My Words, My World

First drafts – A few pages in the large wilderness of the world of writing

Archive for the month “January, 2025”

25 Jan 2025
5 Comments

99-word fiction: The stranger – part III

Thanks to Sharon, now I want to know what's going to happen every week...

The stranger sat with his hands in his coat pockets. The woman leaned forward, and felt inside his coat. She removed an envelope.

‘That feels about half of what was agreed.’

‘Half now, the other half …’

‘You’re in no position to negotiate.’

His eyes flickered down to his right hand, under the table.

‘I didn’t come empty-handed either. We can both get out of this if you finish your drink, and leave.’

Seeing no bluff, she drained her glass. With a smile, she stood, and left.

He asked for the bill.

‘Is there another way out of here?’

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Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, dark fiction, Flash Fiction, Short Fiction Stories, Writing and tagged , , , , , , ,
23 Jan 2025
2 Comments

99-word fiction: Animal instinct – part II

Following last week’s story, someone (Come on Jacqui and Esther, hands up…) asked me what happened next. I found myself in a South American hellhole to see for myself…

I watched the tail disappear in to the hole. The rat carried a message with my embassy’s number. It was my only chance. Corrupt leaders of failing South American countries are not inclined to treat foreign journalists kindly.

I was known in the town and I had my sympathisers. If the message found its way to one of them, then I had a chance. I laughed at my predicament.

Outside, the rat scurried between stalls, wary of feet and cats. It stopped and sniffed the air, just as a sack slammed over it and left it in the dark.

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Posted in 99-word fiction, dark fiction, Flash Fiction, freedom, hope, Short Fiction Stories, Writing and tagged , , , , ,
22 Jan 2025
1 Comment

Hope in spring (I hope, I hope)

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Posted in Free verse, hope, poem, Poetry, positivity, Winter, words, Writing and tagged , , , , , ,
21 Jan 2025
1 Comment

99-word fiction: Hunted

The trees stand black and skeletal and the only sounds are the dripping branches and my heart hammering in my chest. My breath leaves a fog as my lungs seek oxygen in the chill air. I rest my head on a damp, moss-covered tree trunk and try to cool my brain but my options are narrowing.

I’ve been running for hours. Down the hill the distant voices are getting louder, filling my ears with the sounds of fear and hate. I can’t go forward and I can’t go back.

I’m a hunted man. And now they’ve released the dogs.

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Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, dark fiction, fear, Flash Fiction, Suspense, Writing and tagged , , , ,
20 Jan 2025
1 Comment

99-word fiction: A day of rest

“What do you mean you have no words? You’re a writer. Find some. 99 to be exact.”

I’d made it difficult for myself. A week of 99-word stories and now the muse demanded more.

He sat there tapping his fingers on the desk, his face and neck red. It was Sunday. I said I wanted a day off.

“A … day … off?”

He slammed his hand on the desk and his fountain pen jumped. I grabbed it and stabbed down on his hand. He screamed.

“Ouch! Ouch!”

“I’m going for a drink,” I said. “99 words on Monday.”

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Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, Flash Fiction, Humour, lighthearted, Short Fiction Stories, words, Writing and tagged , , , , , , ,
18 Jan 2025
4 Comments

99-word fiction: The stranger – part II

Following last week’s story, someone (I’ll mention no names but she’s called Sharon…) asked me what happened next. I went to find out…

The stranger stood at the bar, his coat tight around him. The bell chimed as the door opened. He turned.

A woman entered. Her wet hat and coat shone in the light and steam soon rose from them. At the bar she ordered vodka. She turned to the stranger then nodded to a small table in the dark corner and he followed her. They sat.

“I think you’ve something for me,” she said.

The stranger shook his head and smiled. Frowning, she opened her coat enough so he could see the gun.

“You’ve ten seconds to change your mind.”

Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, dark fiction, Flash Fiction, Short Fiction Stories, Writing and tagged , , , , , , ,
17 Jan 2025
4 Comments

99-word fiction: Waiting for Friday

Waiting. I hate waiting; for anything.

