Stories | 100Words

Lipstick

By Sarah Freligh
We learned to paint our mouths kissable, but were taught not to. By the parish priest, by our mothers, by Seventeen magazine.

Lost Boys

By Stephanie Yu
Years later, we would have mortgages, car payments, and life insurance, but no recollection of when we all dropped acid together in the high desert after graduation.

Domestic

By Frances Gapper
Luke started to howl as Mum click-clicked the washing machine. “He’ll be all nice and fresh!” she cried in her bright and ruthless voice.

Embroidery

By Thaisa Frank
Because I couldn’t find you, I embroidered little houses and visited each one. Some houses floated, tugging on their threads.

Shrinking

By Barbara Diggs
Nia didn’t mind at first. Being at her kids’ eye-level made life easier. Their odd stories and complaints became miraculously comprehensible.

Uncle John Isn’t Really My Uncle

By Leslie Walker Trahan
He’s just a man who works at the candy company. When he visits, he brings me and Mom bags of malformed candies, the ones that weren’t good enough to package.

Fading

By Sarita Sidhu
My parents are fading. As did theirs. My father’s unyielding certitude has been momentarily displaced by bewilderment, betraying a loss of relevance in a new world order.

Honey

By Bailey Bridgewater
There are bees trapped into the walls of an abandoned home. There are ghosts trapped in the attic, swaying to their hum.

A Tiger on the Rue du Bac

By Elizabeth Kuelbs
Savannah sneaks out of the hotel while her dad and Veronica rest up for more museums of naked cherubs and armless statues.

All White Male Authors Look Alike

By Ran Walker
She bought him a book by John Barth as a birthday gift. “You like him, don’t you?” she asked.

Child Play

By Kendall Brunson
His daughters ran from the back of the yard screaming “Snake! Snake!” The poisonous water moccasin slithered after his children, but his wife was the first to react.