100 word anon. challenge, entry thread

[Jo Zebedee]

This thread is for the posting of stories only - please keep discussion to the discussion thread.


Theme: That Old Chestnut
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy or speculative.

Entries are to be filed by 24:00 GMT on the 19th September. Voting will be until 24:00 GMT on 22nd september.

Only entries posted by springs will be considered eligible - to have your story posted please PM it to springs seperately.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

The Road

The hen and the chick stood by the road. Cracks covered the tar and gravel surface. In the middle was a lump of dirt with grass on it.

"I guess it's time," the hen said.

"Do we have to go?"

"Yes." The hen stepped forward. The road was hot and dusty. The smell of warm tar filled the air.

The chick ran ahead to the dirt. He pecked at the clump of grass, then spat it out. "It's nasty."

"We can't eat it," the hen said. "We have to get to the other side."

They kept walking.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Avenging Fairies


Duane stood over Stacyborg and said “I’ve destroyed planets. And you thought that you could destroy me?”

Stacyborg muttered in purposeful gibberish.

Duane tugged Stacyborg's silver hair, forcing her to stand. “Speak up, Cyborg?”

Stacyborg wailed in pain, her metal neck creaking, her bloody fairy wings clutched around her lacerated stomach. She said, shivering in anguish, “My ancestors… I promised… REVENGE!”

Duane sneered. “That old chestnut. Give up. I own this universe.”

Stacyborg grinned. “There’s a bomb in my heart, you jackass.”

Duane widened his eyes as Stacyborg zapped her ray gun into her heart. *BOOSH*

 

[Jo Zebedee]

That Old Chestnut


Christmas, roast chestnuts, trying to peel them, fingertips burning, blowing to cool. My mouth started watering as I gathered them up in my t-shirt. What a harvest.

Anticipation, cutting a cross in each nut to stop them exploding. On the tray and into the oven.

"I've got you a treat," I say when he comes in tired from work. "Roast chestnuts."

We sit and peel them together, fingers lightly touching hot shells, wincing, belly rumbling in anticipation. Perfectly cooked.

I watch him take the first bite, blind eyes unaware. Chewing, swallowing, unsuspecting... ...trusting.

No sweet chestnuts these, but conkers.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

To Beat One Other

As a child John raced daily through the forests near his home, honey bees for companions.

One day he encountered another running boy. They stood staring a moment, then smiled, and raced away through the woods; they’d run together for years.

Boys mature--John quit running; Karl didn’t, and won medals. Throughout life’s struggles they met yearly to race through the old woods. Karl always won, barely.

They race now:

John: “AHHHHHHH, take him!” He kicks out, tripping Karl; a bear crashes through a brush thicket, and pounces on Karl. The screaming is horrible as John races away, today’s winner.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Promises

We used to go for walks in the forest. The first gift he gave me was a chestnut that had fallen from a tree. It’d almost hit him in the head as we sprawled out on a blanket, drinking wine and eating cookies. We laughed so hard we cried as a squirrel jeered us from a branch above.

His gravestone has the nut engraved on it, and every year on our anniversary I get a little surprise. When I wake up, there sits a chestnut on my pillow. We swore we’d be together for all eternity. He kept his promise.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Look here...


He was the bad man. I knew it, I'd been told all my life.

"Don't do that, or the Dark Man will get you." And a hissed breath. "He'll choke you until he's dead."

It was enough to stop me, or anyone, in our tracks. The Emperor's lackey, remorseless, inhuman, the man I'd sworn to stand against when I was older.

I'm finally old enough, but I can't do anything to hurt him. Not since I met him and he leaned across the table, face deathly pale, to tell me the truth.

"Look, I'm your father."

 

[Jo Zebedee]

A Christmas Tragedy





Yes, that’s right. I’m a ghost…a new one.

How, you ask? That’s a long story.

It all started last Christmas eve. I had gone into the kitchen to get something to drink, and a snack. All we had left available were a bowl of nuts, so I decided to have some.

My wife was the one who found me on the floor, blue in the face and passed out. They rushed me to the hospital, but it was no use.

Let this be a lesson to you all.

Don’t eat chestnuts past the expiration date.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Serial Killers Anonymous

“Look, the cheerleader ran straight into me, wearing only a towel. What else was I supposed to do?”

Mutters of assent broke out, rippling around the circle like a wave. The next guy put down the chainsaw and took the microphone.

“I know… It’s like those brats from last week, coming down into my basement with a broken flashlight. I mean, please!”

There was a general sighing and shaking of heads.

“Nothing’s original anymore. We all know what to expect by now.” The tall guy in the hockey mask had the mic. He bowed his head. “Bloody scriptwriters!”

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Galactic Bus Ride to Grocery Planet 5
‘Have you heard, Ella?’
‘Heard what?’
‘Mr Stutench is back with Mrs Stutench.’
‘Now remind me, Myrtle. Is Mr Stutench the one with the expensive space-cruiser?’
‘No, that’s lovely Mr Wilson, always says he can’t chat –’
‘– he’s late for a meeting?’
‘That’s right, dear. No, Mr Stutench has the son whose dog –‘
‘– always eats his homework?’
‘That’s right, dear – Jamie. Well Mrs Stutench returned because Mr Stutench says he’s onto another get-rich-quick scheme; Moon bananas.’
‘Baha! Then Mrs Stutench could afford to fix that chest of hers. I’ve seen them bloody glowing!’
‘Oohoo, you are wicked, Ella!’

