Tough Luck
100-word fiction
Happy New Year, everyone. I hope your 2024 is off to a splendid start.
Benny Gibbons panted at the end of the bare driveway—snow shovel in hand—and gazed at his handiwork. If his old man were still around, he’d have told him, “Hell of a job, buddy. Damn good work.”
Benny missed him—his scent, too, strange as it sounds. He smelled like campfires, Old Milwaukee, and grit.
Not a moment later, Benny heard loud, unmistakable scraping—his nemesis.
The snowplow truck thundered down the road, passing him, and leaving a slushy mess in its wake.
He could almost hear his father’s chuckle: “Tough luck. Better get to it.”
So the boy did.
Thanks so much for reading “Tough Luck” today. I hope you enjoyed it.
It seems like it’s been a while, but I’m happy to share new fiction again. While away, I recharged the batteries, spent quality time with my family, and even cranked out a couple of new chapters in Off the Trail. (I couldn’t help myself!)
I’m excited for the year ahead, and I hope you are, too!
As a bit of a side note, I want to shout out
for writing an incredible review of my book, 50 Fifties. He went well out of his way to do this. Thank you, my friend! Please click here if you’d like to check out his review.
Speaking of fifties…who’s ready to read and write some?
Let’s plan a Fifties by the Fire meetup for this Friday, January 12 at 3:00 PM EST. Remember to wait for the post to go live before sharing your work! Hope to see you there.
Prompt: Use the image below as inspiration to write a fifty-word story (fiction, poetry, or CNF).
I really reacted to this line, Justin, "Benny missed him—his scent, too, strange as it sounds. He smelled like campfires, Old Milwaukee, and grit." It made me think of my old grandmother who always smelled of the wood-burning cook stove and wintergreen liniment. I can conjure up the smell right this minute on saying the words. Chris wrote a magnificent review of your book!
Did John Lightie, by any chance, tell you where the mountains are in his photo? I was going to guess the Blue Ridge, but it would be nice to know.