On Monday I have to wait for Friday. Five long days, so slow you can hear them crawl by. Then, finally, it’s Friday. I’ve waited all week for Friday and now it’s here I get to the end of the day and I just feel tired; of waiting.

Waiting. I ignore the people around me. I ignore my vibrating phone in my pocket, like me it has to wait. I stand and stare.

Waiting. The darkness becomes lighter. Movement, a liquid dance, the light becomes white.

Waiting: for the perfect pint of Guinness.

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Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, Flash Fiction, life, Sketch, words, Writing and tagged , , , ,
16 Jan 2025
14 Comments

99-word fiction – Animal instinct

Every evening the rat would come to my cell. Then I had an idea. It had taken time. I shared my food every evening, and watched the rat leave in the morning. One day I’d asked for a pencil, another day an elastic band, then a piece of paper. The guards had been stupid.

The little hole in the wall was the only way out of my cell and into the nearby market, maybe someone would find him; someone had to know where I was. I tied the note to the rat, watched him leave then said a prayer.

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Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, Flash Fiction, hope, Short Fiction Stories, Writing and tagged , , , , , ,
15 Jan 2025
5 Comments

99-word fiction – Cannibal

I first noticed her tattoo; it was beautiful, a waterfall of colour. She saw me looking and held up her empty glass, waving it at me.  I bought her a drink.

“I love your tattoo.”

She smiled.

Beer followed beer then whisky followed the beer. I must have charmed her; we finished the evening at my place. That was three months ago, and we’re still here.

The tattoo is beautiful. I sit looking at its waterfall of colour and touch it, delicately. Her skin is cold to the touch. It’s the only part of her left in the freezer.

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Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, dark fiction, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, murder, Psychological Fiction, Short Fiction Stories, Writing and tagged , , , , ,
14 Jan 2025

99-word fiction – Dying for a drink

I dragged my feet over the outskirts of a dusty, run-down town. Silence, total and desolate, greeted me and my fear went before me like my shadow. I would have called out but my lips were cracked and my throat was dry. My tongue felt like leather. I fell and crawled towards the town square. No one stepped out to help me, nor did any curtain twitch.  There was a water pump in the square. I looked around. I was alone. I winced as the metal pump screeched. I had to drink.

Then I heard the first shuffling footsteps.

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Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, atmospheric writing, dark fiction, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Short Fiction Stories, Writing and tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
13 Jan 2025
2 Comments

99-word fiction – Moonlight

The full moon lit the winter sky, its cold light streamed through the small window high above the man’s head, and illuminated the white walls which turned the night to day, and glinted off the chrome taps on the steel basin. Even his tin cup of water shone with a small square of light. The man couldn’t sleep, his back felt every lump under the thin mattress. He pulled the blanket around his cold body.

He had once counted the passing of the full moon but had long ago accepted he would never walk free in the moonlight again.

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Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, dark fiction, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Short Fiction Stories, Writing and tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,
12 Jan 2025
2 Comments

99-word fiction – Voices

I sit down on a stool at the bar. I order a beer. I watch the barmaid tilt her head as she tilts the glass.

Voices getting louder. Behind me, to the side of me but not in front where I can see where they’re coming from. I’m trying to understand if they’re talking about me.

They are, I can hear them. Now they’re trying to whisper but it’s too late for that. They’re provoking me. This happens everywhere I go and it always ends the same way.

I turn on my stool and look around an empty bar.

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Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, Flash Fiction, imagination, Insanity, Madness, Mental Health, Psychological Fiction, Short Fiction Stories, words, Writing and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
11 Jan 2025
3 Comments

99-word fiction – The stranger

The stranger stepped in out of the rain. He wore a trench coat, hat and looked like he needed a gun. He ordered a double whisky. He removed his hat and his wet face shone with the light from the bar mirror. The old men playing poker at the corner table ignored him with straight faces. The barman cleaned glasses with a cloth. The stranger sipped his whisky.

He kept his coat on and wrapped it tighter around himself, as if he could keep the world’s evils from getting in.

Or to keep his own evils from getting out.

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Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, Flash Fiction, Writing and tagged , , , , , ,

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