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Good Luck Nut

Little Timmy kept an old chestnut in his pocket. It was his good luck charm.

Timmy was friends with Natasha, a foreign exchange student. Though pretty, classmates—including Slade, the captain of the football team—regularly made fun of her.

This led to a fight between Timmy and Slade. Drawing upon the tale of David and Goliath, Timmy notched his old chestnut in a slingshot and fired at Slade.

Slade caught the chestnut, crunched it open in his fist, and munched on the contents. One punch knocked Timmy out.

Afterward, Natasha and Slade started dating.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

The Lost Portal

“What’s the use of knowing about a magical world if you forget where the entrance is hidden?”

Michael looked incongruous, his shiny armour reflecting the illuminated “Greggs The Baker” sign in a way that only the very charitable would describe as “eldritch”. I hardly looked any less odd with my wizarding robes and my sacred staff, which was absolutely not a wand.

“I think we should have another go. We can pretend we’re live role-players.”

Minutes later, we were walking through Cannon Hill Park counting trees. “Twenty-three… twenty-four… that’s it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, it’s definitely that old chestnut.”

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Brothers in Arms




Chester firmly held Trace’s hands as he dangled helplessly from the hovercraft.

“Brother…help me,” Trace pleaded.

“What really happened with Jenna that day by the river?” Chester asked, scowling.

“She slipped, I swear, just like I told you.”

“She told me, ya know? I loved her and you betrayed me. Did you toss her in the river because she chose me?”

“No!” Trace cried, his hands slipping.

Chester watched as Trace’s body plummeted fifty feet into the tree below, breaking several branches before slamming his head hard on a root of the old chestnut tree.

“Oops…slipped.”

Chester wept...

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Lite Bites

“I have no sympathy, Stoker. You are the architect of your own demise.”

He looked up at me and tried to laugh, but pain turned it into a tight-lipped grimace. “You created me. Recreated me. From who I was. The idea of me. All my ideas. Made flesh.”

I pursed my lips. “Only to find your psyche was in a pre-suicidal state. Psychosomatic bite marks on your throat? How will I explainthat to my sponsors?”

He coughed. “The Count is real.”

I shivered as a sudden chill filled the chamber. “Nonsense! Prove it.”

His gaze shifted. “He’s behind you.”

 

[Jo Zebedee]

C'est marron

Despite the decrepitude of the trunk and heart of decaying punk the branches bow with pastel paschal candelabras, and limp, seven-fingered hands.

Stone wall crumbles for over half a century. It's not repairable while the branch destroying it remains; no-one is enthusiastic about getting in with a saw.

Hollows in moss-padded crevices home birds and small mammals, occasionally demonstrating what ML really wanted to do to AS.

Engraved into the ancient bark, between hearts with paired initials and Walter's unsavoury personal habits, is a phrase carved by some long-forgotten classics student:

Invictus - born to conquer.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Friday Afternoon In The Village



"We are coming."


Beryl gasped at the whisper in her head.


"We are coming."


"Shall I... put the kettle on?"


"We will ravage your world."


No tea then.


"We will **** upon your rendered bodies."


"There will be none of that language in my house!"


A pause. "Sorry."


She sighed. It left that old chestnut; was she conversing with a spectral invader or just losing her marbles? Only one way to find out.


"Tell me..." She glanced at the scarlet cape hanging in its display case. Perhaps Psygirl would have one final adventure. "Exactly when and where are you coming?"

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Unicorn in Hiding

The virgin sat on the fence.
He was out there. Last year he was a bay, but this year she was thinking he was the old chestnut. He seemed to be guarding a group of Arabian mares at any rate.
She whistled, and the chestnut in question picked up his head. Ah, it was him. Whistled again and he came trotting over.
She snuggled the white star on his forehead with hers.
"Such a brave man to keep it hidden. Are those your ladies over there? Will their sons grow up like you?"

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Board At Work.

“So, Simpson, anything interesting in this month’s submissions?”

“Afraid not. Perpetual motion, faster than light travel, levitation, alien abduction, remote viewing…”

“Again? Give me strength! Do we really have to wade through this kind of thing every time we meet? Advanced research funding applications for complete rubbish! I’m fed up to the back teeth with it!”

“And we have a complaint. Someone that says he’s submitted many times before, but we’ve always rejected him out of hand and that he deserves more respect given his standing as an International Grand Master…”

“Oh not that old chess nut again!”

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Hooded Lensman.

Breaking free from the asteroid cluster at last, she swung the speedster hard to port.

Red couldn’t see if they were still following, but a violently unpredictable course was now her only hope of escaping their tractor beams.

Kitt was in the hold, bleeding and unconscious; Shari hadn’t made it; but the mission was a success

When she saw the cruiser, it was already signaling, its powerbeams coruscating space to either side, driving the Boskonians to run for cover.

In the docking bay she climbed down to meet her saviour.

“My! What big eyes you have.”, she said.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Saving The Princess

Her hero, he alone could rescue her.

Blade ready, into the beasts lair he crept, his princess battling the foul creature's attempts to rend her asunder, her ragged form cast upon her stomach.

"Unhand her, villain!" he roared, enflamed.
The beast snarled, "They gifted her to use as I desire!"
"Never!" he snatched her away behind him.
The beast charged... stopped upon the blade in his claw.

His princess peeked from behind his enfolding wing. "Is he?"
"Dead." Dragon confirmed.
"My hero! You saved me from that awful knight!"
"Always my princess!"

Embracing her, he flew them back home.