A Scattering of Fifties
Five fifty-word stories
Nightmare
Walker Reed learned a secret of the universe.
Mid-sleep, he tiptoed between worlds, careful to cushion his footsteps in the land of dreams. He didn’t want any Nightmares—hideous things— following him back to the waking world, or his sleeping family.
One morning, Walker woke. Nightmares smiled down at him.
Free
Clyde Bennington hikes to town once a month. He works an odd job or two, buys provisions, then heads back up the mountain.
August comes and goes. September, too. I’m curious—search for him. Find him.
His body has decayed but his notebook hasn’t.
CRB: 2/2/50 – 8/24.
Alone. Wild. Free.
An Early Arrival
“Next. When did you arrive?” asked the man at the gate. He clutched a book.
“Just now,” the man in line replied.
“Name?”
“Gregory Donahue.”
“How’d you die?”
“Plane, small engine.”
“Hmm…you’re early.” The man’s death date read: January 26, 2064.
“Forty years. Purgatory.” The skies opened. Gregory fell.
“Next.”
Hand of God
The old tree looks like a deformed hand protruding from the top of the desolate mesa.
If it can survive here, so can we. Ultimately, it’s where we settle.
The Hand of God becomes our meeting place, lookout point, and source of hope.
Time passes. Wars wage. Still, it stands.
Last Stand
“I didn’t think it’d end this way, sir.”
“Pray for dawn…then get your wits about you. Going to be a long night.”
“Think we’ll make it?”
“Damned if I know…shh. They’re coming.”
“Goddamn it, sir, I don’t want to die. I don’t want to—”
“Faith, Marcus. Ready? On me!”
Thank you so much for reading some of my fifty-word stories today. I dug up “Last Stand” and “Early Arrival” from 2023, but the others were written in response to several of our more recent Fifties by the Fire prompts.
Which story did you like the most? Please click the heart icon if you enjoyed them and consider sharing my stories with a fellow fiction reader.
Our next Fifties by the Fire get-together will be held this Friday, October 18th at 3:00 PM EST. The post will go live then, but feel free to drop in when you can!
Prompt: Write a fifty-word story (fiction, CNF, or poetry) that incorporates a wild animal.
Happy writing—hope to see you Friday!
Thanks as always to
for the inspiration.
I loved every one of them, but, "The Hand Of God" is my favorite. The first time you posted it, the story stayed with me.
Liked them all. Inventive and thoughtful every one.