Short Stories

NPR Three-Minute Fiction Entry

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I didn’t win but this was my entry.  I liked it, though in hindsight I can see a few things I’d change, such as the last line.

To see the winning entry and other notable entrants go here:

NPR Three Minute Fiction

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Single Male Seeks Soulmate

“Single Male, 32, short, dumpy and troll-like, seeks female soulmate.  Must have kind heart, sense of humor and love cabs.”

Cabs?  Gayle reread the words again as she sipped a cappuccino at her tiny table near the door.  Surely that was a typo and he’d meant cats.  His words made her smile.  Who wrote that type of ad except someone with a great sense of humor?  Overcome by impulse, she punched his number into her cell phone.  A deep male voice answered, the background sounds of his environment threatening to drown out his words. Continue reading →

AW Flash Fiction — “All In A Day’s Work” — 3/14/10

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90 minutes from reveal of the theme until the final story must be posted at AW.
I wish I’d written this one for the Erma Bombeck competition.  🙂
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Delia woke to a screaming baby this morning like almost every morning. She’d already kissed and seen her successful husband off to his job as a high-powered attorney an hour earlier.

Baby Mikey on her hip, she woke her seven year old, Shane, for school. As usual, he balked, didn’t want to get up, didn’t want to get dressed. She eventually bribed him out of bed with the promise that he could wear his Wizards of Waverly Place t-shirt. With the baby happily sucking down a bottle in his playpen, she tore apart Shane’s room looking for the promised shirt. She found it in a crumpled heap in the corner, the reeking stench of cat urine overpowering.

“Dammit, Mr. Jingles! That’s the second time this week.”

In a fit of madness, she pulled a tshirt from her husband’s drawer and grabbed a magic marker and wrote “Wizard-in-training for the Wizards of Waverly Place” on the front and “Master Shane” on the back. She drew a couple of Harry Potter’ish lightening bolts on the shoulders. Continue reading →