My Words, My World

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

Archive for the tag “hunted”

14 Jun 2025
1 Comment

99-word fiction: The Stranger – part X

The Stranger didn’t need the mirror to know she was following. The rain beat a rhythm on the roof of the car that the windscreen wipers joined.
Only an old man in an older car stood between them — no obstacle for her at all.
Back at the bar, he’d called her bluff. His gun had been empty. He knew hers wasn’t.
After the curve, he floored it. A quick look behind showed him she hadn’t moved.
Half the money was hidden. Enough to vanish — but not for long.
Still, disappearing would be enough. For now.
He just needed time

The current image has no alternative text. The file name is: the-stranger-part-x.jpg

If you haven’t read the previous stories, you can find them here:

99-word fiction: The Stranger – part IX

99-word fiction: The Stranger – part VIII

99-word fiction: The Stranger – part VII

99-word fiction: The Stranger – part VI

99-word fiction: The stranger – part V

99-word fiction: The stranger – part IV | My Words, My World

99-word fiction: The stranger – part III | My Words, My World

99-word fiction: The stranger – part II | My Words, My World

99-word fiction – The stranger | My Words, My World

Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, atmospheric writing, dark fiction, Flash Fiction, noir, Short Fiction Stories, Writing and tagged , , , , ,
07 Jun 2025

99-word fiction: The Stranger – part IX

The woman slammed her hands on the steering wheel as she watched the taillights grow smaller. She cursed her stupidity. And the man’s desperate cunning.

Her orders had been clear; all of the money or the story of his dead body in the newspapers.

She knew the consequences if she failed.

She looked at the bag on the seat next to her. Half of what he owed – and enough for her to disappear.

The engine roared as she accelerated out of the car park, the car fishtailing as she struggled to keep it under control.

She had decided.

The current image has no alternative text. The file name is: the-stranger-part-ix.jpg

If you haven’t read the previous stories, you can find them here:

99-word fiction: The Stranger – part VIII

99-word fiction: The Stranger – part VII

99-word fiction: The Stranger – part VI

99-word fiction: The stranger – part V

99-word fiction: The stranger – part IV | My Words, My World

99-word fiction: The stranger – part III | My Words, My World

99-word fiction: The stranger – part II | My Words, My World

99-word fiction – The stranger | My Words, My World

Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, atmospheric writing, dark fiction, noir, Suspense, Writing and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
31 May 2025
5 Comments

99-word fiction: The Stranger – part VIII

In the light of the open door, two men shook hands, turned up their collars, and ran for their cars. The rain was unforgiving, but the opportunity wasn’t.

The Stranger waited, then slipped between the two cars, lights off. Now she would have to move.

Brakelights flashed as the first car sounded its horn. Her engine idled, smoke curling from the exhaust.

Then the third car blared — longer, impatient. For the moment, he was hidden.

With a screech of tyres, she reversed back into the car park — just as the three cars peeled away into the dark wet night.

The current image has no alternative text. The file name is: the-stranger-part-viii.jpg

If you haven’t read the previous stories, you can find them here:

99-word fiction: The Stranger – part VII

99-word fiction: The Stranger – part VI

99-word fiction: The stranger – part V

99-word fiction: The stranger – part IV | My Words, My World

99-word fiction: The stranger – part III | My Words, My World

99-word fiction: The stranger – part II | My Words, My World

99-word fiction – The stranger | My Words, My World

Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, dark fiction, noir, Non fiction, words, Writing and tagged , , , , , ,
24 May 2025

99-word fiction: The Stranger – part VII

The Stranger took shelter in his car, and listened to the rain pound the roof; he could barely hear himself think. For now, the way out was blocked.

She wouldn’t be able to stay there all night, someone had to leave. His only chance was to switch cars.

Out in the street the cops rolled by and he slid lower in his seat. She was bad — the cops were worse. One meant death, and liberation; the other a lifetime behind bars.

I just need to get that money, he thought, just as light spilled from the open bar door.

The current image has no alternative text. The file name is: the-stranger-part-vii.jpg

If you haven’t read the previous stories, you can find them here:

99-word fiction: The Stranger – part VI

99-word fiction: The stranger – part V

99-word fiction: The stranger – part IV | My Words, My World

99-word fiction: The stranger – part III | My Words, My World

99-word fiction: The stranger – part II | My Words, My World

99-word fiction – The stranger | My Words, My World

Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, dark fiction, Flash Fiction, noir, Writing and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
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.

The current image has no alternative text. The file name is: hunted.jpeg
Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, dark fiction, fear, Flash Fiction, Suspense, Writing and tagged , , , ,
04 May 2021

99-word fiction: Wanted

He looked out from the trees. Nothing moved in the thick summer heat. The field sloping down to the shallow valley floor shimmered and the waist-high corn lost all its ends and edges and blended into a carpet of green.

            He heard dogs in the distance, the heat probably getting on their nerves like everyone else but he was happy it was only the dogs he could hear; for now. 

            A bead of sweat stung his eye and he blinked several times, not wanting to take his hand off the branch it held.

The other was on his gun.

Posted in 99-word fiction, crime, fear, Flash Fiction, freedom, murder, Writing and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
02 Jun 2016

Morning mist

Waiting for the kettle to boil I took my usual 5-minute breather on the balcony, around 5.30am.  It had rained heavily the night before and the morning found itself under a heavy grey cloak.  I always enjoy standing out there; breathing, observing, listening and thinking.  The mountains wore skirts of cloud.  I came in, tea in hand and sat down, with just the first sentence in my head.  Strange how things go off on a tangent as they develop.

___________________________________________________________________

The cloud clung to the sides of the mountain.  Beyond it, the sun had risen but the day had dawned pale and would remain that way.   Water from last night’s rain clung to everything.  Hidden blackbirds chattered in the trees and every now and again a crow would raise its voice above the drip, drip of the water.  Pine scent filled the air, which was clean but sombre.

It was time to move.

There was now enough light to get a helicopter in the air and heat imaging would see through the cloud.  He was sure he’d heard dogs in the valley below, and the rain wouldn’t cover his scent for long.

He grit his teeth as he tipped a little schnapps from his flask onto the blood-soaked gauze on his thigh.  The schnapps was the only thing between a usable leg and infection.  In this humidity gangrene would take hold soon if he didn’t find the help he knew was waiting for him.

Four miles to the border.  Four miles till the forest sloped down on the other side of the mountain.  He put all his weight on the pine branch he was using for a crutch and placed his holed leg forward.

It was time to move.

Posted in Birds, Creation, fear, Fiction, Flash Fiction, hope, imagination, pain, Short Fiction Stories, stories, story, weather, words, Writing and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Post Navigation