Thursday, October 29, 2015

100 Words a Day 735

“Boys will be boys,” she exasperated.


Hardly a day passed when they didn’t engage in some adventure, whether it was a hike on the moon or plunging to the ocean floor, to speak with creatures fascinating and strange. They did not bring girls with them on these adventures. They considered it generally inappropriate to associate with them. The notable exception to this was James’ sister Katherine, or Kay as she was known, who tagged along in defiance of protest or order, (and, if pressed, James would have to admit that Kay had pulled him out of a jam or two).

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

100 Words a Day 734

Their vantage point on the cliff allowed them to see the ripples of sand approach the nearing dune buggy. They imagined the occupants pushing their ramshackle vehicle to the limit as panic overtook them. The observers looked on impassively however. This was the price for entering the desert without the Dhah’s blessing. Just before the ripples engulfed the buggy, they vanished. A moment later the buggy fell into what appeared to be sinkhole that opened beneath it. It became clear that it was actually the maw of an enormous worm when the giant breached the surface of the green dunes.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

100 Words a Day 733

“Shit” Kung Fury said, “off the force again.” He slammed his hand into the wall, leaving a fist-shaped impression.
“You too?” a voice said.
Kung Fury sighed. “What?”
“You’re off the force. So am I.”
“Who the hell are you?”
“Skaggs. Was Officer Skaggs, but the Chief just took my badge and my gun.”
“Shit,” said Kung Fury.
“You’re telling me. What am I gonna tell my wife? This is the second time this week.”
“Yeah. My girlfriend is gonna kick my ass.”
“Guess there’s nothing for it,” Skaggs said.
“Yeah.”
Without another word, the two hopped into Fury’s car.

100 Words a Day 732

When the sun rose, I was still several hours away. The dawn light made the early-turning autumn trees blaze red and yellow against the wall of green that lined the highway as far as I could see. While navigating a particularly sharp curve, I slowed down enough to notice a large tree that had fully turned. Its stood alone at the edge of a field, its leaves the color of red mountains. It was like a mountain after a fashion; it had a certain noble aloofness about it. It was alone by choice, not by anyone’s fault but its own.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

100 Words a Day 731

Sara sighed. She stared into the drum of the washer and nearly cried from frustration. It was full of water. Her clothes were sopping wet. They would require at least two cycles in the dryer. She would have to walk up and down the stairs a whole extra time. It didn’t sound like much, she only lived on the third floor. But she loathed laundry. Sighing again, she twisted as much water out of her garments as she could and put them in the dryer. Her fingers ached by the time she pushed in the lever to start the machine.

Saturday, October 24, 2015

100 Words a Day 730

Garric slowly pushed the door open with the long pole. It creaked, but nothing happened otherwise.

“Seems safe,” Ogrin said.

Muckluck threw a rock onto the flagstone on the other side of the door. When it hit the floor a square of rusty spikes dropped from the ceiling, clanging when it hit the stone.

Looking at Ogrin, he laughed.

The young man looked sheepishly back.

“You stay here with me while Tatiana does her thing,” Muckluck said.

Tatiana eyed the ground as she stalked forward, watchful for more trapped flagstones.


She reached the door without incident and sighed in relief.

Friday, October 23, 2015

100 Words a Day 729

“Shit,” I said as the rain turned from drizzle to downpour. I had hoped to beat the storm, but was forced to shelter in the doorway. It hadn’t left up after fifteen minutes and I got tired of waiting. I didn’t bother hurrying. There was no way to avoid getting wet; so I took my time. I was able to enjoy the feel of the rain once I was soaked all the way through, as at that point, there was not a sliver of hope that some part of me would stay dry and I was able to enjoy myself.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

100 Words a Day 728

The material of his glove squeaked as he gripped the stick. He swallowed loudly, but the sound was lost in the noise created by his respiration system. He ran the ship’s controls though their diagnostics again, green lights across the board.


It was his first mission. They were to clear some pirates out of an asteroid field. The raiders’ base was just coming into visual and he could already see their fighters scrambling to meet his flight wing. This was the sort of thing he had trained for, to help keep order in the galaxy. But his hands were sweating.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

100 Words a Day 727

Smoke and noise filled the room. Crinkles was backed into a corner, struggling to see the hostile gunmen through the chaos. His companions were dead. Hawk had died in the hallway when the bomb went off. Crinkles had seen his head blown almost clean off. Glassjaw and Badger were on the floor in the room with him. He could see their boots, unmoving, from where he stood. There was no hope for them; he had seen them riddled with bullets.


