My Words, My World

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

Archive for the tag “99-word fiction”

11 Oct 2025
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99-word story: Things that go bang in the night

‘What was that?’
‘Mmm?’
‘That bang.’
Dragged from a dream involving Kier Starmers on bicycles dressed as clowns, I groaned.
‘Go and look,’ she said, kneeing me off the bed.
I stumbled to the door, listening. Silence. Then, bravely, I Chuck-Norrised my way through every room, lights ablaze.
Nothing.
Only the kitchen left.
A smell.
Light on.
Fear.
‘What is it?’ she yelled.
My doom, I thought.
Her pristine floor drowned beneath a wine puddle seeping from the fridge door — the one I’d promised to fix.
From the bottle she’d told me not to force the cork back into.

The current image has no alternative text. The file name is: things-that-go-bang-in-the-night.jpg

Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, Flash Fiction, Humour, lighthearted, Writing and tagged , , , ,
13 Sep 2025
3 Comments

99-word story: The Empty Chair

This week’s 99-word story is called The Empty Chair. Why? Well, that’s for you to decide.

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You know the worst thing about an empty chair? It rhymes with “no one there”, or worse, “where?”.  

There’s a place at the table where normally there’s a place mat, napkin, cutlery. Maybe a glass for the wine. 

Instead, just a piece of table cloth with nothing on it. 

No sitting down to grace, not that we ever did. No talk about the day, the weekend or whatever. 

The habit of turning my head, forkful of food in mid-air and talking. Now I just stare, straight ahead. And wonder.

You see, it’s not the empty chair. It’s the waiting.

The current image has no alternative text. The file name is: the-empty-chair.jpg

Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, creative writing, dark fiction, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Short Fiction Stories, Writing and tagged , , , , , ,
30 Aug 2025
5 Comments

99-word story: The book

He closed the door and stood with his back against it. His head thumped as the voices on the other side became muffled, as had so much recently. He crossed to the table and sat down.

The book lay flat on the table, its thick binding rising off the surface like a construction. His trembling hands paused before they stroked the cover. He took a deep breath before his fingers gripped the cover and turned.

His fingers hovered over the photograph on the first page. His head dropped as he sat, staring, and the silence pressed closer around him.

Another attempt at minimal, using Hemingway’s iceberg-theory.

The current image has no alternative text. The file name is: the-book.jpg
Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, dark fiction, iceberg-theory, Short Fiction Stories, words 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.”

The current image has no alternative text. The file name is: a-day-of-rest.jpg
Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, Flash Fiction, Humour, lighthearted, Short Fiction Stories, words, Writing and tagged , , , , , , ,
12 Jan 2025
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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 , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
17 Aug 2016
2 Comments

She was free

His heart sank.

It happened while she was watching.  She supposed it had always been coming; in fact, she knew it had been.  It was all he’d had to give.  For months; ever since it had happened.  They’d gone through so much together; then the accident, but he’d held on.

“My heart will always be yours,” he’d said, “until the day it sinks so completely and can never rise again.  When it does, you’ll be free”.

Six months had passed since he died.

She stared at the heart at the bottom of the jar of formaldehyde.

She was free.

Posted in 99-word fiction, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Love, relationships, Short Fiction Stories, stories, story, Uncategorized, Writing and tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
31 May 2015
2 Comments

99-word fiction – The face

She lay on the bed and he kissed her again.  She was beautiful.  Her face, that face, as smooth as morning ice, her complexion airbrush perfect and those eyes, deep and black as mineshafts, stalked him around the room. He was reduced to switching off the light before undressing and only when he was under the duvet would he turn the light back on, and there she was, a remote smile always on her face. He couldn’t go on like this, she had to go, permanently.

He bent down and kissed the cover of Vanity Fair one last time.

Posted in Fiction, Flash Fiction, images, imagination, relationships, Short Fiction Stories, stories, words, Writing and tagged , , , , , ,

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