“I’m hanging out with Annie.”

“That’s cool. What’re you guys going to do?”

“Just hang out. Apparently she is going to make some ribs with this recipe I love. I think she also has some beer.”

“That sounds exciting. What’s the occasion?”

“I don’t know. I think she’s got some movie she wants to watch or something and is using the food to bribe me to watch it. Usually she does that sort of thing with her housemate, but apparently she isn’t going to be there?”

“Dude, she wants to hookup with you.”

100 Words a Day 526

After the necessary formalities, Greg stood up and started speaking.

“I am happy to report;” he began, “that we reached complete, national saturation of Xmart stores last quarter and our market share is up considerably.”

He paused for several moments of clapping.

“Now that every consumer in Generica can enjoy the low prices and variety that has made our company famous, it’s time to begin looking towards the international market. My team and I have found several promising locations in a number of countries.”

One of the assistants handed each of the men at the table a large, black binder.

100 Words a Day 525

“I just don’t understand, father,” the young ruler said from the deck of his yacht. As they sailed away, he stared back towards land and his burning capitol.

“It should have worked. Everything made perfect sense. Why was there a revolution?”

The old man looked at his son, eyes full of the sympathy only a father could know. “I told you before son. Every form of government works on paper and any form of government will fail if its participants don’t play along. I ruled as I did because it worked well enough and tried to account for human whimsy.

100 Words a Day 524

The skinny, human merchant looked across the table at the soot-colored dwarf. His clothing was luxuriant, studded with many gemstones. Among a race infamous for their skill at bargaining, this dwarf was reputed to be especially terrifying. The dwarf leaned over, placing his massive black hands on the table and bored into the human with the gaze of his massive eyes. The human slowly shrank under the ocular assault. After several moments, the dwarf leaned back and smiled. When he removed his hands from the table, he left two large, sooty handprints on the wood. It was downhill from there.

100 Words a Day 523

The Gender and Sexuality of Humans class was one of the most popular, among final-year students for being interesting and among first year students for being titillating. The Grom had neither sex nor gender.

“Human cultures generally have a single-gender space that is used for gender-specific purposes. These purposes range from hygienic to instructive. For example, the men’s locker room was a place men would bath after engaging in physical activity, celebrate certain experiences that were uniquely masculine, and transmit information specific to their gender-culture.”

The students scribbled furiously as the teacher continued.

“There chief concern was complicated mating rituals.”

100 Words a Day 522

The manic cat landed in the room with a roar, its fevered eyes taking us all in, its white fangs stained with blood, tail thrashing. After a frenzied moment, its eyes settled on Jode going from crazed to cunning. The beasts tail slowed before falling still. Its back legs coiled. When it leapt, it gave Jode’s eyes only enough time to widen before they were closed forever. Before what was left of them was closed forever after the monster finished gnawing on his face.

There was nowhere to flee. We stood stunned as it turned its attention back to us.

100 Words a Day 521

He widened the entrance to the small snow cave and crawled out, finding himself in a silent, snow-covered, sun-lit, landscape devoid of any signs of humanity. The only fauna visible for miles were a few sentinel pine trees, standing a lonely vigil. Far away he could see the beginnings of a forest. It would take him many hours to reach it in the current conditions. The snowfall the previous night had been heavy, leaving a white quagmire between him and the shelter of the trees. As he prepared to set out, he heard the harrowing howl of an unknown beast.

100 Words a Day 520

“The conquest of the nation-state known at the United States of America, or simply America, was made possible by a variety of factors. “ Zorkan said, projecting his thoughts into the minds of his students. “One of the peculiarities of the citizens of the nation was their penchant to believe that being the first at something was a sign of the presence of worthwhile innovation. This led to a string of Firsts that eventually weakened their society, economy, military, all the structures that held them together as a people. Eventually this resulted in another first: the first to be conquered.”

100 Words a Day 519

The city was still, the only movement the falling flakes. She watched the snow descend from the window of her small apartment. A cold breeze found its way through the cracks in the poorly-insulated frame, breaking the spell the snowflakes had cast over her. She retreated from the winter cold, finding refuge among the heavy blankets on her bed. The cup of hot chocolate she had prepared was still warm, the marshmallows slightly melted. She grabbed a book of the nightstand and burrowed into the thick covers. She took one last look out the window before snuggling in even deeper.