He dove to the side, landing heavy on the ground, when a stream of bullets splintered the wall around him.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

100 Words a Day 726

The fire crackled merrily, unaware of the frigidity it was keeping at bay. The strange foliage gave the flame a green, witchlight glow. Katherine and her sister huddled as close to the fire as they were able. Their physical position was not the most comfortable, but it kept them warm enough that they were able to enjoy their jerky. It was spicy, which helped with the cold as well. They chewed silently, looking over each other’s shoulders into the darkness beyond their fire. It was the only light in the desert. There were not even any stars in the sky.

Monday, October 19, 2015

100 Words a Day 725

The city was not as large as he had imagined, but there was more activity than he expected. People were rushing through the streets at a pace he normally reserved for a fire. And it seemed that each person bore the mark of a different clan. The shops on the first street he walked down each had a different totem hanging over them, and he didn’t recognize a single one. As he wandered, his eyes never ceased moving. He quickly got separated from his clanmates. After admiring a statue for several minutes, he looked up and realized he was alone.

Sunday, October 18, 2015

100 Words a Day 724


“I’m here to trade,” Segat said, dumping her sack onto the table, scattering the bits of metal she had collected across the weathered surface.

Golab’s eyes lit up when she saw the sparkle of the scrap. It was very pure and would bring a lot in trade to the forgers.

“What were you looking for?” asked Golab.

“I want gas,” Segat responded, getting straight to the point.

“How much?”

“How much have you got?”

“I have quite a bit, but I don’t know how much I can give you for these scraps.”


“This is good metal. I know its worth.”

Thursday, October 15, 2015

100 Words a Day 723

I peeked over the edge of the cliff, spying the hermit below. He was making strange adulations in front of a fire he had built. I could see by the flickering light that he wore only a loincloth and his body was covered in bizarre symbols, drawn with what ink or ash I know not. His beard was long and spindly, like his limbs. He contorted himself in a strange fashion, and began to take deep breaths that made him sound like ragged bellows. The hermit moved through a number of strange positions before ending prostrate before the dying fire.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

100 Words a Day 722

Grish went hard on the throttle and shook his chain loose. When he was close enough he whipped the links forward and they wrapped the chest of the man he was chasing Grish hit the brakes. The entangled man was pulled from his own bike, hit the asphalt, and began to drag behind Grish, had who picked up speed once the man had gone airborne. Grish tore down the road, shaking his chain in an effort to free it from the battered man dragging behind him. His efforts were frustrated by the man attempting to drag himself up the chain.

100 Words a Day 721

When the count reached one, the door was wrenched open and the grenade was rolled into the room. After the explosion, we charged in, a snaking line of order in the chaos of debris and body parts. When I saw a torso that looked like it might be alive I pulled the trigger. My teammates did the same. The poorly-trained occupants of the bungalow were quickly neutralized. We marched out in as orderly a fashion as we had entered and stowed our gear in our truck. The bodies were then removed from the kitchen and we broke out the beer.

Monday, October 12, 2015

100 Words a Day 720

The bog was slowly swallowing the swollen corpses. The sucking water had made it difficult to maneuver, forcing the two armies to simply hack each other to death. The piles of corpses sat in the stagnant water, feeding such a cloud of flies that it was impossible for the bog villagers to scavenge the bodies for some time. When the villagers were able to reach the battlefield, they found their nasty, brutish sensibilities awestruck by the carnage. Maggots gorged on the bloated bodies that lay in unnatural positions, some staring up at the sky, some face down in the muck. 

Sunday, October 11, 2015

100 Words a Day 719

I’ll never forget the night the Stormriders attacked our camp. They were lightening in the dark: sudden and shocking. Their battle cries mixing with the roar of their machines were echoing thunder. A whirlwind of leather and steel was all I could see as they road through our encampment, slaying all and setting fire to anything within reach. I fled without looking back, chased at first by the screams of the dying, but eventually the rumbling roar of a single bike punctuated by the mad storm-howls of the rider. My legs were no match for the tempest she rode upon.

