#veryshortstory

PxHere Grandpa Tate handed him a stick and told him to play. "It's a horse, or maybe a fishing pole. You decide." The 5-year-old examined the stick with suspect thinking it was an odd toy. "It

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay The pilot light went out and this time she didn't notice. The smell of rotten eggs woke her. Too thick to be anything but gas. Fumbling for a match, she caught herself

*Image by Leandro De Carvalho from Pixabay * Century after century, he searched for the Oracle. She left him a young man and promised to release him from this trial someday. The he found her hiding from

It was hard to say what left her first. Was it Health, Love, Security, Faith, Courage or Dignity? The only thing she knew for sure is Integrity will kill me. This picture is made by me with my smartphone.

I told you the truth, but you said I was lying. That night, I saw that woman being held by several men. She was helpless. She couldn't even scream. She could only cry. I was sitting on the sidewalk. My

Pixabay "I'll have my manager call you," he said with a smug smile. Of course, he had no plans. His manager quit when he failed to pay him. Funny how that works. And not that it matter; he hadn't

Pixabay She called it statis and slowly moved from single cells to amphibians to small mammals. To resurrect a complex organism from inactivity to activity brought her closer to being able to apply her

Pixabay The captain verified the orders. Twice. Surely, Central was wrong. Destroy the planet? On the surface the crew saw only bliss, love, and abundance. Central saw a different face boiling with hate,

Pixabay The farmhouses met at the crossroad, and while the placement encouraged sharing, the brothers only shared a mutual fear of their neighbor. Terrible noises escaped the house at dinner time. That

UnSplash Devon laid the gift wrapped in paper and a small red bow next to Josie. She disregard it. He waited for her to take it. She pretended to ignore him. He sat and waited. She never took it. Only

PxHere Traveling to the past took no thought if it happened 300 years or so. Skipping to 100 years or earlier took finesse. The time ribbon at that length was hard to pinpoint and doubling over the loop

PxHere I rolled up my sleeves to go to work. Then I realized it was the weekend. So, I went back to bed. Day 420: 5 Second Freewrite: Friday - Prompt: sleeve by @mariannewest Copyright © 2018 Michael Shawn

In dreams, he awoke a Ronin warrior who carried a sword of steel, thrashing forward through the field of blood, until no enemy remained. Still furious, the swordsman turned around and thrashed back until

PxHere In dreams, he awoke a Ronin warrior who carried a sword of steel, thrashing forward through the field of blood, until no enemy remained. Still furious, the swordsman turned around and thrashed back

PxHere The girl arched up and contorted in prolonged agony as he made a precise cut from her sternum to the purple skin covering her spleen. He mirrored the cut and again she lashed against the bindings.

PxHere On a sandbar, Francois planted the flag to claim the island for France. Across the bay, Frances planted the flag to claim the island for England. Seeing this, both sides immediately grabbed their

Photo by PxHere A crisis looms over Cavitina as a harsh acid has washed away our stockpile of food guaranteed to keep the population well fed. I must also report the Carie-miners deep in the hole all perished

The wheel rewarded 50 coins making her even. Excitedly, she spun again because you never leave on a win. And it hit again. And again. It must be luck. After 23 wins, the machine froze and faulted. The