100 Words a Day 518

The cold wind cut through his coat and chilled him to the core. It was his first winter in Chicago and not even the dire predictions of the other San Franciscans had prepared him for what he was experiencing. The coat he'd brought was pretty, but did little to protect him from the wind. All around him people trudged, leaning into the gusts, only their eyes visible. His hands and feet ached. Bitter cold were the words he used to conceptualize it, but the truth was these did not encompass the feelings of pain and total misery he was experiencing.

100 Words a Day 517

“America’s descent into a police state was fairly typical: tyranny in tolerable bits and so forth. What made it unique however, was the culture’s obsession with eliminating Chance from their everyday life and a desire for individual freedom without individual responsibility.”

The professor paused, sipping from a glass of water.

“This caused the development of a litigious society that used social and restitutional pressures to moderate behavior; hit someone with your car and they’d sue. This eventually went further, resulting in the prohibition of any risky behavior that had the chance of resulting in litigation; no climbing on the statue.”

100 Words a Day 516

As he worked the lockpick, he tried to pinpoint the moment where things had changed. He had always been one to keep his eye on the prize, focus on the objective, not the process etc. He had originally wanted recognition for his accomplishments. Recognition was stolen by his treacherous lab partner. He did not give up all of a sudden. His goal slowly shifted as he exhausted each reasonable course of action. He balked initially, at the extreme methods he cooked up in the night to get his rightful recognition. Then he became angry. After that, it became about revenge.

100 Words a Day 515

It just did not make sense. There was no sign of forced entry, nothing on the security cameras, and a body cut to shreds. There was no way he could have done that to himself.

Basil took a sip of his coffee, black and bitter, and pondered the photos spread out on the floor of his apartment.

Among the items that did not fit, one thing stood out the most, the bizarre writing. Underneath the body he’d found a yellowed piece of paper covered in a strange, spidery script. Even looking at the photo of the page hurt his eyes.

100 Words a Day 514

“Greed is the key,” Donald said, turning and looking out the window. His grey hair gleamed in the sunlight. “Greed is what gives people the drive to succeed. Want for more, that’s what gets things moving.” He clasped his hands behind his back and looked out the window.

The young man on the other side of the desk was new to the firm. He had arrived with wide-eyed enthusiasm and an eagerness to work available only to the young.

“David,” Donald said, turning to address the young man, “you may not understand now, but you’ll come to see it’s true.”

100 Words a Day 513

“The thing about political, economic, geographic, ethnic, and so forth systems is,” the man began, “any given system works, as long as everyone plays along. It’s when people don’t march in step that things break down.”

With a click, the slideshow advanced. The new slide presented several short descriptions of a variety of political and economic systems.

“The greatest undoing of all of these systems, from Communism to Libertarianism, is Greed. Avarice, Covetousness, and malicious Desire cause people to turn any system to their own ends, whether because they are taking advantage of government programs or fleecing their customer base.”

100 Words a Day 512

The restaurant was decorated in a typical fashion, not cliché, not classic, just typical. The whole room was a riot of bright colors, vibrant yellows and greens. On one wall was a painting of a village square with a fountain, its deep blue water contrasting with the brown adobe bricks of the squat buildings. The yellow sun was high in the sky. Across from that was a portrait of Frida Kahlo. Both were painted in that distinctive style that both such paintings were always painted in. The center of each table was a grinning face, surrounded by some sort calendar.

100 Words a Day 511

He sat on the couch, exhausted after a long day’s work. Like any good Millennial, he was on Facebook updating his status:

Hey there single Ladies. I may not have any of the outward markers of masculinity. I don’t have a fast or big car; I don’t have a big gun; I’m not rich; I don’t have big muscles. I did, however, shovel snow for eight and a half hours, no problem. In light of that I can confidently say: Still got it, and, Manliness confirmed.

It was with the most smug of satisfactions that he pushed the Post button.

100 Words a Day 510

The trampoline produced a regular squeak as he jumped up and down. With a thought he propelled himself high into the air, pushing his legs out in front of him so he landed in a seated position before bouncing back to standing. As a young man’s mind often does, his drifted to young women. He let himself land prone, bouncing up and down in that position several times. He felt he was getting the hang of bouncing on his back until he bounced off the trampoline and landed hard on his face. He supposed he wasn’t ready for the trampoline.

100 Words a Day 509

I stood on the platform, shivering along with everyone else. We looked down the rail, watching the light of the approaching train grow larger and larger. As it neared, we realized it was on the outside track, and would pass us by like a loud, several-ton wind. It sent a billowing cloud of snow our way, like a curtain in the breeze. We turned away as one and allowed the crystalline wave to pass over us, showering the platform with shimmering, frozen, dust. I shook myself off and resumed my sentinel watch, still as though I were carved from ice.