100 Words a Day 718

The tires of the mighty speed demon tore at the ancient tarmac, the claw-like grooves sent gravel and bits of debris flying. The deep roar issuing from its twin tailpipes echoed through the shattered canyon. The pipes shook as though in anger at the pace, necessarily slowed by the many twists and turns of the ancient fissure. Rider and machine were one, the man’s riding leathers matched the ebon saddle of the chrome beast. His face was concealed behind a grinning skull helmet. Often, the superstitious inhabitants of the plains mistook him for some vengeful spirit riding a howling demon.  

Saturday, October 10, 2015

100 Words a Day 717

He almost missed the town, the green sign was so faded, and pulled into the adjacent gas station to double check he was in the right place. He sighed when the rundown letters confirmed that he had arrived. He looked to where he had come from, arrow straight road and scrubs. He looked past the gas station and the few other buildings that lined the hot asphalt, arrow straight road and scrubs.


Examining the other buildings, he learned there was a post office, general store, and a diner in his new home, a far cry from where he had been.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

100 Words a Day 716

“We’re lost,” Jimmy said.

“Yeah,” agreed Sarah.

“What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know. I guess we can climb a tree and try and get our bearings.”

Jimmy shrugged, he didn’t have a better idea, and started looking for a tree. Finding an acceptable one, he started up.

He shook his head when he reached the ground again.

“I can’t see anything. It’s just trees as far as I can see.”

Jimmy wiped his brow as Sarah scrunched he face in thought.

“Well, someone will come looking for us eventually. We could build a fire.”


“Yeah, we could.” 

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

100 Words a Day 715

The mine was little more than a hole in the ground, but the sound of the picks striking the rock were the heartbeat of the settlement and without that regular beat the people of Redwell would surely die. Loads of ore were brought up via a squeaky pulley and deposited into carts waiting to take them to the furnace. Once the iron had been smelted it was boxed up neatly in crates labeled Redwell. These crates of iron then made their way to the far ends of the empire, where their contents were forged into the tools of daily life.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

100 Words a Day 714

He jumped as the elevator doors opened. His hands were shaking and sweaty; his breathing was rapid and shallow. He gripped the pistol, his pistol, tight and knocked on the door.

You can do this. He repeated.

A woman opened the door. He saw the man he was looking for over her shoulder. Trying not to think, he shot her and entered the apartment as she fell, continuing to shoot. The man tried to cower, but was hit. Then it was over.
                                                                                                                         
As he left, he was reminded of something his father used to say:


“You never forget your first.”

Monday, October 5, 2015

100 Words a Day 713

The truck idled at the edge of the ruins. The cab was filled with apprehension. Everyone strained to make out any details of the fallen city. All they could see was destruction. They knew, however, the place was as full of danger as it was treasure.

“Well, I guess there’s nothing else but to head in.”

“Yeah.”

Chris swallowed and tightened his grip on his rifle. His hands were sweaty on the barrel.


“Hold on to your butts,” Alex said as he slid the truck into gear and started down the road. Eyes darted continuously, alert for any unknown dangers.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

100 Words a Day 712

The whole gang gathered in a circle around Tommy and Rex. The two young men stalked each other. Suddenly, Rex rushed forward, his arms shooting for Tommy’s legs, and tried to throw him. Tommy stepped back and slapped Rex’s arms away before launching a big right at his exposed face. Rex’s nose broke audibly and his head snapped back. He staggered away from Tommy, holding his arms up to ward off any more strikes. Unfortunately, it did not prevent Tommy from wrapping his arms around Rex’s legs and flipping him through the air. He crashed into the floor with finality.

Friday, October 2, 2015

100 Words a Day 711

Johnny bit into the new candy; it was the best one yet. While he chewed, he looked for more like it in the mound of treats from his trick-or-treat bag. With a disappointed swallow, he realized there were none. He took a second honking big bite of the candy bar and chewed with abandon. It wasn’t until he had finished the candy that he realized something was wrong. First he began to feel dizzy. Then he was suddenly overcome by the worst stomach ache he had ever experienced in his short life. He let out a groan and doubled over.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

100 Words a Day 710

While Jess was putting the driver down, Rex inserted a tube into the car and began siphoning gas out of the tank. The tube was clear, allowing him to avoid getting a mouthful when the gas started to flow. He eyed their surroundings as the gas can filled; you could never be too careful in The Wastes.

The can was half full when he noticed a dark spec on the horizon, heading for them.

“Jess, we’ve got company.”

“Shit,” she said. “How are we on the gas?”

“About halfway.”


Jess coaxed the vehicle to life, and eyed the speck nervously.