100 Words a Day 508

The only word she could find to describe the stench that assaulted her when she opened the door was miasma. The multitude of fragrances created a cacophony in her nose that brought tears to her eyes. The door finished creaking open, exposing the interior of the apartment. Every available surface was covered with flowers. They were all orange and red; a fiery display that made her shut her eyes in disgust. She forced her way through the sights and smells, eventually finding a card on her dining room table. She opened it, rolling her eyes at the words:

Hey Sexy

100 Words a Day 507

It was the longest month I could remember, but it was finally over. I was going home. The plane ride seemed to last forever, and it was taking an eternity to get home from the airport. I wanted to get back into her soft arms. I closed my eyes and remembered how her black hair set off her cream-colored skin and how her emerald gaze pierced me. I smiled to myself, thinking about the dress she promised to wear for me. We had plans to eat in. And after that, I had plans for what she had under that dress.

100 Words a Day 506

I awoke with shaking hands. I could hardly pick up my clock it was so bad. My vision was blurry, but eventually I managed to discern the time, helluve early o’clock. Sighing, I put the clock down and rubbed my eyes. My eyes remained gummy. My mouth was dry. I tried to summon up enough saliva to swallow, but failed. I stood on unsteady feet and stumbled towards my kitchen. I squinted against the light when it came on. I filled a glass and took a sip. It left me reeling with nausea. I needed to find my iphone soon.

100 Words a Day 505

“He stood me up. But he called and said he had a dozen roses and a five pound box of chocolates as an apology if I’d go out with him still.”

“I hope he had a good excuse.”

“He said he didn’t get paid when he thought he would, and didn’t want to show up without any money.”

Her friend gave her a look.



“How was the date?”

“He only had a half a dozen roses, and it was a three pound box of chocolates.”

“So you won’t be seeing him again then.”

“Oh. Well, I had a great time.”

100 Words a Day 504

The architecture of the city was not unusual. There were arches, spires; everything was made of mundane materials. What was unusual about it was the size. The pygmies of Latrec built to accommodate themselves, not outsiders. Geop had heard that, so he was not caught completely by surprise, but it was still hard to wrap his head around things when the diminutive city was finally in front of him. As he took in the city, he noticed there was one quarter that stood taller than the others, the foreign quarter. It was their grudging concession to their need for trade.

100 Words a Day 503

Shit. He thought to himself as the kick connected, knocking him from the ledge. He felt the air rush by and absently wondered if the wind would smash him against the craggy rocks that blurred past.

Above, his opponent briefly watched him fall with flailing limbs before turning back towards the crowd. He raised his sword in triumph, the plummeting man already forgotten as he came fully into the realization that everything was his.

He stalked towards the people watching and they parted before him, some out of respect, but all out of fear. He passed them without a thought.

100 Words a Day 502

I entered the teahouse, pausing at the door to scan the room. There was one man matching the description I had been given, gambling in the corner.

That can’t be him. I thought to myself. What kung fu master would be wasting his day gambling and getting drunk?

I walked over to the table to try and determine if he was in fact the Master Kang I sought.

He wore the sash of a master, but he swayed at the table like a common man deep in his cup.

He picked up the dice, gave them a shake, and threw.

100 Words a Day 501

“How was your date?” Preston asked, not bothering to look away from his video game.

“It was pretty weird actually,” Cassie said. She picked up the second controller and joined the game.

“Oh?” Preston said.

“Yeah…Well, so, we start talking on the way to the restaurant, and she tells me how she’s going to adopt an alley cat.”

“Okay,” Preston said, leaning as he played.

“And thinking it was an appropriate question, I asked if she’d had cats before.”

“Seems reasonable.”

“Yeah, but it sets her off. She starts telling me to stop asking her personal questions and so on.”

100 Words a Day 500

The wizened elf shed his massive gauntlets. The eldritch armor slid slowly from above his forearm, revealing pale skin that matched that of his face. As more was revealed, it began to appear mottled and grey, darkening rapidly to black the closer the flesh was to his hands.

Erik’s eyes widened when he saw the ebon hue.

“It’s the curse of my people,” the elf said, “to be consumed by darkness.”

Erik did not understand.

“Did you ever wonder why we who live so long live so rashly?”

Erik shook his head.

“We are doomed to fall to the shadows.”